Hisoo Shin Hepinstall

This is one of my favorite cookbooks by far - I love Korean food, but I also love how this book weaves the recipes together with memories of the author's childhood, providing a very day-to-day context for the significance of certain recipes, from the cultural context for special feast days to notes about seasonal foods and her mother's garden.

The recipes are clearly laid out and most are much faster and simpler than the list of ingredients might suggest. Many vegetable dishes, for instance, are cooked quickly then tossed in very similar dressings, so you'll use those ingredients frequently. And many of the longer complicated dishes are simply several of the vegetable dishes combined in different ways with some type of meat and rice or noodles or broth.

She covers a broad variety of traditional Korean dishes, but not always with the same translations you'll find in other cookbooks or online. I've found it helpful to try things her way once then explore other variations to see if I prefer simpler alternatives or simply new combinations.… (meer)