Eating cow at a Korean BBQ has never been so humane

America would be full of vegetarians if everyone had to kill, clean and cook the cows ourselves before eating burgers. Sure it's easy to order a Big Mac and not think about it. The slaughterhouses make us feel uncomfortable — for good reason. How many people actually visit a slaughterhouse? I don't want to visit one. I'd probably cry. I always wimp out when my friends invite me spear-fishing. I just don't like killing things.

So call me a snob, but when it comes to killing, I want it done right. It should be respectful. There is a line in Gary Snyder's book, "The Practice of the Wild," that illustrates what I am trying to say: "Other beings do not mind being killed or eaten as food, but they expect us to say please, and thank you, and they hate to see themselves wasted." So the next time you see me talking to my food, don't laugh.

Back when I was making sushi, the head chef took the other chefs and I to Tsuruhashi in Fountain Valley. Tsuruhashi is tucked into the side of a strip mall on Brookhurst. A small red paper lantern hangs outside, painted with a Chinese character. The windows are shaded, making it hard to see inside. It's easy to miss and finding it for the first time takes some effort.

Inside, the sounds and smells of barbequed meat sizzle away at the tables. Each booth has a little barbeque in the middle of the table for cooking the cow. After ordering pitchers of Kirin, we inquired as to the nature of the egg drop soup and the waitress told us that they use a stock from beef that isn't used for barbeque. "We use everything," she said.

With a nod to the sacred cow, we ordered the egg drop soup with the Family Plate B. Tsuruhashi sells the Family Plate at an insanely good price Monday through Thursday. Plate A — which doesn't include things like tongue, intestine and liver — costs $15. Plate B, on the other hand, is $20 and includes all those parts that, although sounding scary, usually taste better than the rump. It easily feeds three.

The presentation was beautiful when it arrived. The sashimi-style beef slices invited us to grill them. They just looked so nice there on the plate. It looked like a celebration. We were hungry and we ate. The egg drop soup was tremendous. I pondered further about the ingredients, squeezing as much information about the recipe from the waitress as possible. The meat was cooked perfectly, thanks to us since we were the ones doing the barbequing.

If I were a cow, I would be stoked to end up at Tsuruhashi. The chefs have some respect for the main ingredient. It would be better than ending up at McDonald's, but I suppose the streets of India wouldn't be a bad place either.

Tsuruhashi — 18798 Brook- hurst, Fountain Valley, (714)593-8393. Lunch — 11:30 p.m. to 2 p.m. Dinner — 5 p.m. to 1 a.m.

Sean Orfila is a senior journalism student at CSULB. He keeps a Web journal at www.goeatr ice.blogspot.com.