This is a book for those who are both serious about Korean cooking and somewhat familiar with the techniqes involved. It is also a great book for those who are looking to fine tune their Korean cooking skills or add onto their repertoire of Korean dishes since after almost every recipe there are suggestions for ways to modify the dish. Just as every individual has a way of personalizing a recipe, the author does the same however, the author's personalization does not detract from the flavor that the dish should have.

I would think that this is not a book for those who are just looking to begin because the book lacks specific technical description of preparation and presentation. It would be difficult for someone who is unfamiliar with Korean food to know what the outcome should look like since pictures of the final product are rare. If you are just starting out or if you prefer detailed step by step pictures and instructions "Practical Korean Cooking" by Noh Chin Hwa is a great book, although not quite as thorough as this one but still authentic.

36 of 37 found the following review helpful:

an intro to classic Korean cooking  Dec 31, 2003
By Larry Mark "editor of MyJewishBooks.com"
Many know Chinese, Thai and Japanese cuisine, eating it weekly, but few are familiar with or venture to cook Korean dishes. This book should correct this gap. The recipes in this book are influenced by royal Korean cuisine since they are based on the author's "Shin" family traditions, a clan that belonged to the Yangban family. One of 12 children raised in her family's Chongju City "house", she was exposed to many large meals, and celebrations that fed over 100 guests at a time. The book opens with a discussion of the Korean kitchen followed by a 15 page glossary of essential ingredients and utensils. Because these are classic recipes, some are complicated. This is followed by recipes for eleven essential sauces, such as a traditional soy sauce (kanjang) which takes 2 months to ferment. The book has over 50 recipes for main dishes, including 10 kimchi's; pickled cucumbers; pickled ginger; 13 soups, including seaweed, rice cake, and t'ang soups; mandu; and chatjuk pine nut porridge. There are over 80 recipes for side dishes, including seasoned eggplant and spinach; sauteed kelp; green onion salad; and a chilled radish salad (my saengch'ae) which can easily replace cole slaw as an American picnic staple. Stew recipes includes ones for tak tchim chicken stew and ch'aeso chongol vegetarian hotpot. There are recipes for 11 barbecues, as well as kimchijon, pinchajon, and puch'ujon pancakes. The book closes with several recipes for ceremonial dishes, desserts (including sighye punch and hwach'ae soup) and pori barley, ogote, yuja, ginseng, omija and ginger teas. Finally, every few pages, the author includes a shaded box that expounds on childhood, culinary or cultural memories as they relate to the recipe and food staple.

36 of 37 found the following review helpful:

How to learn traditional Korean cooking (ie- like Mom made)  Nov 23, 2001
By Chris B.
This isn't just a cookbook, it's a good book in general. The recipes become much more meaningful thanks to the author's explanation of how traditional Korean cooking methods are entwined with Korean culture.

I've looked through many 'Korean' cookbooks and never bothered with them because they really covered modern Korean-western fusion dishes, or referred to dishes by their traditional Korean name but gave instructions for very non-traditional preparation and presentation. If you're like me, you want a book that tells you how to make Korean food like Oma and Omanee made. This book fulfills that need 100%. It even goes so far as to tell you the tradional method for making your own soy saunce :)

I'm a complete novice cook (single guy) and, thanks to this book, I was able to make Ox Tail Soup correctly on my first try.

The ONLY negative comment I have is that the pictures are not in color, and none of the recipies show step-by-step pictures or illustrations. Still, the instructions are very clear so it generally is not a problem. But if you really want pictures for reinforcement, I'd recommend buying this book and another one with lots of pictures as a companion.

25 of 26 found the following review helpful:

truly authentic korean cookbook that bridges the gap  Jan 29, 2006
By jin-robbins
I have several Korean cookbooks (okay, I am a cookbook junkie and it is probably more like ten -- and, yes, there are at least ten out there, although many are hard to find and/or out of print, and then there is that whole subgroup of watered down ones written by Western missionaries that are . . . quaint). Until I found this one I mostly used Dok Suni by Jenny Kwak and Practical Korean Cooking (aka The Bible) by Noh Shin-Hwa. Dok Suni is great for a novice and has great stories about growing up Korean American. Practical Korean Cooking is like the Betty Crocker for Korean Food, step by step, and lots and LOTS of glossy colour pictures, but kind of skimpy on personality or writing and is known as the book Korean mothers give their daughters when they get married. Hepinstall's book bridges the gap between these two.

As with Dok Suni, Growing Up in a Korean Kitchen is written with much love and great memories about growing up in a Korean kitchen. Hers is that of a traditional Korean upper-class City household, and her book beautifully covers a comprehensive list of recipes including dishes traditionally reserved for the upper crust and royalty, replete with annecdotes and reminiscences from her childhood in a time and place that no longer exists. As I usually use cookbooks more as guidebooks than instruction manuals, I did not find the lack of pictures or "complete instructions" taxing; if you do, bundle this book with Noh's and you would have the whole package as recipe-wise, the books overlap a great deal, although the formats could not be more different.

I am an adult Korean adoptee whose rediscovery of my native culture began with my love of good, unWesternized Korean food. Everything I know about Korean food I had to learn through a tutor (she taught to to make kimchi [no measurements, mix with your hands, taste as you go, start with the informal i.e. easier kimchis and work your way up to the stuffed ones] and how to harvest fernbracken and seaweed), restaurants (I like the bustling country-style ones the best,and if they have those fat iron pots sunken into the floor out back, so much the better), and through my cookbooks. I recently moved out West and had to leave most of my cookbooks behind and like a fool I left this one in storage back East. I can remember how to make kimchi and banchan and pancakes and other favourites like yookgaejang, bibimbap, bulgogi, and kimbap, but anything else ---!!!! I miss it at least once a week, and that is more than I can say about the other nine!

25 of 26 found the following review helpful:

A magnificent book  Aug 29, 2001

I have been to Korea many times, I love Korean food and have found most Korean cookbooks unsatisfying. They usually simplify the recipes so much that the dishes taste like fast food. The wonderful thing I found about this cookbook is that it has the whole range of recipes -- from easy things to the more complicated dishes for more adventurous cooks. The other thing is this: I always look at cookbooks just before I go to sleep to think about what to make the next day and the book contains memoirs that provide really good nighttime reading. I got Sting's wife's cookbook last year -- which also has information about their family and it was neither interesting or moving as this one is. Plus, the recipes were so complicated that it was completely useless (unless you have a private cook like Sting does and he/she can spend all day cooking!). Anyway, this Korean cookbook will hold an important place in my kitchen.

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