Quick and Easy Korean Cooking (Gourmet Cook Book Club Selection) [Paperback]

Cecilia Hae-Jin Lee (Author)

Book Description

Series: Gourmet Cook Book Club Selection | Publication Date: March 25, 2009

Imagine sitting down to a sumptuous and fragrant dinner of Dumpling Soup with Rice Cakes after a long day of work. And a hot summer afternoon just begs for a picnic basket stocked with Chilled Cucumber Soup, delicate Chicken Skewers with Green Onions, and Seaweed Rice Rolls. Using ingredients that are readily available and techniques already familiar to home cooks, these Korean specialties can easily be dinner any night of the week. With appetizers and snacks, soups and hot pots, side dishes, entrees, rice, noodles, and a whole chapter devoted to kimchi, Quick & Easy Korean Cooking will bring new flavors to the dinner table.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Cecilia Hae-Jin Lee is a first-generation Korean-American who has written about food for the Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, Food & Wine, Eating Well, and Korean Culture. She lives in Los Angeles.

Julie Toy is a Los Angeles-based photographer.

Product Details

• Paperback: 168 pages
• Publisher: Chronicle Books (March 25, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811861465
• ISBN-13: 978-0811861465
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 8.7 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (39 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #33,791 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #48 in Books > Cookbooks, Food & Wine > Regional & International > Asian

More About the Author

Cecilia Hae-Jin Lee was born on a cold winter morning in 1970 in a tiny hospital on the outskirts of Seoul. She and her family immigrated to the United States in the late 70s, wearing bell bottoms with a funkadelic soundtrack playing in the background. She learned English in Pennsylvania but spending most of her formidable years in the various communities of Los Angeles. She's worked since she was 9 years old, pumping gas at her dad's gas station, slinging pizzas, and running the cash register at her parents' Mexican market. A lover of food, travel and images, she decided against a career in medicine to pursue writing and the arts. When she's not exploring the wonders of the world, she's pulling weeds in her vegetable garden in the City of Angels.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Korean Cooking...Simplified (Recommended for Beginners), July 21, 2009

By 

Doc Dave "world music fan" (New York City) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Quick and Easy Korean Cooking (Gourmet Cook Book Club Selection) (Paperback)

(What's this?)

Ok, so this book is not a scholarly dissertation on Korean cooking. In fact, au contraire, it is extremely minimalistic. Most recipes contain a 2 sentence intro, less than 10 ingredients, and less than 5 steps, and among the most exotic ingredients it calls for is korean chile paste. It is not difficult to see grandmas in Middle America pick up the book, and cook through the entire book.

There is a fair representation of recipes from the familiar like korean barbecued beef ribs, to the unusual like black rice porridge. If you are looking for the definitive tome on korean cooking, this is not the book. But if you are a beginner and/or just looking for new recipes to broaden your weeknight repertoire, this book will more than do justice in introducing simple but authentic korean flavors.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Recipes really are quick and easy, July 28, 2009

By 

S. Smerud (San Diego, California USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Quick and Easy Korean Cooking (Gourmet Cook Book Club Selection) (Paperback)

(What's this?)

The author fulfills her promise by providing recipes that truly are quick and easy to prepare. There can be a little decrease in flavor and complexity that comes along with a quicker preparation, but few people can prepare large complex meals every night. For the small amount of time invested in preparation, the author provides unique and delicious dishes. Two small downsides are (1) with all the beautiful photographs, there are not photos of many dishes and (2) there are some ingredients that are not available in most supermarkets, but are available on the Internet (and she provides sources in the book).

Overall, a great book that delivers what the title promises!

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Looks like a decent intro to Korean food, August 12, 2009

By 

Brian Connors (Yarmouth, MA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Quick and Easy Korean Cooking (Gourmet Cook Book Club Selection) (Paperback)

(What's this?)

It was when I saw this available that I realized two things: 1) I don't have any Korean cookbooks, just a smattering of Korean recipes in other books, and 2) I like kalbi, so this ought to be good. And you know what? It is.

This is actually part of a series Chronicle Books has been putting out for some years that, as far as I can tell, began with Madhur Jaffrey's Quick & Easy Indian Cooking and mostly focuses on Asian cuisine. It's not a deep introduction; while it's perfectly readable, it doesn't go into deep history or tell many of the stories behind the dishes (which among other things leads to no acknowledgement of the obvious similarities between gimbap and sushi). But it does give all the basics of a Korean meal, with a selection of typical and fairly simple recipes with lots of gorgeous food photography, including a half dozen or so different types of the ubiquitous kimchi (spicy pickled vegetables).

I'm a little concerned about the value for price; for what Chronicle is charging for their books these days, this would be fine for a hardcover, but it seems like even allowing for inflation over the last couple of years their cover price is a little high. If you don't have any books on Korean food, this is a great way to get into it; just make sure you buy it at a discount.