Gopchang (곱창)
Yoojin Chung on why she has the guts to love this polarizing dish.
🇬🇷 Hello again from sunny Athens after a very packed month of traveling to Antarctica, Argentina, and Brazil! It was an incredible trip, but I’m also happy to stay put in one place (at least for a bit).
Favorite Food interviews real people about their favorite food.
The guy said, “This is mayak (drugs),” as he was cooking it for us. I knew this shit was about to be so good."
On a sunny Sunday afternoon, I met up with one of my oldest and dearest friends, Yoojin Chung, for a stroll in the Bay Area. We then stopped at a Korean BBQ spot in San Jose for her favorite food — gopchang.
In between multiple rounds of grilled meat washed down with soju and beer, we reminisced about our middle school ‘raver’ outfits and chatted about the perfect gopchang.
What's your favorite food?
Gopchang (곱창), or cow’s small intestine :) Grilled, Korean “BBQ” style.
Why is this your favorite food?
It’s very tasty, but probably the fact that I don’t have access to quality gopchang and that I shouldn’t be eating it all the time (it’s really fatty) makes me want it and like it even more.
Describe the perfect gopchang (곱창).
You start with some banchan to whet your appetite, and hopefully, the restaurant (this isn’t something you should or want to prepare and eat at home yourself, despite my answer two questions below) will give you some fun freebies—like this smoked and grilled pork skin I had in Daejeon at a gopchang spot this past month. See attached photo!
After you have your perfect gopchang, filled with lots of “gop,” I like to finish the meal with a nice fried rice cooked in the fat from grilling. I once went to a place in Korea that sprinkled frozen and powdered “gop” on top of the rice before mixing all the ingredients together, and the guy said, “This is mayak (drugs),” as he was cooking it for us. I knew this shit was about to be so good.
By the way, I looked up “gop” in Korean and then translated it to English, and it does NOT sound appetizing, but it is considered a desirable trait of good gopchang.
Gop – Digestive juices, water, and fat secreted from the small intestine that clump together as the gopchang cooks.
Any interesting facts about gopchang?
Hmm… not every Korean likes this. It’s a more expensive cut in Korea, even though it’s offal..?
What’s one memory you have of gopchang?
I think the very first time I had gopchang was when our family was living in Dallas, Texas, in the early 2000s. My dad bought small cow intestines from a Korean market to prep them himself, probably because going out to eat it in a restaurant wasn’t an option at the time.
It took him a really long time, and he used flour to massage the long and very slippery (and gross-looking) intestines to clean them of impurities. I remember watching him do that in the kitchen sink and being so grossed out, but I was convinced to try it.
Life has never been the same since.
Where can I get the best gopchang?
In Korea! I wish I had the name of the place I mentioned with the crazy fried rice, but I don’t. That was probably the best gopchang I’ve ever had, and it was in a run-down restaurant that definitely wouldn’t have passed any safety inspections in the States.
The place I went to last month in Daejeon was called 사나이 창 (Sana-eei Chang— which loosely translates to “Manly Intestines”). The intestines were stuffed with raw garlic (see photos), which cooks as your gopchang cooks… It was really good. Also, the grilled pork skin that came out as a freebie appetizer was insanely good. Really looking forward to going back!
❤️ Thank you to my #1 soju toad towel sista Yoojin for the good times as always.