A Korean Mother's Cooking Notes

by Chang Sun-Young

A wonderful collection of recipes by Chang Sun-Young, whose sons and daughters-in-law begged that she write these down. The family project soon had enough recipes to become a book, and Mrs. Chang became a bestselling author in Korea. This full color cookbook includes sections on rice, soups, stews, meats, vegetables and the full range of Korean cuisine. The author's personality shines through in the additional notes about friends, entertaining and foods for special days.

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Food, Reference

212 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1997

Reviews

[Danielle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Of course I wish it were longer, but what is in here is well done! Very simple homey recipes for the most part, more in the way people really cook for themselves today than some of the other Korean cookbooks in English that I have. I’ve tried and enjoyed a few recipes in here already.

[Mary Rude · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a really interesting cookbook, and the rather judgmental attitude of the author did give me a real sense of what it must have been like to learn cooking from a nitpicky Korean tiger mom! But I did have trouble with the couple recipes that I tried -- for example, the water to flour ratio did not seem right when I made the pine needle rice cakes. And this cookbook doesn't include some of my favorite Korean dishes, like tteokbokki, perhaps because this traditional mother wouldn't consider that properly traditional Korean food.

[Joseph · Rating 5 out of 5]

Forgot I had this book ... didn't know I had so many Korean cookbooks. This one is a gem. Essentially this is a cookbook written by a Korean woman for Korean women, specifically her daughters and daughters-in-law. She knows what she is talking about and it is clearly a labor of love.

In the introduction the author notes that she turned to her sister to relearn her cooking skills and her sister would respond "Oh, you just do it, there is nothing to teach," but there was so much to learn. This response is profound in its simplicity. This is almost exactly the way my Korean wife would have responded. Her words might have been "I can't give you a recipe, but I can show you how to make it" (and she would). The opening to this book is -- for me at any rate -- authentic.

The author discusses ingredients more extensively than in any other Korean cookbook I've seen. For example, the author talks about roasting coarse salt and the differences in salt (ah, Morton is a salt of last resort). Another recipe I really liked was the one for pibim pap (bibim bap). The recipe details everything, starting with how the rice should be cooked (a bit drier than normal) to preparation of each individual ingredient (beef, carrots, cucumber, bellflower root, mushrooms and so on).

I'd also single out her recipe for hot radish kimchi (kkaktugi) as being very well detailed. She also includes suggestions for add ons and substitutions.

Finally, the author has spent time in the States, the Philippines and Indonesia. She adapts her recipes to what is available in other places especially the States.

[Maxine · Rating 5 out of 5]

written by a mom!