Mexican Asian Fusion Is One of North America’s Signature Cuisines | Eater

"In early 2009 in Los Angeles, Roy Choi’s Kogi truck created a feverish street-food scene where you’d wait in long lines in dimly lit parking lots—drawn by a tweet, Jonathan Gold’s review, or a nearby bar—to order too many tacos and eat them perched on car trunks. The big flavors demanded attention: the cheese oozing from the kimchi quesadilla rounded out the fermentation, the salsa roja amplified the gochugaru and the blend of Korean and Mexican chiles brought out the punchy kalbi marinade, while rotating, funky specials like pork belly tteokbokki or the Kogi Hogi torta constantly introduced new combinations. Choi and partner Mark Manguera leaned on fine-dining training, rebellious spirit, Korean heritage, and their LA upbringing—where Koreatown abuts Mexican American neighborhoods—to make food that was innovative yet unmistakably of Los Angeles, and their savvy use of Twitter turned finding the truck into a scavenger-hunt moment that felt especially meaningful during the Great Recession." - Ben Mesirow