Categorized | Food

Cookbook focuses on Korean food

MEDIA RELEASE

Korean food is but one of the many cuisines that make up Hawaii’s delicious mixed plate. But did you know that Korean food in the islands is not the same as Korean food in Korea?
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In her new book, author Joan Namkoong, shows how the cooking brought by the first immigrants adapted to available ingredients to become the Korean food so popular in Hawaii through the mid-20th century — salty, sweet, spicy and bold flavored with an island twist.

Later immigrants brought with them more recent flavors and dishes that had evolved in Korea after World War II, resulting in a cuisine of more varied ingredients sometimes spicy, sometimes bold, well-seasoned but subtle in flavor.

“It’s a whole different cuisine today,” says Namkoong. “My family always remarks that when they eat in Korean restaurants—the food is good but it’s not what mom made.”

More than 70 recipes in A Korean Kitchen reflect the food that the first wave of Korean immigrants ate and cooked, and became the Hawaii Korean repertoire.

There are also contemporary recipes reflecting Hawaii’s changing Korean community and the Korean restaurant scene, and comparisons of island preparations versus those in Korea.

The cookbook also includes a brief history of Hawaii’s Korean community, the author’s family history (her father owned one of Honolulu’s first Korean restaurants) and a perspective on why Korean food became popular in Hawaii.

A Korean Kitchen is the first in Mutual Publishing’s Hawaii Cooks series edited by food writers Betty Shimabukuro and Muriel Miura.

Exploring the diverse food culture of Hawaii and how ethnic cuisines evolved historically and culturally. Future books will focus on Portuguese, Okinawan, Japanese, Chinese, and other cuisines in Hawaii.

Namkoong is a second generation Korean American, born and raised in Hawaii. She was the former co-owner of The Compleat Kitchen retail stores, food editor of the Honolulu Advertiser and co-founder of the KCC farmers’ market. She is the author of Family Traditions in Hawai; Go Home, Cook Rice; and Food Lover’s Guide to Honolulu.

Currently a freelance writer, she resides on the Big Island.

6 x 9 in., hardcover wire-o • 180 pages • $18.95

Evolution of Hawaii’s Korean Cooking vis a vis Korea Korean Cooking

1. First waves of immigrants bring original recipes.

2. These recipes are tweaked/adapted to availability of ingredients and their taste and textures.

3. By 1950, local Korean cooking differs from Korea:

* USE OF LOCAL INGREDIENTS INCLUDING JAPANESE MISO (SWEETER) AND SOY SAUCE

* EARLY IMMIGRANTS DIDN’T ALWAYS EAT KOREAN FOOD, THEY ATE AMERICAN, (MIXED PLATE) PLANTATION COOKING, AS WELL AS OTHER ETHNIC FOODS

* INFLUENCE OF TASTE FLAVORS OF OTHER ETHNICITIES

4. Korean Korea cooking changes after 1950:

* POST WWII AND KOREAN WAR – KOREA WAS IMPOVERISHED AND THERE WASN’T A LOT OF FOOD. AS THE COUNTRY REBUILT, IT REPLANTED ITS FOODS.

* DEMISE OF THE KOREAN COURT ALSO MEANT THAT THE FOODS COOKED IN THE COURT BEGAN TO TRICKLE DOWN INTO THE GENERAL POPULATION.

* AS KOREA PROSPERED SO DID ITS FOOD PANTRY LEADING TO THE POPULARITY OF MANY DISHES THAT WERE NEVER EXPERIENCED BY HAWAII’S IMMIGRANTS AND SUCCEEDING GENERATIONS.

5. Newer post-1950 immigrants from Korea bring new flavors. As well, restaurants catering to Korean visitors adapt their menus.

* NEWER IMMIGRANT FOOD REFLECTS WHAT IS SERVED IN KOREAN WHILE HAWAII’S POPULAR “KOREAN FOOD” REFLECTS WHAT THE FIRST WAVE OF IMMIGRANTS COOKED WITH AN ISLAND TWIST.

* INGREDIENTS LIKE DRIED VEGETABLES, MANY SEA FOOD ITEMS BEING USED IN KOREAN COOKING WERE UNAVAILABLE IN HAWAII.

* FIRST WAVE IMMIGRANTS AREN’T FAMILIAR WITH THESE DIFFERENT SEASONINGS LIKE PERILLA SEEDS AND KOREAN MISO USED IN KOREA KOREAN.

* THE KOREA KOREAN RESTAURANTS ALSO HAVE TO ADAPT THEIR REPERTOIRE FOR THE GENERAL COMMUNITY THAT IS USED TO ISLAND STYLE KOREAN COOKING.

* THE FOOD IS SOMETIMES SWEETER THAN IT WOULD BE IN KOREA. OR IT COULD BE VERY DIFFERENT—LIKE KALBI, SHORT RIBS, IS OFTEN SERVED UNSEASONED, GRILLED THEN DIPPED IN SALT AND SESAME OIL; IT’S NOT ALWAYS MARINATED LIKE HAWAII KALBI.

6. Comparing today’s Korean cooking in Hawaii and cooking in Korea:

* HAWAII’S FOOD TENDS TO BE BOLDER, SPICIER, MUCH SWEETER

* SERVED UP LOCAL STYLE IN BIG PORTIONS AND AMERICAN STYLE WITH PROTEIN BEING THE FOCUS

* KOREAN FOOD IN KOREA TENDS TO BE SUBTLE, TAME; PORTIONS ARE SMALLER, LOTS OF PAN CHAN (SIDE DISHES).

— Find out more:
www.mutualpublishing.com

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