Smokehouse Jerky Co. - Korean Barbecue

Smokehouse Jerky Co. is a brand of Tender Heifer Snack Co., based out of Beaumont, CA. It was started in 2008, and is currently run by a husband and wife team, Franco Fonseca and Patti Fonseca.

The company takes pride in its beef brisket-based jerky, using meat sourced from California. They add no MSG and no preservatives, and focus on small batches at a time.

This "Korean Barbecue" variety is described by the company as showcasing, "the use of Korean barbecue sauce as a main ingredient", going on to say that they, "blended it up with a few more spices", and then fused it with their old fashioned recipe.

Ingredients

Beef, gluten free tamari sauce, white sugar brown sugar sesame oil, honey, garlic puree, granulated garlic, granulated onion, sesame seeds, green onion, ground black pepper, liquid hickory smoke, ground ginger, mustard powder, allspice.

Review

The first flavors to hit my tongue is the sesame seed and oil, followed by a light salt and a noticeable garlic and onion seasoning. The chewing brings on a bit more onion definition, along with touches of sweet. There's a light soy sauce towards the end of chewing.

For being marketed as, "Korean Barbecue", it's actually comparable to Korean "bulgogi", which is that country's classic grilled slices of beef, but marinated in soy sauce, sesame oil, and other seasonings. It's not the smoky, charred table-style grilling that Korean Barbecue restaurants are known for. Rather, this is more like the style of grilled beef that a Korean restaurant would serve already cooked and prepared for you. All that's missing is the bowl of rice and Kim Chi.

Otherwise, the primary taste profile is an oily, nutty, sesame seed flavor, flanked by a light marinade of soy sauce, touches of sweet, but a noticeable garlic and onion seasoning.

The meat consistency is very soft and moist. These slices of brisket are very tender, and leaves a fair amount of oily residue on the fingers. The chewing is mostly mushy, not necessarily meaty, and definitely not steak-like. Think of thin slices of beef well marinated in oils, salts, and sugars, dehydrated just enough to be edible, but remaining highly moist.

Verdict

This Korean Barbecue variety from Smokehouse Jerky Co. is a jerky you almost want to nuke over a bowl of rice and a side of Kim Chi. It's very comparable to Korean bulgogi, a style of marinated, grilled beef, with a dominant sesame seed flavor, and oozing with sesame oil. This jerky is very tender, so tender that it tends to chew mushy. But with all that being said, is quite enjoyable because it does indeed evoke a Korean style flavor, similar to the stuff you find in the Korea Towns of Los Angeles and San Diego. While the mushy chewing might set some traditional jerky folks back, I think the flavor is well representative enough of Korean cuisine that it's worth a try if you're willing to expand your horizons. Keep a wet wipe handy though, this stuff is quite oily.

Rating: Good (4/5)