Expat cookbooks have reached their peak

Regular readers will recognize my affinity for America’s Test Kitchen and their recipe-refining process. Their “test recipes 100 different ways to give you the best one” approach sets you up for success in the kitchen like no one else does. However, some of their previous books that invaded other cultures seemed stilted and distant. They have taken a completely new path Nation. Authors Sarah Ahn, a former ATK employee, and her mother, Nam Soon Ahn, a former restaurateur, share 100 Korean family recipes and the stories and knowledge that go with them. With this foundation, the ATK crew can take their test, making this book more accessible to an American audience.

Boy did this two-pronged approach work; The book ended up on the New York Times bestseller list. It did well in my test kitchen too. It was fun to compare diced Korean radishes and carrots pickled with white vinegar, sugar, and a pinch of salt — also known as chicken radish, because it’s a common accompaniment to fried chicken in restaurants — with Eric Kim’s version of Korean American, Whole red radishes quickly dye the pickling liquid hot pink. Both versions are chicken dinner winners. I’ve had soy-braised chicken — dakjoje janjang goreme — where the wings are seared in a pan, then get a quick roast in an ever-thickening sauce containing mirin, garlic, ginger, vinegar and sesame oil. It was a lot of pressure searing three pounds of wings in a single layer in the required 12-inch skillet, but the whole thing was livened up with chili, scallions, and sesame seeds, and it came out great.

I also made banchan — the small plates or side dishes that accompany a meal — of spinach marinated with gochujang, garlic, and sesame oil, plus a surprise dose of mycel cheong, and the plum extract syrup gave the dish a sweet-tart depth that gently jolted your taste buds. Nice went out the window with their salad dressing, which contains fish sauce, plum syrup, sesame oil, white vinegar, and garlic over the greens. Combined with the wings, pickles and banchan, the dinner was a success. If you’re an adventurous cook looking to delve into Korean food, start here.