korean cookbooks

[mongo_jones]

hi all,

my wife has asked me to ask for recommendations for comprehensive korean cookbooks. she wishes to expand her range, and i am happy to assist her in this. she's a native korean speaker and is already an excellent cook so she doesn't need flashy books with nice pictures or exact directions (in other words it doesn't need to be the kind of thing that most americans would recognize as a "good" cookbook); she's looking for a korean cookbook aimed at koreans, not adapted to american tastes/kitchens. we'll be in los angeles next month, so recommendations for places in l.a where these might be available would be particularly welcomed.

thanks in advance!

mongo

[skchai]

There's really been an explosion in the quantity of cookbooks being published in Korea over the past decade or so, so your wife will have a lot of choices. Comprehensive cookbooks still however tend to be housewife's guides, which may not expand your wife's horizon's that much!

The foremost scholarly investigation of Korean cuisine, including discussion of historical antecedents (cultural gloss!) behind virtually every aspect of Korean food preparation and presentation remains Hanguk ui Jeontong Eumshik (Gyomunsa, 1990) by "national treasure" Hwang Hye Seong and her daughters Han Bok Nyeo and Han Bok Jin. Hwang has also published a number of more conventional pictoral cookery guides, which focus on the high end of home cooking.

For investigation of regional cuisines, there are a number of choices. a slim volume called Gohyang Eumshik ui Mat gwa Meot (Munhwa Gajok Shinseo, 1990), which digs out some particular interesting and (to me, at least) obscure regional specialties.

Interested in vegetarian food? I picked up well-organized guide to Korean temple cookery called Nun euro Meognun Jeol Eumshik (Uri Chulpansa, 2002), by Kim Eun Shik. He has also written a book about seasonal cuisine called Hanguk Sacheol Eumshik (Uri Chulpansa, 1997).

Some recent trends seem to be usual suspects: fusion cooking, diet and low-cholesterol, etc. . . Probably a lot more stuff too in the two years since I was last in Seoul. . .

[mongo_jones]

she mostly wants to learn how to make a full range of banchan. when we lived in l.a she didn't bother making much banchan at home since very good prepared versions were available, and cheaply, at a number of korean grocery stores. it is a different matter here in colorado. also, she wants to expand her repertoire of jigaes and such. personally, i also require her to learn to make all the naeng-myuns.

edit to add: thanks for the recos skchai. and no, we won't be buying the fusion books. unless that is there's a recipe for that gumball-nacho thing in one of them.

Edited April 21, 2004 by mongo_jones (log)

[skchai]

O.K., in that case, perhaps some of the better housewive's guides might be useful. The Jubu Saenghwal (Housewife's Life) magazine's comprehensive cookbook called Shikdan gwa Banchan 365 il is pretty good, though my copy is about 8 years old and the title might havfe changed in the interim. But it is one of the laconic kind that are often calling for "gajin yangnyeom" (appropriate seasonings). Woman Sense magazine also publishes a good comprehensive cookbook well.

No gumbo-nacho recipes, unfortunately. More like "Pot au Few (sic) with Ginseng" and "Dongdong-ju Marinated Cod Leeks (?) and Soybean Sauce" (recipe titles in English) from Fushion+ (Design House, 1999).

[jschyun]

I was going to comment on this after I could get to the bookstore, but still can't seem to remember the name. So, this is just to mention that on I think Olympic there is a bookstore that my family likes. I haven't been there myself in a while. Good selection, plus if you become a member (it's free) you get pretty nice discounts. I'm still trying to find out the name and will get back to you.

Also, since you are into gardening, there is a nursery, english name is Evergreen Nursery (8592 Garden Grove Blvd Garden Grove, 714-537-8877), but it's in Orange County. It's on Garden Grove Blvd. off magnolia. They have a pretty complete selection of Hungnong veggie seeds for $1.50 a packet, less than what you would pay in korea at current exchange rates. Lettuce, spring onions, altari radish, regular radish, napa cabbage, peppers, squash, chamae melon, korean style watermelon (ice box), you know, the basics. I don't recall seeing anything better in L.A. but if you do, pls let me know.

[jschyun]

Okay, here's the address to that place in l.a. we go to. If you find a better source, let us know. Honestly, I haven't checked out the bookstores, I only go to the ones that my family goes to because I'm a lazy bastard.

Springwater Book Imports Inc. (샘터서림)

3003 W. Olympic Bl #105

Los Angeles, CA 90006

(213) 380-8787

Edited May 6, 2004 by jschyun (log)

[mongo_jones]

thanks a ton--will report on findings. i doubt we'll find any place better, since my wife's family is supremely uninterested in things like cookbooks.

[jschyun]

Hey, I was just at the Springwater books branch in OC. It's caled GG Bookstore actually, but it's the same company. I knew it was there, but never went there before. Much easier parking than the L.A. store! Plus only a couple blocks from that seed place (really a nursery that happens to have a seed stash) I told you about.

I checked for banchan books and there were a ton of them. Also, remember if you are a member, you get discounts. I bought two books for $52 and I ended up paying $31 including tax.

G.G. Book Store (샘터서림)

9446 Garden Grove Bl.

Garden Grove, CA 92844

714-590-8787

--By the way, I bought one really expensive book that was almost $50 by itself, so usually the prices are less than what I just paid.

Edited May 8, 2004 by jschyun (log)

[mongo_jones]

skchai, jschyun,

thanks to your recommendations of titles and bookstore respectively we now own two monstrously sized korean cookbooks. one of them is indeed the updated version of the banchan book skchai listed, the other is one from the same series on chigaes and other soups. i'll post the exact names as soon as i can get my wife (who is supremely uninterested in online food discussion) to transliterate the titles for me. we'd wanted to get Hanguk ui Jeontong Eumshik but springwater books didn't have it.

mongo

[skchai]

Thanks for the report on the book-buying. Hope to hear more about cooking experiences with the chubu saenghwal books.

Sorry Hanguk ui Jeontong Eumshik was not available - it's not really a popular book; more for food geeks and cultural historians.

[shelora]

Hello,

Trying to navigate my way through the new Korean restaurants that have been popping up in our city.

Those little side dishes, I believe they are called Banchang (not quite sure of the spelling), have me really excited.

I have tried kimchee, which I love and the summer kimchee variety done with ginger. The taste I cannot get enough of though, are the bean sprouts done in a simple sesame dressing.

Does anyone have a recipe I could try at home. It seems to me the sprouts are cooked first, perhaps steamed?, then dressed in sesame - but not too much. I could just eat bowls of that.

Shelora

[Suzanne F]

For a book in English (needless to say, I do not read Korean), try Dok Suni: Recipes from My Mother's Korean Kitchen by Jenny Kwak. Dok Suni is a restaurant here in NYC, which, I've been told by Koreans, is quite authentic. At any rate, I like it.

[shelora]

Thanks Suzanne,

I've ordered that book and will recieve it sometime next week. I hope it has a recipe for bean sprout salad that I crave on a daily basis.

Shelora

[v. gautam]

Jschyun,

would you know if the korean store you mentioned carry Korean cultivars of spinach? Any other sources in US of Korean vegetable seeds? I know about Evergreen, which has great Korean cucumbers, but not spinach.

Thanks a bunch.

gautam

[jschyun]

Jschyun,

would you know if the korean store you mentioned carry Korean cultivars of spinach? Any other sources in US of Korean vegetable seeds? I know about Evergreen, which has great Korean cucumbers, but not spinach.

Thanks a bunch.

gautam

Evergreen does have Korean spinach, but it's just not advertised as such. The Oriental Spinach, Hybrid Ace looks exactly like the Korean spinach, down to the pink stem. Also at $1.60, it's quite cheap.

--okay the Hybrid Ace is advertised as Japanese but heck it's the same thing

Edited June 30, 2004 by jschyun (log)

[v. gautam]

Thanks very much. Had heard that the Korean cultivars were a bit more heat tolerant than the Japanese; no problem otherwise.

regards,

gautam

[jschyun]

Interesting. Had not heard that. Actually, if you read the blurbs on all of those spinach varieties that Evergreen sells, they're quite heat tolerant.

Yes, I don't like the American stuff, because it shrivels and bolts too soon for me. OTOH, I did have luck with the variety "Teton" , which I found on the Ferry Morse rack at Lowe's. Interestingly, the leaves of Teton are on the flatter side, as opposed to severely crinkled like that old American standby, Bloomsdale Longstanding.

Edited June 30, 2004 by jschyun (log)

[Behemoth]

Just got back from Seoul -- I bought this one:

A Korean Mother's Cooking Notes

Came very highly recommended from the owner of the Soul Selection bookstore. The writing style is charming, the recipes seem great, and I am looking forward to trying them as soon as *%&! British Airways finds our luggage...

[helenas]

I'm also in search for some good korean cookbooks.

Another egullter mentioned the following title recommended by her korean friend:

"Vignettes of Korean Cooking" .

Has anybody seen this book? I couldn't find more information except for the following:

"A Cleveland woman gives Americans one of the first glimpses into the complex cuisine of Korea in two cookbooks she has written.

In Vignettes of Korean Cooking I and II, Jae-ok Chang provides almost 300 recipes in both Korean and English for everything from simple broiled lobster tails to exotic cold cucumber soup with kelp.

All the recipes are authentic Korean, and each is illustrated with a beautiful photograph.

Chang and her husband, a physician, immigrated to Cleveland 30 years ago. She teaches Korean cooking classes. She wrote the books ``for my lovely daughter, Barbara, to pass on the Korean tradition.''

The cookbooks are $15 each at Asian Food Market, 2605 State Road in Cuyahoga Falls. The phone is 330-928-1969."

In the meantime i got a very nice little book called Kimchi and am planning to order Authentic Recipes From Korea - it's a new series from Periplus.

[kguetzow]

I must say WARNING! This can be frustrating. I have quite a few korean cookbooks ranging from books written for koreans to books written for non-koreans ,Dok Suni etc.. I have to say that ALL of these books are riddled with typos and recipes that don't work or make sense. Translation problems, proofreading problems, and not much recipe testing I assume. I am currently on Korean cooking marathon. Not gonna quit until it all tastes 100% authentic. When my Korean mother-in-law can't tell the difference between mine and her's I'll be happy. It amazing how counter intuitive this cuisine can be for an American. I am having lots of fun doing this and getting used to the fact these recipes are constantly screwed up. I wish there was a "bible" that you could always trust. Still searching, but until then I just cross reference every recipe with 2-3 books.

[Akiko]

kguetzow,

The same person who recommended vignettes to me said there is a "bible" published in Korean. Its several volumes long and comes in a series of ringbinders. There are step by step pictures and he insists that I'll be able to figure it out (I don't speak or read Korean) from the pictures, but I don't believe him. It would just take too much effort to figure out what the ingredients and measurements are.

But if you read Korean, I can easily find out the name. Do you already know the series?

I don't think Dok Suni's recipes are good at all.... too basic, flavors not pronounced,it just doesn't deliver the wow.

[mrbigjas]

When my Korean mother-in-law can't tell the difference between mine and her's I'll be happy. 

wow, talk about setting yourself up for failure!

[kguetzow]

kguetzow,

The same person who recommended vignettes to me said there is a "bible" published in Korean.  Its several volumes long and comes in a series of ringbinders.  There are step by step pictures and he insists that I'll be able to figure it out (I don't speak or read Korean) from the pictures, but I don't believe him.  It would just take too much effort to figure out what the ingredients and measurements are.

But if you read Korean, I can easily find out the name.  Do you already know the series? 

I don't think Dok Suni's recipes are good at all.... too basic, flavors not pronounced,it just doesn't deliver the wow.

←

Thanks, no I don't know of it. My wife reads Korean but doesn't cook, so she translates for me if neccesary. Yeah , Dok Suni was a dissapointment. But they all are hehe. There is so much assumed, handed down, grandmotherly knowledge that these recipes just have to be interpreted with grain of salt. I guess I'm just spoiled by all of my other great cookbooks. I would love it if Paula Wolfert would comment on the difficulties of capturing this sort of knowledge and creating a book that "works". Her classic book certainly does this and I don't have any problems like I do with Korean books.

[torakris]

I'm also in search for some good korean cookbooks.

Another egullter mentioned the following title recommended by her korean friend:

"Vignettes of Korean Cooking" .

Has anybody seen this book? I couldn't find more information except  for the following:

"A Cleveland woman gives Americans one of the first glimpses into the complex cuisine of Korea in two cookbooks she has written.

In Vignettes of Korean Cooking I and II, Jae-ok Chang provides almost 300 recipes in both Korean and English for everything from simple broiled lobster tails to exotic cold cucumber soup with kelp.

All the recipes are authentic Korean, and each is illustrated with a beautiful photograph.

Chang and her husband, a physician, immigrated to Cleveland 30 years ago. She teaches Korean cooking classes. She wrote the books ``for my lovely daughter, Barbara, to pass on the Korean tradition.''

The cookbooks are $15 each at Asian Food Market, 2605 State Road in Cuyahoga Falls. The phone is 330-928-1969."

In the meantime i got a very nice little book called Kimchi and am planning to order Authentic Recipes From Korea - it's a new series from Periplus.

←

I can't find anything about that book either, I think I will take a trip out to that store on my trip home (Cleveland) this summer as it isn't fall from my sister's house....

I have also been looking for a good Asian market in the Cleveland area, I wonder how good it is.

[chefzadi]

There's an English language book on kimchi's published by the Korean National Agricultural Board (or some such). It shows THE range of kimchi's and their preparations. I won it as part of the package prize in a kimchi making contest. So I can't tell you which bookstore carries it. The book is so comprehensive though that Korean MIL borrowed it from me and has not returned it. I don't think she ever will. But I will get the name and post.