This is a comprehensive cookbook focused on Korean home cooking.
The text begins with a 30-page introduction that discusses the Korean meal, the ingredients (with thumbnail pictures) and the equipment. There is also a short list of substitute ingredients.
The recipes are categorized as follows, spanning approximately 270 pages:
Rice
Noodles, Rice Cake Soup, and Porridge
Soups and Stews
Kimchi and Pickles
Side Dishes
Pancakes
Snacks
Party and Special-Occasion Food
Traditional Fermented Foods
Sauces and Garnishes
Desserts
Maangchi’s pancake recipes do not involve the use of pancake mix. For the more serious home cook, there are recipes to make your own kalguksu (“knife-noodles”) and sujebi (“hand-torn noodles”). For the even more serious home cook, there are recipes to make your own doenjang and gochujang.
The names of dishes are in English with the romanization. Hangul is not provided, which is something I prefer. The subject index is sufficient and there is a list of recipes at the start of each section (category). My one complaint is that the layout, although consistent, feels too much like a self-published project. It is sufficiently clear and readable but it could be much better. The print is on thick, glossy paper, properly bound with a hardcover, so in that respect it’s not cheaply produced.
Overall, it’s a solid text if one’s interest is in Korean home cooking, whether you are new to it or you are into the more intense aspects.
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