Jul. 14, 2010 - Issue #769: Musician’s Survival Guide

Revue

A fine balance

Ga Ya encapsulates the evenhandedness of Korean cuisine

Balance is a tenet of Asian cuisine. This includes balance of flavour, texture and appearance. The incendiary wasabi and cool rice of sushi, the crunch of nuts and tender noodles in pad thai, and the gossamer clouds of beaten egg that drift serenely in hot and sour soup exemplify this concept. These examples represent Japan, Thailand and China, respectively. The cuisine of Korea similarly epitomizes balance, but remains lesser-known to Western audiences. Indeed, Korean restaurants have yet to devolve into all-you-can-eat buffets, and instead manifest themselves as small, locally owned eateries that understand the concept of balance, rather than mere quantity, of food. Several Korean spots even out the dearth of mass-market smorgasbords; among them is Ga Ya Korean Restaurant.

Ga Ya occupies a cozy pink and black room near the university campus. A half-dozen small tables leave little room to maneuver, but evoke a sense of intimacy and comfort. The frequent dialogue among the diners and staff implies a rapport that only evolves with repeat customers. The menu is succinct, but includes numerous Korean standards. We select bul go gi ($10.95), stone bowl bee bim bob ($11.95) and duk maan doo gook ($10.95). Two small banchan (side dishes) immediately appear. One is kimchi, the quintessential Korean pickle, which features napa cabbage and assertive red chilies. The other, kongnamul, consists of cold bean sprouts dressed lightly in fragrant sesame oil. This duet of hot and cold demonstrates the kitchen's sense of balance and sets the precedent for subsequent dishes.

Korean cuisine features seven basic flavours: soy sauce, hot peppers, sesame oil, ginger, scallions, garlic and toasted sesame seeds. Each dish is nuanced by different ratios of these ingredients. Bul go gi includes beef, sliced thin and stir-fried with carrots and cabbage. Bul go gi is traditionally prepared on the grill, but the skillet is a handy and able substitute. A snowy hillock of short-grain rice is a blank canvas, awaiting decoration by the palette of veg and protein. The meat is tender and bespeaks a sweet marinade of sugar, soy sauce, sesame oil and garlic. It benefits from a judicious shot of hot sauce that complements the dish's duality of savoury and sweet.

Stone bowl bee bim bob is, as its name suggests, served in a heavy stone bowl. This bowl is heated to the extent that its contents cook on contact. Here, a rice base cradles julienned zucchini and carrot, bean sprouts and ground beef, and is crowned by a fragile fried egg and a scatter of toasted sesame seeds. Proper procedure for this dish is to stir all ingredients together and season as desired with vivid crimson hot sauce. Ga Ya's interpretation of this dish is one of textural complexity. The rice at the bottom becomes crisp from the bowl's residual heat, but the vegetables' tender-crisp integrity remains intact. The silky egg contributes flavour and its adhesive tendencies facilitate ease of manipulation with chopsticks.

Duk maan doo gook is a bracing soup adorned with scallions. Its smooth, golden broth demurely hints of ginger. Sizeable dumplings that superficially resemble tortellini recline with ivory slices of glutinous rice cake. The dumplings contain immaculately tender minced beef and additional scallions, and veritably burst with the juices of their surroundings. It is a deeply satisfying equilibrium of gentle broth and meaty substance.

Balance—to the point of cliché—characterizes Asian cuisine. Every cliché, however, finds its roots in truth. For balance in cuisine, truth is when flavour, texture and appearance converge and contribute to a grander entity, while each ingredient retains its individual essence. True balance clearly flourishes in the cozy rose-hued room that is Ga Ya. V

MON – FRI (11 AM – 7:30 PM)
Ga Ya Korean Restaurant
11147 - 87 Ave
780.439.4978
 

More info about Ga Ya Korean Restaurant →

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