I'm really lucky that I live in New York now, but sometimes when I’m on tour in smaller towns in the middle of America it's hard to find Korean comfort food. For me growing up it was Sunrise Asian Food Market, which is written about in the book and that's still in Eugene, Oregon. Maangchi has a really good reference list on her website where many of her readers submit different Asian groceries in their hometown. H Mart is the hero market in the book but I'm wondering if you have other sources for getting ingredients when you’re not near a Korean grocery? Or how back in the day the regional water had so much to do with how things are flavored, or how using local ingredients was born out of necessity. So these things that we think of as inherently Korean actually have an even longer history than that. One thing that was pretty eye-opening to me was that red pepper came from the New World in the 15th or 16th century. I read some reference books about Korean history and there was one that was very informative for me called Korean Cuisine. When you're looking back at your ancestral history or the cultural context of your identity, it’s natural to search for that in the food. I loved how you incorporated a lot of those references in your memoir. Many Korean dishes represent or symbolize something specific from the country’s history.
I can't wait to get a copy of Hooni Kim's book, My Korea. Robin Ha’s Cook Korean! comic book is really fun.
Sohui Kim, who runs Insa has this great cookbook called Korean Home Cooking that I really like. What other Korean chefs, cookbooks, or YouTubers do you love? I feel like people say never meet your idols but she’s been such a wonderful, generous addition to my life. she was like, “Come over for your birthday." She invited me to her apartment and made me dinner and got me a cake. I was like, “I'm just going to text Maangchi and see if she would be open to being on the show." She was down and we happened to shoot the episode the day before my 30th birthday.
#MICHELLE ISOAR SERIES#
Then last year I hosted a Munchies series and one episode was on Korean food. I really appreciate it and I’m touched by it." After that we kind of kept in touch, we followed each other on social media, stuff like that. I just read your essay and I feel like your mom or something. And while I was on tour, Maangchi called my phone. She's touched so many peoples’ lives, whether it’s people like me, or Korean adoptees who are getting in touch with their culture, or maybe people who married a Korean person and want to connect with them.Ī month or so went by, and I later found out that my essay won Glamour's essay contest of the year. I was so starstruck but I think she's used to it, in a very humble and generous way. I printed out my essay and gave Maangchi a copy. Maangchi and Hooni Kim, who runs Hanjan and Danji, were doing a talk in New York so I bought tickets. She was this digital guardian angel for me. So I started working on creative projects and the first essay I wrote was called “Love, Loss, and Kimchi,” which was largely about cooking along with Maangchi’s videos.
I was working at an advertising company and always struggled to be an artist. I met Maangchi when I first moved to New York in 2016. You write about becoming friends with Korean chef/YouTuber Maangchi (also the author of a few cookbooks ).
0 kommentar(er)
