In The Secret to Staying Young and Slim Korean Cuisine - Healthy Food, Full of Flavor, Yongja Kim opens us to her homeland’s cuisine. It is a world of clean, simple foods, often with intense flavors. Jean-Georges Vongerichten describes it beautifully in the headnote:
Spice, clean flavors, light broths, all of these things can be found in the Korean foods that I’ve come to know through my wife’s home cooking. In this book, Yongja Kim takes this tradition that I love and brings it to a new level of sophistication and understanding. She shows you how simple it can be to make amazingly flavorful food.
In this gorgeous, well-executed, and beautifully photographed cookbook, you will learn about the basic ingredients and the flavors and spices used in Korean foods. Ms. Kim also includes sample menus and serving suggestions. This cookbook will enable you to prepare authentic Korean cuisine at home. Short sections also add some serving and etiquette tips. After seeing Ms. Kim live, it is clear that her vast knowledge and considerable charm would only have improved this book had more of it been included. It’s a small quibble, and shouldn’t prevent anyone from purchasing this book. If you get a chance to take a class with her, take it!
Korean Food, Culture & Cooking Demo
Yongja Kim, a "gastronomy journalist", television cooking host and author of a seminal Korean cookbook on Western Food has now brought Korean food to the Western world. On a recent afternoon, a group of Boston's top chefs including Raymond Ost of Sandrine's, Patricia Yeo of Ginger Park, Tim & Nancy Cushman of O-Ya joined food writers and an the Boston International Women's Club for a delicious and enlightening afternoon.
Historical Origins of Korean Cuisine
One of the most interesting things about the cuisine is how many different types of dishes, and how large a variety of dishes, come from a relatively small number of ingredients. This culinary artistry at its best.
A recent luncheon and cooking demo by Ms. Kim at the home of Korean Consulate in Boston proves why Ms. Kim has been so successful as cooking show host. She has the gift of teaching that enables each student to feel the sense of possibility and the comfort of a friend close at hand to guide you. Her deep knowledge is transmitted in a light way that makes learning fun. For example, “the secrets to staying young and slim” is part of the title of the book and Ms. Kim said she must eat ice cream to not lose weight because her Korean diet keeps her so slim. The “obsession” with health and “food as medicine” is another aspect of Korean cuisine. Some traditional dishes like seaweed soup were initially given after childbirth. The secret of sea vegetables that they are rich in iron and minerals, as well as umami. This would, indeed, be restorative after childbirth, so it’s logical that this would become associated with health. Now, this soup is eaten on birthdays for a healthy start to the new year.
Ms. Kim began with a bit of context for an assembled group of chefs, food writers and International Women’s Club members at the Consulate luncheon. First she notes that the country is surrounded by water and by Japan to the Southeast and China to the North. Influences also include the strong sense of seasonality (Korea has four distinct season) and contact with Buddhism. The Royal Court of Korea were presented with the best of each season’s bounty from the commoners and the food of the Royal Court then became the model for the rest of the country, reinforcing seasonality. Another secret revealed.
Buddhism also has influenced Korean cuisine though according to Ms. Kim, writings from 372 AD indicate that Buddha did not expressly forbid killing animals for meat. Still, the meat-free diet became the staple of monks. Women who prepared meals for the Royal Court and for Buddhist monks in temples often left their posts as the got older and these older ladies then brought both styles of cuisine back to the commoners. For example, the steaming of rice cakes wrapped in chrysanthemum leaves, over pine needles which leaves a scent of evergreen in the rice cake, was a technique of temple cuisine they brought back out to the people.
Overall, the cuisine sampled in the demo was more delicately flavored than one might find in a typical Korean restaurant. The Galbi (short ribs, sometimes spelled as Kalbi) recipe was more restrained and enticing than the heavy garlicky-sweet-salty-sesame version that one might find.
Pajon or scallion pancakes get an umami boost from the addition of oysters. Ms. Kim keeps the ingredients limited so as to highlight the simple delights of the scallions and the oysters and makes them in bite sized medallions, easier for serving and eating. Another technique she uses is to remove the minced garlic, some or all, from marinades leaving the flavor but eliminating the chunks. Perhaps that’s the Royal Court style. Commoner or royalty, you will enjoy this food. Eat Korean! Stay Slim and Young!
Bulgogi - Grilled Beef with Soy Sauce and Sesame Marinade
Ingredients - serves 4
- 1 1/2 lb Beef Rib Eye, sliced 1/4”
Marinade:
- 4 TBSP soy sauce
- 2 TBSP water
- 2 TBSP sugar
- 1 1/2 TBSP sesame seeds
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 2 scallions
Combine the meat with the marinade when you are ready to grill. Grill over moderate heat until meat turns opaque. Turn it over, cook until lightly browned.
The Secret to Staying Young and Slim: Korean Cuisine, Yekyong Publishers, 2009. Available on Amazon.
Jacqueline Church - Award-winning writer, speaker, teacher on topics at the intersection of gourmet and sustainable food issues.
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