Fried Seasoned Zucchini (호박볶음 hobak bokkeum)
Zucchini are coming into season in California now, and I received a medium-sized one in my community-supported agriculture package last week. I could have again … Read more
Confessions of a Kimchi Craver
There was a brief stretch in my first month in Korea when I stopped eating kimchi. I blame culture shock. I had not yet grown … Read more
Recipe: Kale Kimchi
Recently, I joined a CSA (community-supported agriculture) farm affiliated with our local community college. Our CSA promises, “a share of whatever is ripe and ready … Read more
Recipe: Cilantro Kimchi
If you read most Korean food blogs, they will tell you that Koreans don’t eat coriander, aka cilantro. They’ll tell you straight to your face that cilantro and Korean cuisine have never crossed paths before.
As the Ask the Korean blog reported a couple of years ago:
“Korea has never grown cilantro, and cilantro is not a part of Korean cuisine. …
But Korean people’s cilantro-hate is nonetheless interesting, because it is a nice reflection of Korea’s insularity.”
Banchan pizza: A second life for side dishes
Typical of many Korean households, my refrigerator is stuffed with little containers of leftover 반찬 banchan. Many recipes for those side dishes are scaled to … Read more
Restaurant: Kristalbelli, New York
The opening of “the next Korean barbecue restaurant” in midtown Manhattan by K-pop star and producer Jin Young Park has generated some controversy. Some think … Read more
Recipe: Chamchi Jeon (Korean tuna cakes)
Many keep some cans of tuna in the pantry as an inexpensive source of protein. But for a number of Americans, the only purpose for … Read more
Banchan for charity: Would you buy it?
Banchan is as intrinsic to 한식 hansik (Korean food) as pork is to Spanish cuisine. It would be anathema to have one without the other. … Read more
Korean Onion Relish
The onion does not have an ancient connection to Korean cuisine. But you wouldn’t know that, based on how popular the root vegetable is now … Read more
My South Korean Mouth
To gain an appreciation of Korean food, I needed to learn a new language for eating – a new way of decoding the dinner table. When I first arrived in Korea, I didn’t understand any of the food I encountered. Most of it was unrecognisable, and tasting became detective work.