Eating Korea

An energetic, fast-paced trip through the rapidly changing world of Korean cuisine by the author of Eating Viet Nam. Journalist, world traveler, and avid eater Graham Holliday has sampled some of the most exotic and intriguing cuisines around the globe. On a pilgrimage throughout the whole of South Korea to unearth the real food eaten by locals, Holliday discovers a country of contradictions, a quickly developing society that hasn’t decided whether to shed or embrace its culinary roots. Devotees still make and consume classic Korean dishes in traditional settings even as the cuisine modernizes in unexpected ways and the phenomenon of Korean people televising themselves eating (mok-bang) spreads ever more widely. Amid a changing culture that’s simultaneously trying to preserve what’s best about traditional Korean food while opening itself to a panoply of global influences and balancing new and old, tradition and reinvention, the real and the artificial, Holliday seeks out the most delicious dishes in the most authentic settings—even if he has to prowl in back alleys to find them and convince reluctant restaurant owners that he can handle their unusual flavors. Holliday samples sundae (blood sausage); beef barbecue; bibimbap; Korean black goat; wheat noodles in bottomless, steaming bowls; and the ubiquitous kimchi, discovering the exquisite, the inventive, and, sometimes, the downright strange. Animated by Graham Holliday’s warm, engaging voice, Eating Korea is a vibrant tour through one of the world’s most fascinating cultures and cuisines.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • An homage to what it means to be Korean American with delectable recipes that explore how new culinary traditions can be forged to honor both your past and your present. IACP AWARD FINALIST • ONE OF THE TEN BEST COOKBOOKS OF THE YEAR: Simply Recipes ONE OF THE BEST COOKBOOKS OF THE YEAR: Bon Appétit, The Boston Globe, Saveur, NPR, Food & Wine, Salon, Vice, Epicurious, Publishers Weekly “This is such an important book. I savored every word and want to cook every recipe!”—Nigella Lawson, author of Cook, Eat, Repeat New York Times staff writer Eric Kim grew up in Atlanta, the son of two Korean immigrants. Food has always been central to his story, from Friday-night Korean barbecue with his family to hybridized Korean-ish meals for one—like Gochujang-Buttered Radish Toast and Caramelized-Kimchi Baked Potatoes—that he makes in his tiny New York City apartment. In his debut cookbook, Eric shares these recipes alongside insightful, touching stories and stunning images shot by photographer Jenny Huang. Playful, poignant, and vulnerable, Korean American also includes essays on subjects ranging from the life-changing act of leaving home and returning as an adult, to what Thanksgiving means to a first-generation family, complete with a full holiday menu—all the while teaching readers about the Korean pantry, the history of Korean cooking in America, and the importance of white rice in Korean cuisine. Recipes like Gochugaru Shrimp and Grits, Salt-and-Pepper Pork Chops with Vinegared Scallions, and Smashed Potatoes with Roasted-Seaweed Sour Cream Dip demonstrate Eric's prowess at introducing Korean pantry essentials to comforting American classics, while dishes such as Cheeseburger Kimbap and Crispy Lemon-Pepper Bulgogi with Quick-Pickled Shallots do the opposite by tinging traditional Korean favorites with beloved American flavor profiles. Baked goods like Milk Bread with Maple Syrup and Gochujang Chocolate Lava Cakes close out the narrative on a sweet note. In this book of recipes and thoughtful insights, especially about his mother, Jean, Eric divulges not only what it means to be Korean American but how, through food and cooking, he found acceptance, strength, and the confidence to own his story.

In 1956 I was a young army draftee disembarking from a troop ship in Inchon, South Korea. I had no idea where I would be sent, or what I would encounter. We were conditioned not to question, but to follow orders. To the army, you are just a number on a dog tag, a pawn to be moved at will on their military chessboard. There were two things the Army could not train out of us drafted pawns: our resourcefulness and our sense-of-humor. The ability to overcome the difficult, and laugh at the ridiculous carried us through whatever we encountered. “In this robust, rewarding memoir, author Daniel Fiddler recounts his experience as a young US army draftee, deployed, as part of the U.N. peacekeeping mission to Korea, stationed in the tense Demilitarized Zone, just after war with North Korea had ended. From stifling summer heat, frigid winter cold, to the ever present danger of land mines, un-exploded ordnance, spies and infiltrators, Fiddler paints a deft, vivid picture of what it was like when the war was over but enemy guns were still pointed across the DMZ. A great read for anyone who was there or who wants to know what it was like to have been there.” Ken Luber, author Match to the Heart,—Everybody’s Shadow

Can food be both national and global at the same time? What happens when a food with a national identity travels beyond the boundaries of a nation? What makes a food authentically national and yet American or broader global? With these questions in mind, Sonia Ryang explores the world of Korean food in four American locations, Iowa City, Baltimore, Los Angeles, and Hawaii (Kona and Honolulu). Ryang visits restaurants and grocery stores in each location and observes Korean food as it is prepared and served to customers. She analyzes the history and evolution of each dish, how it arrived and what it became, but above all, she tastes and experiences her food—four items to be specific—naengmyeon cold noodle soup; jeon pancakes; galbi barbecued beef; and bibimbap, rice with mixed vegetable. In her ethnographic journey, Ryang discovers how the chewy noodles from Pyongyang continue to retain their texture and yet are served differently in different locales. Jeon pancakes become completely decontextualized in the United States and metamorphosed into a portable and packable carry-out food. American consumers are unaware of the pancake's sacred origin. In Hawaii, Ryang finds that it is the Vietnamese restaurant that serves unexpectedly delicious galbi barbecued meat. Intertwined in the complex colonial and postcolonial contexts, Korean galbi and Japanese yakiniku can be found side by side on the streets of Honolulu frequented by both the locals and tourists. In writing Eating Korean in America: Gastronomic Ethnography of Authenticity, Sonia Ryang is as much an eater as a researcher. Her accounts of the cities and their distinctive take on Korean food are at once entertaining and insightful, yet deeply moving. Ryang challenges the reader to stop and think about the food we eat every day in close connection to colonial histories, ethnic displacements, and global capitalism.

THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • NAMED ONE OF THE BEST NEW COOKBOOKS OF THE YEAR BY Epicurious • EATER • Stained Page • Infatuation • Spruce Eats • Publisher’s Weekly • Food52 • Toronto Star The dazzling debut cookbook from Joanne Lee Molinaro, the home cook and spellbinding storyteller behind the online sensation @thekoreanvegan Joanne Lee Molinaro has captivated millions of fans with her powerfully moving personal tales of love, family, and food. In her debut cookbook, she shares a collection of her favorite Korean dishes, some traditional and some reimagined, as well as poignant narrative snapshots that have shaped her family history. As Joanne reveals, she’s often asked, “How can you be vegan and Korean?” Korean cooking is, after all, synonymous with fish sauce and barbecue. And although grilled meat is indeed prevalent in some Korean food, the ingredients that filled out bapsangs on Joanne’s table growing up—doenjang (fermented soybean paste), gochujang (chili sauce), dashima (seaweed), and more—are fully plant-based, unbelievably flavorful, and totally Korean. Some of the recipes come straight from her childhood: Jjajangmyun, the rich Korean-Chinese black bean noodles she ate on birthdays, or the humble Gamja Guk, a potato-and-leek soup her father makes. Some pay homage: Chocolate Sweet Potato Cake is an ode to the two foods that saved her mother’s life after she fled North Korea. The Korean Vegan Cookbook is a rich portrait of the immigrant experience with life lessons that are universal. It celebrates how deeply food and the ones we love shape our identity.

Food of Korea: 200 Recipes was written to expand the foreign language orthography of the Korean food menu and to ensure that Korean food can be enjoyed throughout the world by developing recipes with consistent names. This book intends to widely promote the accurate names and recipes of Korean food while publicizing the uniqueness and originality embodied by the representative Korean foods.

This book explores the geography, history, government, economy, people, and culture of South Korea. All books of the critically-acclaimed Cultures of the World® series ensure an immersive experience by offering vibrant photographs with descriptive nonfiction narratives, and interactive activities such as creating an authentic traditional dish from an easy-to-follow recipe. Copious maps and detailed timelines present the past and present of the country, while exploration of the art and architecture help your readers to understand why diversity is the spice of Life.

"A comprehensive and up to date review of the field...provides detailed and Thorough discussions of all the key topics in the study of eating disorders"Zafra Cooper, Department of Psychiatry, Oxford University --