Growing Up in a Korean Kitchen

Growing Up in a Korean Kitchen
A Cookbook

By Hi Soo Shin Hepinstall

Growing Up In A Korean Kitchen
The American cookbook publishing industry pays little attention to Korean food...the cuisine remains as mystifying to non-Asians as it is intriguing. —Los Angeles Times, August 2001

Compared to other ethnic cuisines, Korean cookbooks in English are inadequate and hard to find. Raised in Korea, but having lived and traveled around the world for 35 years, author Hi Soo Shin Hepinstall sadly realized that the richness of Korean cuisine was little known to the outside world, and even to modern Koreans. Growing Up in a Korean Kitchen is the first comprehensive and systematic Korean cookbook available in English, grounded in tradition and adapted for today's kitchens.

Growing Up in a Korean Kitchen interweaves Hi Soo's childhood memories with recipes handed down by word of mouth for generations in her family kitchen. Discover Korea's hidden culinary treasures in over 175 recipes ranging from the sumptuous elegance of royal Celestial Hot Pot and mysterious temple food to the beggar's bowl of soybean soup and simple peasant cooking. Photographs of the people, places, and food of Korea help bring its culinary heritage to life.

Korean food is a near-perfect answer to our modern quest for a healthy, low-fat, delicious diet. It is pleasingly sour, sweet, hot, salty, bitter, and nutty—a happy marriage of intriguing tastes, often in subtle harmony, sometimes in surprising contrasts. Learn the art of Korean Barbecue or how to make the ubiquitous Kimchi. Delight in a refreshing Chilled Radish Salad, Braised Pork Spareribs, Stuffed Pan-Fried Shiitake Mushrooms, Asian Pears Poached in Rice Wine, Persimmon Punch, or Fresh Vegetable-Wrapped Rice, which, to borrow a Korean colloquialism, is "so good, you won't even notice if the friend next to you drops dead."

Growing Up in a Korean Kitchen is both a loving reconstruction of a time-honored way of life and a practical guide to traditional Korean cooking. It is a treasure, not only because it unlocks the door to a dynamic cuisine that is finally receiving more attention in the West, but also because it is so beautifully written, a simple but vivid portrayal of rural Korean life.

About the Author

Hi Soo Shin Hepinstall continues the cooking traditions passed on to her by her mother (pictured on the book's cover) and grandmother. Hi Soo, a graduate of the English Department at Ewha Women's University in Seoul, Korea, has written an award-winning Korean novel, which was made into a popular movie. She lives in Washington, D.C.

Buy the Book!

Growing Up in a Korean Kitchen
A Cookbook
By Hi Soo Shin Hepinstall
Ten Speed Press, September 2001
Hardcover, $ 29.95
ISBN: 1-58008-281-5
Information provided by the publisher.