Korean Cookbooks?

[Skillet Doux]

I figure I'll ride the wave of this obsession while it lasts.

Anybody have any recommendations for Korean cookbooks?

(I'm looking at you, Christina.)

[Lunchbox]

I'll check with my cousins who adopted a Korean baby last year and frequently cook his native food for him... He's two and he eats more adventurous stuff than most people I know...

LBX

[sinosoul]

The Kimchi Chronicles Book is ALL the rage right now. It has a famous chef attached and that "actress" factor. But uhmm....

This is the one I recommend to folks looking for THAT Korean cookbook: Discovering Korean Cuisine: Recipes from the Best Korean Restaurants in Los Angeles. It's easy to see why: 1) I've always said this: I hate Korean cuisine methodology 1a) I hate paying for (often subpar) panchan I don't want 1b) I don't enjoy only 1 "entree" 2) Korean food is expensive by Asian food standards, even in LA 3) obviously, the book is geographically pertinent, and the restaurants are mostly still there. 3a) It makes me feel rather smug when I drive by these joints and think: hey man, I never have to pay for your shit ever again.

Don't expect narratives so typical of hip biographical cookbooks. There are no stories of how so-and-so immigrated from Pusan in 1965. And that's reason 4) why this is the Korean cookbook I buy for everyone (I literally keep spare copies of this in case of emergency foodnerd birthdays/Xmas).

The other 2: Quick and Easy Korean Cooking by Cecilia Hae-Jin Lee (who lives in LA and contribs to LAT), and Growing Up In A Korean Kitchen: A Cookbook by Hi Soo Shin. Cecilia learned from her first book and dropped the personal narratives for her second, but people complain the recipes are TOO simple this time around. You can't win 'em all. Hi Soo Shin's book.. damn, I don't want to read about your childhood, seriously.

[Skillet Doux]

You rock, sinosoul... thanks!

[olllllo]

Is it too optimistic to think that you should consider affiliate links here Dom?

You never know if a post blows up.

[Skillet Doux]

As a matter of philosophy, I'd prefer not to ever do that unless we absolutely have to.

[Lunchbox]

My cousin recommended: "The Korean Table: From Barbecue to Bibimbap 100 Easy-To-Prepare Recipes"

Here's the amazon link:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Korean-Table-Barbecue-Easy-To-Prepare/dp/0804839905/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1346901276&sr=8-1&keywords=The+Korean+Table%2C+from+Barbecue+to+BiBimBap

Now I know they're not the most handy in the kitchen, so this could be a rather simple cookbook. But that might be a good place for people to start. To quote my cousin: "It is a good starter cookbook that touches on a lot of the traditional Korean foods and helps you learn how to use their spices well, etc."

As I said, they adopted a little boy from South Korea last year and have continued to cook Korean food every now and again for him as he spent his first year there before they brought him home.

LBX