A Korean Mother’s Cooking Notes
Product Description
A wonderful collection of recipes by Chang Sun-Young, whose sons and daughters-in-law begged that she write these down. The family project soon had enough recipes to become a book, and Mrs. Chang became a bestselling author in Korea. This full color cookbook includes sections on rice, soups, stews, meats, vegetables and the full range of Korean cuisine. The author’s personality shines through in the additional notes about friends, entertaining and foods for special … More >>
First, $99.95 for a used copy? Are you kidding me? This book retails for $28.00 and sells for $21.09 on another Korean bookstore site. Maybe it is $9.95? Most of the recipes are simple and straight forward. The directions are easy to follow, and the results are consistently delicious.
Rating: 5 / 5
This is the only book I have ever bought on Korean food that I still use regularly. With a few exceptions, I’ve almost cooked the entire book, and I have to say these recipes are the most simple and yet yield the best flavor. I don’t agree with the one negative reviewer here that this book is difficult with many vague instructions, in fact it is quite the opposite for me. I think that it may be true that being familiar with the dish you are trying to make beforehand helps, but usually people buy cookbooks when they are already familiar with the content inside. The only ingredient I ever had a problem finding was ginger juice, but it only calls for a very small amount so I just substituted some ginger paste with good results. Some ingredients need to be found in a Korean food store, which isn’t an outrageous request, but there is a helpful section on shopping in the beginning that helps you find what you need.
This is a book written for aspiring homemakers, so there are a few recipes that may not be of much use to culinary-minded individuals, like the homemade baby food chapter. Also, sometimes the format is a little disorganized. For example, a recipe may continue through, then you may find after that under a three-paragraph section titled “notes” that only the first part is a note, and the rest is the continuation of the recipe. Still, I have never cooked a bad recipe from this book, even the ones I had been very doubtful about. The book may seem small, quaint and boring when you first get it in the mail but don’t make the mistake of not trying any of the recipes. A warning, though: if you ever see this book priced at an outrageous price on amazon, try looking at other online retailers. This book is supposed to be about $20.
Rating: 5 / 5
I’m Korean, but have rarely ventured into the kitchen. I ordered this book and found it overwhelming. Even the instructions for basic dishes appear quite complicated and time consuming. There are few photos, and the photos that are in the book are quite small. One recipe calls for 2 pounds of “beef” but doesn’t explain what kind. Another recipe calls for “beef bones” but what the heck does that mean? How does one make “ginger juice” or “pear juice” called for in various recipes? I got the impression this book is geared for a homemaker who already knows their way around a kitchen, and not for a busy working woman/man without much cooking experience.
Rating: 2 / 5
I was looking for a good basic Korean cookbook, and this one fits the ticket. The instructions are clear, and the personal notes throughout are a nice touch. I did not want to pay $100 dollars (!) for a $25 book, so I googled the title and found it at a small, Korean specialty dealer for $25. (just a hint! ^_^ )
Rating: 5 / 5
Nice pictures, I would recommend reading the other reviews. There are 2 to 3 recipes that I would definately make – the others either don’t tempt me or are too hard to make. I found this book through a recipe on [...] called Korean Fire Pork – excellent recipe. If you want the recipe go there. The book lists for [...] on another site.
Rating: 4 / 5