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

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Key Phrases: seasoned soy sauce, anchovy stock, vinegar chile sauce (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

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.

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: 8.8 x 7.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #28,532 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 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

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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.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What an awesome Korean cookbook!, July 21, 2009

By	Laura I (Fairchild AFB, WA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

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I love Korean cooking, but it can be hard to find a good Korean restaurant now that I'm living in the inland North West. I first fell in love with Korean cooking after having a Korean roommate in college, who introduced me to a lot of the foods.

The title of this cookbook, "quick & easy" is very accurate. I was surprised by how simple some of the recipes were, with few ingredients and simple preparation. However, "quick" is relative, as some recipes require prep-work, such as soaking an ingredient over night.

You're definitely in luck if you live near a Korean grocery store, but if not, you can probably still get by without having to order ingredients over the internet. Most of the ingredients I can find in the Commissary on base, and a lot of the others I can easily substitute. For example, instead of "rice sticks", just use wooden skewers. Or, instead of "Korean Chile Powder", just use regular chile powder. No, it's not exactly the same thing, but it's close enough. Just check the asian section of your grocery store, you may be surprised by what they carry.

I've already made a couple of these recipes, and they were great! I should preface this by saying that I'm a vegetarian, but I don't like to limit myself to strictly 'vegetarian cookbooks'. I just substitute real beef with fake beef or tofu, and make the recipe accordingly. A lot of the recipes in here are also really healthy, such as Kimchi. Kimchi is probably one of the healthiest things you can eat, with all those vegetables and spices.

Give it a try and don't be afraid to experiment!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Solid cookbook that doesn't compromise taste or authenticity for speed, August 12, 2009

By	Boston Book Addict (Boston, Mass.) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

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I will admit that I'm the opposite of many cookbook purchasers. When I see quick and easy in a cookbook title I get nervous rather than excited. It isn't that I don't think that good food can be quick or that I'm never pressed for time. It's only that I question whether flavor or authenticity (especially in the case of an ethnic cookbook) will be compromised to make the dishes quick and easy. Thankfully my fears were unfounded, for the most part.

The cookbook is beautifully art directed, informative, and recipe-packed. In other words, it's exactly what I've come to expect from the Gourmet Cook Book Club based on previous titles I own. The only difference is that for me this is the first title that is more suited toward weeknight meals and cooks of all skill levels. It has a great introduction that is informative in learning about Korean cooking as well as a nice list of pantry staples. This is especially helpful because in some cases it may seem like you can substitute ingredients with things that are more widely available or used by other Asian cuisines and the author does a nice job of highlighting the differences.

The recipes themselves are also great. She does a good job of picking recipes that do not feel Americanized and yet, will appeal to a wide array of palates. I especially enjoyed seeing my favorite restaurant dish, bibimbap, as well as a wide selection of kimchi and other pickled recipes.

There were just a few things I would have liked to be done differently in the book. The first is that I would loved more pictures of the food and ingredients. I find this to be helpful whenever learning how to cook a new cuisine. There were a few, but there were also a lot of pictures devoted to capturing the Korean culture. I think these do a good job expressing the mood and giving context, but I prefer them when there are also a lot of food shots. The second is that there were a couple of recipes that included premade ingredients, my guess to make things simpler and faster. I don't mind this, but when it's something like dumpling soup and the dumpling is a big part of the dish I would prefer to have the option to make it homemade or buy from the store. It made me a little sad that there were no dumpling recipes in the book whatsoever. Although I did appreciate that she gave tips of what dumplings would work best for the soup.

Overall this is a great book. There are a lot of dishes in here that make great weeknight meals and the author gives you enough tips and guidance to help make them a success. This is a great cookbook for home cooks of varying skill levels and levels of familiarity with Korean cuisine.