Cookbook Profile: Eating Korean

Eating Korean
From Barbecue to Kimchi, Recipes From My Home

by Cecilia Hae-Jin Lee

From aromatic hot pots to piquant kimchi (pickled cabbage) to classic bibim bap (rice bowls), Korean cuisine's exhilarating harmony of robust flavors, colors, and textures spices up any meal. And though Korean is an increasingly popular dining-out option, few people venture to explore the peninsula's rich culinary arts at home. In Eating Korean, Cecilia Hae-Jin Lee invites us into her family kitchen to reveal the secrets—and the surprising simplicity—of the "other" Asian cuisine.

This warm, evocative celebration of Korean food features more than 100 authentic recipes alongside fascinating historical morsels and personal remembrances. Lee's passion for the foods of her native land is rendered vividly in reminiscences—of early morning mountain hikes followed by soothing chicken soup with rice, or the cozy hum of activity in her mother's kitchen before a celebration—that bring Korean cuisine richly to life.

These enchanting narratives are the perfect prelude to the dishes themselves: the fragrant medley of Seafood Hot Pot, the intensely spiced Fire Meat, the scrumptious nuttiness of Sweet Spiced Rice, and a host of others. The dishes here cover all parts of the Korean menu-rice specialties; soups and hot pots; seafood, meat, and poultry dishes; desserts and snacks; side dishes; and more.

Eating Korean reveals how delightfully easy Korean dishes can be to prepare at home. Many hot pots and soups, for instance, can be on the table in less than half an hour of cooking time. Spicy, flavor-rich marinades, made with just a handful of ingredients, offer deliciously simple alternatives for barbecuing chicken, beef, and ribs. Quick, trouble-free preparations make the dishes in these pages ideal for any meal, from family dinner to holiday feast. The fact that Korean ranks among the world's healthiest cuisines makes it even more enticing—and not just for special occasions.

Lee also offers illuminating insight into Korean eating traditions—etiquette, essential foods, and key ingredients. A full chapter is devoted to the customs and foods of holidays and celebrations, including New Year, Harvest Festival, birthdays, and weddings. The book's 65 photographs and illustrations—of Korea's food markets and countryside, its bountiful tables and traditional celebrations—round out this captivating portrait.

In its beguiling presentation of a cuisine and culture that are at once wonderfully exotic and remarkably accessible, Eating Korean inspires us to explore the eye-catching, mouthwatering delights of the Korean table in our own kitchens.

About the Author

A first-generation Korean-American, Cecilia Hae-Jin Lee has been cooking since she was a child. Now living in Los Angeles, CA, Lee's articles have been published in the Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, and Korean Culture Magazine. She is considered the authority on Korean food by the editor of the L.A. Times, which included her recipes among its Top 10 Recipes of the Year in 1999 and 2000.

Buy the Book!

Eating Korean
From Barbecue to Kimchi, Recipes From My Home
by Cecilia Hae-Jin Lee
John Wiley & Sons
Hardcover, $27.50
ISBN: 0-7645-4078-5
Information provided by the publisher.