Jang

I love this book. I have loved Korean food for for some time but I had no idea about central role jangs play in Korean cuisine. This book opened my eyes and also made me realize that Korean food does not get the respect it deserves. It has a long tradition and should be classed with French, Chinese, Indian and Italian as a world cuisine. And as a bonus there are a lot of great recipes.

In a world where cookbooks everywhere are recommending "flavor bombs," as a shortcut to making tasty it's great to get a deep dive into how these flavor bombs end up in your pantry. The recipes are delicious and run the gamut from simple everyday dishes to impress-your-friends specialties. I have always loved Korean food, but this took my understanding of it to another level. A couple small quibbles: --I love fusion and in particular I enjoy Asian versions of Italian pasta recipes, but I was disappointed that basically all of the pasta recipes here included large portions of heavy cream. I don't know if that is just an expectation for pasta dishes in Korea or if the idea is to "balance" the addition of the jangs, but either way it's a bummer to have pasta dishes where the traditional version has nothing to do with heavy cream be modified that way. Of course I can just omit the cream, but the recipe has been designed around including it. That said, I still do appreciate the attempt. --There are a decent number of recipes that feel restaurant-y in that they call for using small fractions of vegetables. Some amount of that is understandable, but it felt like that could have been reduced some.

He is a recently 3 Michelin star’d chef in Korea. Has a lot of talent. Has a traditional foundation and pulls many dishes into the future. This book is all stuff you can do at home with ingredients you can get if you have a local H-Mart or equivalent. An experienced home chef could tackle most of these with ease. Excellent book.

Well the book is a masterpiece of art and gastronomy. I’m so happy I got it. Thanks so much.

Jang: The Soul Of Korean Cooking By Mingoo Kang introduces readers to Jang which means "fermented soybean paste." Jang is as important to Korean cuisine as olive oil is to Italian cuisine and miso and soy to Japanese cuisine. The author includes a section of the book to showcase ingredients traditionally found in a Korean home pantry. There are also staple recipes including frying batter mix, stocks (chicken and anchovy) and rice. The recipes are divided into three chapters: Ganjang, Doenjang, and Gochujang, which are three of the most commonly used Jangs. Each chapter highlights the Jang that it includes. Some of the Jangs can be purchased at a Korean supermarket or via an online source including Amazon. These include Hansik Doenjang (Korean Fermented Soybean Paste), Hansik Ganjang (Traditional Korean Soy Sauce), and Gochujang (Korean Red Chili Paste). One thing that I did not anticipate is that there are recipes that require creating homemade Jangs. The author provided the homemade Jang recipes at the beginning of the book. Some homemade Jang requires at least 2 store-bought Jangs while others require combining 1 store-bought Jang and water and sugar. Fortunately, the homemade Jangs have a shelf life that ranges from 1-3 months. There are some recipes that I recognize and have ordered at my local Korean restaurant including Galbi, Japchae, Seafood Scallion Pancake, and Korean Fried Chicken. There are also fusion recipes that I have never heard of like Doenjang Hummus, Ssamjang Cacio E Pepe, and Doenjang Vanilla Creme Brulee. All of the recipe instructions are clear and easy to follow. One thing that was not included in the recipes was cooking time. I wish the author had included this information so that it would be easier to make a meal plan without having to read the entire recipe in order to determine this information. In some situations you need to include at least an hour of marinating time and in one recipe it required 2-5 days of marinating time (Ganjang Marinated Shrimp). The ingredients for the most part are easy to find at your local supermarket however, there are a handful of recipes that include ingredients that are pricey like scallops, lamb ribs, high quality beef sirloin, short ribs, lobsters, oysters, sashimi-quality snapper, and a few recipes that include ingredients harder to find like perilla leaves and fresh chestnuts. I liked that there are recipes included that are vegetable focused as well as some recipes that are noodle based. The recipes do not require special equipment and the few recipes that require a grill, the author also noted that it can be made in a grill pan on the stove. The majority of the recipes do not require a lot of skill in the kitchen. The one recipe that I noticed that required skill was the Seafood Platter with Gochujang Salsa and Gochujang Cocktail Sauce which requires the home chef to attempt shucking oysters. So far, I have made the Green Beans with Sesame Vinaigrette and Kimchi Mixed Noodles with Gochujang Sauce. Both were easy to assemble and were delicious, especially during a heat wave when you want to enjoy a meal with minimal cooking time. Overall, I am happy with the dishes that I have made thus far and I look forward to trying more recipes from Jang.

Super cookbook. I highly recommend the ssamjang cacio e pepe recipe. It’s very easy, super flavorful and really easy to scale portion sizes up for large gatherings!

존경하는 요리사의 책 입니다.

This book is an excellent read and very resourceful when it comes to Korean cooking.

Bought as a Christmas gift but there are cosmetic abrasions on the book which is disappointing

Super livre ! Merci