Description
Only a few ultralocavore cooks in San Francisco can rival Hwa-Soon Im for DIY cred. Aided by her daughters, Im gardens Korean herbs on her back patio, puts up all her own pickles, makes her own fermented soybean paste and chile paste (in America, a rarity even among traditionalist cooks), and prepares all the dishes to order. You can taste her touch in her singular, personal food at this Inner Richmond restaurant. The homespun panchan (side dishes) take in dried, salted radish greens; soybean fritters; and cabbage kimchi with a clean, precise tang. To Hyang isn't a place for barbecued meats, but rather dumpling (sujebi) soup, braised oxtail, spicy pork-belly salad, and the rich, rolling funk of her soybean-paste stew, made with the soybean paste she has aged on her back patio for years. You won't taste its like anywhere else in town.
