Chef Michael Lee of M Sushi and M Koko gives his Sound Palate Pairings this week!
Be sure to listen to the entire interview for the back story on Michael Lee’s song choice for this recipe (scroll down for full recipe) – it’s fascinating! You’ll also learn about his upcoming concept restaurants coming soon to Durham.
“The dish I paired with the music that I chose is not necessarily a dish at a restaurant, it’s not even a complete dish. It’s a simple recipe. People ask me “How do I make Korean BBQ at Home?” You know, the marinade for the beef ribs or pork shoulder or whatever it may be. The recipe is very very simple!….. The simplest thing in the world. And they’re like “are you sure that’s it!?” and I tell them “that is it.” You can add some other herbs to it……This is such a go to recipe for me, whether it’s for an event or last minute. Chefs always do that, they always wait until last minute and they’re trying to make the ends meet.Sometimes you have an unplanned guest, things always come up. This song comes up in my mind, not necessarily for the lyrics but for the tempo and feel behind the music. I chose “The Final Countdown” by Europe. Another small story behind it is, when I was about 11 or 12 when I first came to the US, over 30 years ago, I couldn’t speak any English and was thrown into a local school in Missouri. I didn’t have any friends and nobody even came to talk to me. The kids in school had never seen an Asian kid before, it was kind of a culture shock. There was one kind of popular kid in school, and I remember he gave me a cassette tape. Back then there was single track on the cassette tape, and he gave me that tape because I was in the corner all by myself. He actually let me listen to his Walkman. I liked the music so much, I couldn’t understand it because I couldn’t speak English, but it was that song. He loved that cassette, and it was his favorite, and he gave it to me. I kept it for a very long time.”
Michael Lee’s Shockingly Simple Korean BBQ Marinade
- 3 parts water
- 1 part soy sauce
- 1 part sugar
- Optional: add grated garlic, ginger, sesame oil, herbs
- Marinate anything – ribs, chicken, pork – overnight.
- For quick marinade, add some kiwi or pineapple and marinate for several hours (not overnight)