Korean hot plate pork ($7)!
Tai Seng Korean hawker hot plate pork: bulgogi-style marinated pork with onion on a sizzling cast iron plate, with banchan, soup, rice and barley tea. $7.
Lunch at a Tai Seng Korean hawker: hot plate pork, $7. 😋
What was on the tray:
- Sizzling hot plate of pork: thin marinated pork slices with onion, served on a cast iron plate still spitting
- Banchan: kimchi and a seasoned anchovy (myeolchi bokkeum) side in the divided dish
- Soup: a clear broth in the black bowl
- Rice and a cup of barley tea (boricha)
This is bulgogi-style pork on a hot plate: thin pork slices marinated in the Korean BBQ sauce family, soy, sugar, garlic, sesame oil and a little fruit puree for sweetness, then cooked with onion and served sizzling on cast iron so it keeps cooking and caramelising at the table. The marinade is the sweet-savoury bulgogi profile, the onions going soft and jammy in the pork fat.
The hot plate is half the appeal: the cast iron keeps the pork hot and lets the edges crisp as you eat, the sizzle and aroma part of the experience. It is the hawker version of Korean BBQ, none of the grill-it-yourself ceremony, all of the flavour, at a fraction of the restaurant price.
The banchan and barley tea are what make it feel properly Korean rather than just marinated pork: the kimchi cuts the sweet richness, the seasoned anchovies add a salty-crunchy side, and the roasted barley tea is the standard Korean table drink. A full little Korean set for the price of a hawker plate.
At $7 for a Korean hot plate pork set with banchan, soup, rice and tea at Tai Seng, this is genuine value for a Korean main.
Overall: 4.2 / 5. 😋👍🏼 The caramelised bulgogi-marinated pork off the sizzling plate was the standout. Hawker Korean win, would re-order.
