Learning Korean: Recipes for Home Cooking

by Peter Serpico, Drew Lazor

The best Korean food is Korean home cooking. The cornerstones of every meal are kimchi and white rice, and once you unlock that perfect marriage of flavor, the universe of wholesome, vegetable-centric cooking will inspire healthy eating, every day. In this insightful and endearing cookbook, new flavors, techniques, and ways to enjoy one of the world’s greatest cuisines are revealed by chef and father Peter Serpico.


Born in Seoul and raised in Maryland, Serpico’s route to Korean food came long after making a name for himself in New York City restaurants. His first bites of marinated short ribs and black bean noodles tasted like home, and a love affair with the flavors and techniques of his birthplace began. His debut cookbook draws from his decades of professional cooking experience to elevate the greatest hits of at-home Korean dishes. Serpico’s brilliant Instant Kimchi brings home the funk of fermented cabbage in record time, his hearty interpretation of gamjatang is a Spicy Pork Rib Stew to share, and his classic noodle and rice cake dishes borrow from grandma with clever spins for the modern, busy parent. BBQ fans will love a Korea-fied roast chicken and a sweet-and-spicy grilled cauliflower.


Across 100 recipes, Serpico shares his philosophy of eating, his personal journey into food, and a connection to family that promises satisfaction and comfort for cooks of all backgrounds. Also featured:



Beautiful photographs of nearly every dish, including more challenging techniques
An arsenal of condiments to elevate any meat or vegetable dish
Desserts and drinks that will appeal to even the pickiest child eaters
Tricks and tips for putting together healthy weekday meals

 

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Food, Nonfiction

240 pages, Hardcover

First published May 10, 2022

Reviews

[Elley Murray · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is just gorgeous, and I enjoyed both the author's journey into discovering more about his heritage and the delicious recipes! Some of the recipes are more authentic, and some are very American takes on Korean foods. Serpico shares his reasoning behind some of the tweaks or modifications he makes to recipes, or where they're handed down from, or little anecdotes like including a recipe because it's his daughter's favorite. Definitely a fun memoir to read and a great cookbook as well!

[Nina · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book on the shelves at the Coronado Public Library. I have been getting a lot of Korean cooking Reels on Facebook and it shows how easy it is to make Korean banchan, vegetables side dishes. I grew up eating this in Hawaii. My family and I liked eating Korean plate lunches and going to Korean BBQ restaurants. Until Facebook reels, I had no idea the foods were accessible to me.

Learning Korean is a book that makes it accessible to me. The chef, Peter Serpico is a Korean-American. Adopted from South Korea by white American parents. So he had his own learning to do about Korean foods. His story is a part of the book and his Korean cooking comes later in life as he marries a Korean-American with Korean parents. He learns lots of this stuff from his mother-in-law and adapts it to his own kitchen. He doesn’t make massive kimchi recipes to store in the kimchi fridge. But accessible side dishes we can make in smaller portions.

I will put this book on the list for future purchase! There are a few dishes I’d like to make.

[Joseph · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heard Peter Serpico interviewed on a podcast and my interest in this book was piqued. Peter was born in Korea in 1982 and given up to an orphanage. In 1984 he was adopted by a family in New Jersey. He grew up eating pretty pedestrian American food — burgers, fries, pizzas, and so on. His first jobs were in fast food joints and he just liked cooking. He had no interest in an ordinary college. He knew that he wanted to go the culinary route and enrolled in a culinary institute in Baltimore. He worked hard and from the culinary training went to work in upscale restaurants. His talent got him noticed and before too long he got a shot at cooking in New York. There he discovered Korean food and a woman who was ethnically Korean and who had grown up in Queens after her parents immigrated to the U.S. (Flushing in Queens is the epicenter of Korean food in New York.) His soon to be wife’s mother introduced him to Korean food and it was sorta like he found his soul. Basically he absorbed everything he could from his mother in law. The book documents his discovery of Korean food and its essentials through American eyes. He is almost messianic about that. I became a Korean food convert in 1973. Even though i essentially grew up in Ohio and never tasted Korean food until i was 27 or so I am near messianic about it also. My Korea born wife passed quite a while ago and for the last 11 or 12 years i have been learning about Korean cuisine to include making my own kimchi. I went through a lot of cookbooks, youtube vids, and consults with Korean folk along the way. I am not as good as my wife was, but i am decent. About a month ago i stopped at a local Korean grocery and bought five or six different kimchis. Ended up discarding most of it because in all honesty the stuff i bought there was not as good as that I make at home. If I had had Peter’s book 10 years ago, my journey to making good kimchi would have been much easier. He writes for the reader and the person who has no knowledge of how to prepare Korean food. His is one of the best cookbooks I have read.

[Julie Capell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having enjoyed many a meal in a Korean restaurant, I decided it would be fun to learn to cook some Korean food in my own kitchen. This cookbook seemed to be at the right level for me: the recipes are not too complex and the ingredients are pretty easy to find. There are lots of recipes for "basic" things (like 22 kinds of kimchi and 33 different banchan--side dishes!!) that are the base for or accompany other dishes. I haven't tried making any of these yet, since it's so easy to just get a jar of kimchi from the store.

In the "rice and noodles" section there are some more complex dishes but also some basics including great recipes for easy stovetop rice, healthy rice, and brown rice that have improved my rice output substantially (and since I'm gluten free, I eat a LOT of rice!). There are also several recipes for making noodles from scratch, accompanied by excellent photos showing every step of the process.

The other sections of the book are "Soups and Stews," "Meat & Grilling," and "Desserts & Drinks." I have tried cooking several already. The Kimchi Crab Fried Rice was excellent and, since it suggested using frozen crab, was simple to make. The Salmon and Kimchi was also easy and delicious. But so far my favorite was the Kimchi Pork Soup with Silken Tofu.

I can't wait to try some more of these great recipes!

[Trish · Rating 4 out of 5]

My obsession with KDramas has led me to this book. Food is incredibly important in Korean culture. This book is a fascinating read. It is written by a chef born in Korea but adopted and raised by an American couple and who only was introduced to Korean food as an adult. Read the extensive introduction. The recipes are straightforward. I can’t eat peppers so quite a few are out of the picture for me, but there are still plenty of options, and it is just interesting to decipher those dishes I see on my TV screen. My Walmart carries some of the Korean ingredients. Akron Library carries the book.

[Aasinathena · Rating 5 out of 5]

I never have encountered so many Banchan recipes in a book! Also I got to know stories about South Korea, that no one(even my Korean friends)talks about! Thank you Peter for sharing those stories and being an inspiration to all migrants who calls home USA! You rock!

[Dray · Rating 4 out of 5]

Korean food is definately getting exposure in the American food scene. This book is a very good home cook oriented collection with perhaps the best kimchi variety I have seen. The rice and noodle section also stood out for me.

[Sam Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Learning Korean is both practical and beautiful – Peter Serpico gives both novices and pros – a roadmap to the heart of Seoul.

[Pcox · Rating 3 out of 5]

Manageable, and hopefully tasty

[Danielle Mccoy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Could use a lot more pictures but the recipes seem easy to follow.

[Willow Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love this cookbook so much! Everything about it, from the way it's organized, to the bounty of pictures, to the overall simplicity, I just love this book. I'm literally so excited to visit H Mart, stock up on everything and make like every recipe in here!