“The Very Best of Korean Cooking” by Discovery Media is a collection of simple recipes for beginners. There are 107 recipes organized in several categories including kimchi, hot pot, porridge, noodles and dumpling, complete with pictures and simplified steps for preparing each dish.
Compiled by three culinary researchers, the book supposedly reflects the Korean culinary principle that “food and medicine are in essence one and the same.” Each recipe in the book describes what aspects of the food in question will help heal or prevent illness. The book begins by focusing on vegetarian dishes, with an entire chapter on seasoned vegetables including japchae or noodles mixed with vegetables and mushrooms, and dotorimuk, a jelly made from crushed acorns, marinated in a variety of different sauces.
The book also covers more adventurous areas like dessert or rare appetizers such as sikhye, a cold soup with sweetened rice, and yukhoe, or beef tartar. The book also focuses on the importance of banchan, or garnishes and side dishes, in Korea food and it describes various traditional table settings. By Park Soo-mee
