Korean Feast | From Traditional to Modern Korean Cuisine

To my dear readers:

Welcome to our revised website, www.koreanfeast.com! My last website crashed and, until now, I had trouble reviving it. Thank you for your patience. In this precious space, let us explore the wonders of Korean food as if we are talking and cooking together. Koreans call themselves a “rice and soup eating people.” On our masthead is a photo of a traditional Korean metal spoon and chopsticks.

Already ten years have passed since the publication of Growing Up In A Korean Kitchen: A Cookbook,Ten Speed Press, 2001. The response was gratifying. I was overwhelmed. You, the readers, were especially generous in your praise. Most major food magazines and newspaper reviewed the book and were exceedingly complementary. At last, I felt Korean food was receiving the attention it deserved.

When I began research for this book more than 40 years ago, few people, especially in the West, knew anything about Korean food. Truthfully, at that time, I was worried that Korean food might loose its culinary identity. Korean ingredients, sauces and dishes were often wrongly identified with other cuisines. I was very saddened by this because I knew what wonderful food I had grown-up with in my family kitchen. It was as refined and flavorful as any food I had tasted anywhere. I had traveled half the globe enjoying and learning about many national foods. For example, in France, eating Bouillabaisse reminded me of Saengsong Jeongol (Korean Seafood and Vegetable Hot Pot) and Bouf Bourguignon of Galbijjim (Braised Short Ribs). The sight of Formage de tete Porc (Head Cheese) reminded me of the boiled pig’s head my mother used to make at feast time. I loved to eat Choucroute Garni (sauerkraut casserole) because it tasted just like our comfort food, Kimchi Jjim (Braised Kimchi). Why shouldn’t the world know as much about Korean food as it does about other cuisines? I though maybe I could make a contribution. There were many other reasons for writing this book, but let save them for another time.

Speaking of Kimchi Jjim, I am presently completing a cookbook on kimchi, Korea’s culinary identity. I look forward to exploring the world of kimchi with you.

Anyonghi!

Hi Soo

Highlights of what you will find on www.koreanfeast.com

Book Index to Growing Up In A Korean Kitchen. Using the search button, you can easily find a particular recipe or ingredient. I am sure you will find the index very useful as it is in English, Romanized Korean and hangul, the Korean alphabet. You will no longer be dependent on my book’s inadequate index to find a recipe.
Finding a Korean Market in the United States and Canada is very easy with our new search button. More than 200 markets are now on our list. We welcome your input. If your local Korean Market is not listed, please fill out the form in the Korean Market section and we will include it.

Korean Culinary Tour and Kimchi Workshop

37th Annual Conference of the International Association of Culinary Professionals
Washington DC, March 27, 2015. Open to the public, see www.iacp.com

Kimchi Diplomacy: A Korean Immersion

Explore the Korean food wave with a trip to Northern Virginia’s Koreatown. We will start at Super H-Mart in Fairfax, part of a national 46-store chain, where I will guide you through the aisles and offer tips to selecting essential ingredients. At the popular Palace Restaurant, one of the dozens of Korean businesses in the area, I will demonstrate how to make authentic kimchi and how to cook with it. We will dine on traditional specialties including bibimbap, kimchi pancakes, bean curd and seafood soup, an array of panchan and barley tea. We will visit Siroo, a small rice cake factory, where the owner will reveal the secrets of making the sweet treats. Finally, we will head back downtown for a tea ceremony in a sarangbang (the outer room in a traditional Korean home for greeting guests) that has been beautifully reconstructed within the Korean Embassy’s Cultural Center, and the director will give a presentation. Each attendee will leave with a box of rice cakes, a copy of my cookbook, “Growing Up In A Korean Kitchen,” and a map of Koreatown restaurants.

Kimchi Workshop and Lunch at Palace Garden Restaurant