Last Updated on February 2, 2024, 5:27 PM | Published: February 2, 2024
OKLAHOMA CITY — One of my favorite bits of food journalism in the last decade occurred in an episode of Ugly Delicious, David Chang’s Netflix show, in which it was posited that Taco Bell’s entire schtick was largely ripped off from Mitla Cafe in San Bernadino, California.
But it was during that segment in which Michael Montaño, third-generation owner of Mitla, talked about how the restaurant’s cuisine was developed by necessity. His grandmother was looking for the ingredients she grew up with, but couldn’t find them or, if she could locate them, couldn’t afford them. So whole cuts of meat were replaced with ground beef. Vegetables were swapped. Sauces were modified. And all of it was done in the pursuit of finding something that tastes like home.
The drive to find the flavors of home is powerful. Just ask Jun and Judy Koo: it got them to create their restaurant.
When the Koos followed Jun’s job with Boeing to Oklahoma in 2014, the pair found themselves missing a staple of the Pacific Northwest—Seattle-style teriyaki restaurants.
“Seattle is a teriyaki mecca,” Jun said. “It’s on every street corner.”
Imagine if the El Reno onion burger was so popular that instead of three shops dominating El Reno, we’d have a thousand shops in every strip mall in the metro, making them the go-to to-go lunch option. That’s what teriyaki is to Seattle. It’s everywhere. It changes from shop to shop.
Then imagine moving away and realizing that you’re hundreds of miles away from a dish that is so familiar and comforting it’s like eating a hug. That’s what the Koos were missing and why they started up Krave Teriyaki, which recently opened a second location in nearby Norman in January.
I guess we can start by talking about just what teriyaki means and what makes Seattle-style teriyaki different.
Teri means “shine.” Yaki means “grill.” Put them together and you’ve got a dish where a sugar- or honey-infused sauce is basted, over and over again, on meat during grilling. The sugar caramelizes, sometimes spotting with char, and creates a shiny, sticky glaze that both flavors and insulates the meat.
The ingredients of the sauce vary, but the basics are soy sauce, mirin (a type of rice wine), and sugar or honey that are blended and boiled together until thickened enough to brush over meat.
Thanks to Judy’s family connections in Seattle, they had a good base teriyaki sauce to work with, but they worked to fine-tune it for the Oklahoman palate, with more honey for added sweetness and ingredients to boost the richness.
At Krave, the meats include chicken thigh, chicken breast, chicken katsu (a pounded thin piece of chicken that’s breaded and fried), beef, pork, shrimp, or tofu (which astute readers will note is not a meat, but is a protein source). This is usually served with a scoop of sticky white rice and sprinkled with black and white sesame seeds.
While teriyaki has long been available in Oklahoma City’s Chinese and Japanese restaurants, Krave’s teriyaki is less saucy and more sticky than what I’ve found elsewhere. That’s probably why diners are given small cups of sauce for dipping or to pour over their rice. It’s definitely got a sweet kick to it, but there’s a salty/savory base flavor that keeps it from becoming a meaty dessert. And with the option of the regular teriyaki or spicy sauce, it’s easy to make this a kid-friendly dinner while also appeasing adult palates.
Breast is fine, but for the flavor and texture, I prefer chicken thigh over just about any other protein. The fattiness of the thighs holds up better on the grill, meaning you get more of that delicious char without the meat overcooking.
Krave could stop right there and still be a success, but the menu goes a little deeper with some other Asian options. If the carbs are just as important as the meat to you, the yakisoba stir-fried noodles are the way to go. The slightly chewy, springy noodles soak up the savory sauce and the stir-fried vegetables (cabbage, carrot, onion) give the dish extra body and crunch. While I shy away from shrimp teriyaki, because the sauce overpowers the mild sweetness of the shrimp, it’s the best protein for the yakisoba. The juicy pop of the shrimp is a welcome interlude while slurping down the noodles.
The tempura udon takes chewy udon noodles and puts them in a mild, savory soup with lots of fixings—bean sprouts, veggies, slices of fish cake—with two jumbo tempura-fried shrimp on top. I love letting the soup soak into the bottom of the fried coating of the shrimp, giving each bite a contrast between the crunch of the batter, the flavor of the broth, and the bounce-back of the perfectly cooked shrimp. (If you’d rather have just the tempura shrimp and forget the soup and noodles, Krave serves them as a four-piece appetizer.)
There’s also a small selection of sushi roll basics. Don’t expect a lot of sashimi cuts or overly elaborate sauces here. This is utility sushi, but don’t underestimate the draw of a solid California roll or Philly roll to sate the occasional craving.
And as long as they’re frying up katsu and tempura, why not toss some heavily sauced chicken wings in the mix, too? Krave’s garlic butter wings are some of my wife’s favorites in the metro and I’m certainly not about to turn them down. The wings have more breading than you’ll find in most hot wing joints, but I think the added crunch and sauce-holding of the coating is a nice change of pace.
Jun said the key is in the process. The wings are marinated for at least a day before they hit the fryer, but then they rest again until an order comes in. That second trip to the fryer not only brings them up to temp, but it creates a big crunchy crust with plenty of nooks and crannies for sauce to hide.
And if there isn’t a Krave near you yet, just wait. The second location features a massive kitchen upgrade and the Koo family plans to use it as a central prep kitchen for more locations to come.
It might be a while before there’s a Krave on every corner, but in the meantime, it’s worth the drive to try it yourself.
- Krave Teriyaki
- 10749 South May Avenue in Oklahoma City
- (405) 242-2209
- 1808 West Lindsey Street in Norman
- (405) 857-2877
- kraveteriyaki.com
- Monday-Saturday 11 a.m.-9 p.m.
Long-time food enjoyer Greg Elwell writes about food, restaurants, and trends. He has his own blog "I Ate Oklahoma" and has written for The Oklahoman, The Oklahoma Gazette, and others.
