Airway Heights restaurant offers Korean cooking prepared traditionally, or to taste
By JOHN McCALLUM
Editor
A leisurely drive along Highway 2 through Airway Heights might lead one to ask this question: Is there room for any more Oriental restaurants?
For Chang Kim, the answer to that question is a resounding yes, and he and his wife, In, hope to prove it through Fusion Cuisine's Korean restaurant.
Fusion Cuisine isn't exactly new; it's been at its location next to Ginny O's Dog and Cat Grooming since March. And if the name sounds familiar, it should, especially to anyone who frequented the restaurant's former location of five years in Spokane Valley.
Chang said the decision to move to Airway Heights was one of location and cost savings. Fusion Cuisine has a small outlet in Fairchild Air Force Base's food court at the PX, which In runs and the food for which is cooked at the restaurant. Also, the Airway Heights location is smaller than the Spokane Valley spot, thus trimming maintenance costs.
As for competition, the Seoul, South Korea native readily admits there's plenty, including two other Korean restaurants within a 1-2 block radius.
“There are only four of five Korean restaurants in the (Spokane) area,” Chang said.
But he's all for the competition because that creates variety, and with Korean food, each restaurant offers its own variation of traditional dishes. And when it comes to Oriental food in general, Chang said there are differences.
In his opinion, and he stresses it's just that, the difference is preparation and sauces. Korean cooking doesn't deep-fry the meat first before adding it to vegetables, and mostly utilizes no oil.
The meat is cooked in the wok with the sauce, and if oil is used, it's sparingly, and it's sesame oil. This makes Korean food less greasy, creating what Chang calls “cleaner food.”
As for the sauce, Change says Korean cooking employs more ingredients, sometimes up to seven, eight or more. This makes it flavorful and flexible.
There is a perception that Korean food is very hot, very spicy. Chang said they can prepare any dish according to each customer's preference – spice neutral or so hot you need to eat it with a towel.
Dinner items at Fusion Cuisine range from $9.95 to $13.95, not including appetizers. Lunch specials are served from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and limited to certain items that run from $6.99 to $9.99.
Chang said the two most popular dishes are Bul-Go-Gi and Gal-Bi. Bul-Go-Gi is beef marinated in a sauce that includes soy, sesame oil, sugar, garlic, green onions and black peppers, mixed with vegetables and served with rice.
Gal-Bi is grilled boneless short ribs also marinated in a multi-ingredient sauce that features Asian pear juice, rice wine and soy.
There are several spicy chicken dishes and stir-fried spicy pork recipes, along with rice dishes such as Bi-Bim-Bap and Dol-Sot-Bi-Bim-Bap, which is cooked in a stone pot. Dinner selections include seafood, such as stir-fry, hot spicy calamari.
Meals are served with six side dishes; something else Chang said distinguishes Korean cooking from other Oriental forms. Each side dish is truly that, on the side in a separate bowl while Chinese, Japanese and Thai restaurants arrange the sides on the same plate.
Sides include many flavorful, seasonal selections such as potatoes and cucumbers; both basted in salt and mixed with vinegar, garlic and sugar. There's also the most recognizable Korean selection, Kim-chi, which is cabbage basted inside with salt, refrigerated for a day or two, then cut open, cleaned and prepared with spices.
Fusion Cuisine's menu isn't the most expansive selection around, but sometimes doing a few things really well beats doing many things just so-so. And Fusion Cuisine handles their specialty well. Just ask Medical Lake resident Sandy Staples.
“We came in and tried it a couple weeks ago,” Staples said last Friday at lunch. “This is our fourth time back. We love it.”
Chang says he thinks others feel the same, and hopes more will try Korean cooking. His recommendation: serve it the Korean way, family style, by ordering several dishes and sampling each.
“Korean is healthy food,” Chang said. “Don't be afraid to try it. It's good!”
Fusion Cuisine is open Monday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., Friday to 9 p.m. For more information, call 244-9921.
John McCallum can be reached at [email protected]
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