Neighborhood Eats: Korean BBQ with a healthy twist in Queens

LONG ISLAND CITY, Queens (WABC) -- In this edition of Neighborhood Eats, we're headed to Queens for an authentic Korean BBQ experience with a healthier touch.

Katherine Oh runs the Green Street LIC, located on 47th Road off Vernon Boulevard in Long Island City. But the "green" refers to Katherine's paleo-friendly Korean food, which she says is a challenging construct that involves some substitutions for traditional ingredients.

The short rib marinade for the traditional barbecue is served with lettuce wraps instead of rice, and then there's a bibimbap that comes in a Mediterranean version.

If you love Korean fried chicken, the wings are made with almond and tapioca flours. They're served along with a kimchi waffle and are also gluten free. And while tofu may not be totally paleo, Katherine serves it anyway.

She coats pieces with tapioca flour mixed with salt, then, in a separate bowl, she combines almond and tapioca flours with baking powder and equal parts water and shoju. The tofu gets dipped in that and deep fried, then it gets dipped in the wet batter again and fried again.

It's then glazed with a sweet garlic tamari sauce, with the light and crispy treat served in an open family-friendly space.

Fried Tofu Recipe

Ingredients:

Dry Batter:

1 cup tapioca flour

1 tsp salt

Mix together

Wet Batter:

1 cup tapioca flour

cup almond flour

1 tsp baking powder

cup water

cup soju (a Korean liquor)

In a separate bowl from dry batter, mix all of these ingredients

Additional ingredients:

Block of firm tofu

Cooking oil

Directions:

Heat 1 cup cooking oil (or use deep fryer) in large pan

Slice tofu into even sized pieces or cubes

Lightly coat pieces in dry batter

Quickly dip each piece in wet batter and carefully drop into hot oil

Each piece will cook in about 5 minutes, should be golden, if necessary turn pieces

Then dip each piece in the wet batter again and put back into oil for another 5 minutes

Glaze:

Ingredients:

1 cup organic tamari

1 cup organic coconut sugar

cup mirin

5 cloves smashed garlic

1 teaspoon sesame oil

2 tsp Sesame seeds

Mix all ingredients (except of the seeds) in a bowl

When tofu is cooked for the second time, brush with glaze or drizzle glaze on each piece.

Sprinkle with sesame seeds for garnish.

Serves 2 as an appetizer.