Let’s be sure to give full attribution for today’s mouthwatering cover image.
The photo is by Jenny Huang; prop stylist is Beatrice Chastka, and food stylist Tyna Hoang. It’s from KOREAN AMERICAN: Food That Tastes Like Home, a cookbook by Eric Kim (written with his mom) that has been added to my wish list (come to papa, sweet tax refund).
It seems to me that Louisville has a strong Korean restaurant game, with stalwarts like Lee’s Korean Restaurant, Sarang, Koreana Restaurant III, GOGi 1055 Korean BBQ and several others. I have fond memories of Kim’s, seemingly gone so long that no evidence of its existence remains on the internet.
This said, my own knowledge of Korean cuisine is fragmentary at best, apart from an abiding affection for kimchi.
As a primer, Janet W. Lee enlists the assistance of the aforementioned Eric Kim, contributing this overview for National Public Radio.
How to start cooking Korean American food
Whether you are a fellow Korean American who craves the taste of home or you are interested in exploring a new cuisine, Kim and I will walk you through pantry essentials and simple recipes to welcome more Korean flavors into your own home.
There’s also a Korean cuisine piece by Sora Childress at The Spruce Eats: “11 Traditional and Classic Korean Dishes.”
Koreans use a huge range of vegetables from wild greens to the leaves of flowers, everything from the sea including seaweed and jellyfish, and all types of meat and poultry in diverse preparations. Koreans may have numerous ways to pickle vegetables and wild greens for long storage, but they also prize raw fish and raw meat dishes.