Great Korean BBQ Cookbook

[Janet P]

A friend recently gave me "Korean BBQ" by Bill Kim. He and his wife apparently have at least one restaurant in Chicago. One of the things that is great about the book is that he has an array of foundation sauces, the recipes for which are in the back of the book. Once you've made some of them, you can make a number of recipes in the book, or just wing it with different vegetables or proteins. I've made a lot of his vegetable recipes, all of which are good: thai basil eggplant (using Italian-style basil which is what I grow); grilled Romaine hearts with feta and Nuoc cham sauce, which was awesome; blackened BBQ Tofu. Variations including grilled corn cut off the cob mixed with Lemongrass Chili Sauce and cauliflower steaks with Korean BBQ sauce.

His style is a combination of authentic homestyle and fusion, and he's unpretentious. Highly recommend!

Book Link

[TripleB]

I always have enjoyed the depth and complexity of Korean cooking, but also intimidated by it. So many ingredients that I don’t normally use. Especially the sauces. I grilled Korean short ribs last night and made the marinade from scratch. Everything else (except for the rice), I bought (Kimchi and veggies).

I need a Korean cuisine tutor

[shify]

I love Korean food and love experimenting. Use gochujang and gochugaru a lot.

Highly recommend Maangchi’s website https://www.maangchi.com/ . She’s my first stop for all things Korean. Actually going to cook Korean tomorrow (likely chicken buldak and some ssamjang) and will be using a few recipes from her site.

[barelfly]

shify - Maangchi is awesome! I’ve used a number of her recipes. Her kimchi recipes….omg they are excellent!

[Carolyn]

shify Thanks, I bookmarked that link.

[John Henry]

Many thanks, Janet P. I plan to purchase the book, thanks to your great post.

[Bkhuna]

I love Korean food and have been to Korea with a Navy buddy and his Korean wife. I'm fortunate to have one of those humongous Lotte Markets in the city.

Thumbs up to Maangchi.

[Old Glory]

Very good book. I have made a few things from it. Hardest part is sourcing ingredients.

[Janet P]

I haven't had a problem with the ingredients around here, but I was forced to order shichimi togarashi from Amazon. I haven't used it yet.

[fzxdoc]

Thanks for the tip. I'll look into it. Sounds good!

Have you looked at either of Maangchi's cookbooks, or her You Tube videos? I have her first cookbook, but she has a newer one out. I really trust her Korean cooking recipes and tips.

Here's a Maangchi video on making bulgogi:

Edited to add, OOPs, after posting this, I saw that shify had posted about Maangchi's cooking as well. It's great to be in such good company! Great minds, shify.

A second edit:
Aaaand, I'm back again. I just requested a copy of Bill Kim's cookbook from our local library. That way I can check it out before buying. Thanks, again, Janet P , for the recommendation.

I also requested Maangchi's second cookbook to scope it out as well.

It's going to be fun looking through these cookbooks.

Kathryn

[Janet P]

I'll definitely be checking out Maangchi!

[58limited]

Just bought a copy; like I need more cookbooks....

[fzxdoc]

That's why I decided to hold off until I vet the copy from the library.

I just culled my cookbooks last year and don't want to add more unless they have 5 or more recipes that I like. That's my new rule. Still seeing how that works.

Most cookbooks only have one or two recipes that ring my chimes. For those, I take a photo of the pages I like and put them in Paprika, and return the books to the library.

Kathryn

[Janet P]

I know what you mean: I really need to cull my cookbook collection. I have some that are falling apart, and some that I have never used!

[Attjack]

Looks like I own that book on Kindle but I haven't used it yet. I'll have to give some of those sauces a try.

[Michael_in_TX]

I always have enjoyed the depth and complexity of Korean cooking, but also intimidated by it. So many ingredients that I don’t normally use. Especially the sauces.

I'm a huge fan of Aaron and Claire: https://www.youtube.com/@AaronandClaire/videos and https://aaronandclaire.com/

One thing I really appreciate about Aaron's videos is that he will tell you what you can use for hard-to-find ingredients. I cook one of his recipes at least weekly, if not more.

They came out with a cookbook late last year, which I have, but I usually just go off his videos.

[58limited]

I bought a used copy off of ebay and it arrived today. Surprise surprise - it is signed by the author.