Stick to the ribs

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That big ol’ sparerib on top is perfectly tender, if you were wondering

Every once in a while I eat a dish that makes me say: The people must know.

Here’s the deal: If you can take some heat - say, a Duff’s medium wing, without regret - you ought to check out this Korean kimchi stew.

It’s at a little place on Niagara Falls Boulevard just north of Sheridan Drive (1010 Niagara Falls Blvd., 836-5858). Called Koreana, it dishes up homestyle Korean to college students and families, mostly, many with links to the nearby University at Buffalo.

For $6.99, it comes with a bowl of rice, a plate of cabbage kimchi, and usually two other panchan, or side dishes. When I visited, it was marinated bean sprouts and greens with garlic.

Order two stews, and all this comes on the side - a meal in itself

The stew is the main deal, though. Flavored with pungent kimchi, it’s a pork rib broth, with at least one splendidly tender specimen lurking in its depths. Plus there’s chunks of tofu and Spam.

That’s right: Spam. It’s the ultimate marriage of bland and zippy. Don’t knock it till you’ve tried it.

Sooner or later I might migrate to something else on the menu. Or I might not. After all, was the Mona Lisa a first draft?

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Filed under pork, restaurants, soup