Soseji: A Twist and Flair of Korean inspired sausages

Disclaimer #1: Technically, I should have a lot of pictures of sausages from this pop up restaurant/ street vendor food but instead the food was so good that by the time I was done eating, I realized that I forgot to take a picture

Disclaimer #2: Originally, this blog post was supposed to be written around April but I moved apartments during May, I graduated #OfficialAlumni of Cal Poly Pomona. I’m also starting work immediately and hopefully I can write my stuff around July or August. Hopefully I can come back pretty soon so stay tuned(?)

Fun Facts

A few fun facts about this place:

• This is currently a pop up restaurant. In a way this place serves not only as a street food place but also does other collaborations with other pop up restaurants.
• They are open on Occidental Street in front of the mini plaza where there’s Starbucks, Crispy School, and different stores
• This pop up store also does occasional “Koreatown Pochas” and also does other collaboration pop up restaurants especially with Hermanos Empanadas.
• This store as of now opens Thursdays to Saturdays in the original area as well as different areas.
• The restaurant currently has three different types of sausages. They have their original sausage that consists of a mixture of pork and rice. Their second sausage comes store bought but Chef Steve lays it on a top of hot gooey mozzarella cheese with a mixture of sweet corn and furikake. The cheese corn hails from Korea’s modern appetizer cuisine in barbecue. The third and final sausage once served as a limited edition sausage but is now part of the permanent sausage group. For those of you wondering it is his kimchi sausage.
• There is an “secret menu” to the sausages. You can get the original sausage and add the cheese and corn right on top of it. Goes well with alcohol.

Review

When I used to live in the area, I would jog around LaFayette Street for about an hour because this neighborhood had a lot of trees and two slopes on each end that are great for running, walking, etc. It’s also great for your legs especially if you run up. As I would walk or occasionally jog around the area, I’d see someone fry sausages in this small grill and I’d see a dude blast his speakers and just be looking like he’s just happy. For a while however, I wouldn’t see him again and I haven’t thought much about it until I started to change my exercise route and I would end up seeing Soseji again.

Thinking about his small pop up shop back in the day, I would always be tired and hungry after an hour and thirty minutes of exercise. I would be too lazy to make my own food or eat something that my mom made. Stewing in my laziness, I would occasionally remember passing his pop up restaurant but I would either be too shy or too nervous to say anything. The only thing that I remember is going to his pop up store and having quick glances. It would only be during that time that I wouldn’t be particularly hungry only because I wouldn’t really think about eating let alone think about anything because who thinks about the world around you when you’re sequestered into your own space? But as soon as I step inside home, I get hungry and I end up regretting everything. Well one day I stopped regretting.

Now during this time he only had one type of sausage and to this day, it is the fan favorite “soseji” (he does have a kimchi soseji that’s permanently on the menu but that’s for another day.) This particular sausage is stuffed with pork and rice and to this day, I would always order two for me to take home. When you mix the furikake with the infusions of pork and rice topped off with mayonnaise, pickled daikon radishes, and teriyaki sauce an infusion of salty and umami aromas, you are hit with an array of flavor profiles that are only unique to his sausage company.

So originally I was going to write a blog about this place because I’m such a huge fan (I guess I’ll have to finish that blog lmao) but soseji is such a unique experience in Koreatown that’s different from other Korean food or fusion food that I have yet to try.  I was teetering on either four or five stars but I decided five stars because the experience of eating the sausages is different from other street food in Koreatown. The sausages are reminiscent of soondae which is essentially Korean blood sausages lined up with pig intestines. It doesn’t have the ferocity of soondae but it backs itself with delicious and numerous amounts of flavors in every nook and cranny of its being.

Now the great thing about Soseji is that the pop up store has only two different types of sausages on their menu (they might make a third different type of sausage I’m not sure.) Because they’re able to focus on those two items (all sausages) we get a better care and quality throughout the food experience. Soseji has two different types of sausages that adheres to the flairs and seasonings of modern Korean cuisine and American cuisine. We get the corn cheese sausage piled with pre-packed smoked sausages fired on an array of gleaming oil or you can get the die-hard fan favorite “soseji” with the combinations of pork belly, rice, and delicious external toppings that overall makes the experience so much better.

The sausages are $7 and I think it’s worth it. If you do want your own soseji pack, I believe that the chef sells them in freezer pack so one pack should contain 5 and should be a grand total of $35 (I could be wrong on this part.)

In the future, I would like to see the original soseji, a new sausage for the corn/cheese, and maybe two or three more different prototypes. Steve has unlimited potential and power to tap in to make more fan favorites and hopefully a bigger cult following on epic sausages that are only unique to this area and inspiring to both Korean and American fusion flavors. I hope to see his small pocket restaurant get bigger and I hope to see Steve’s remarkable sausages gain bigger traction.