Each month I’m highlighting a different non-Ina cookbook – these can be old favorites, classics I need to try, or new books I’m excited about. I’ll make at least one recipe from each chapter of the book to get an overall flavor of each. For the month of May, the book is Eric Kim’s Korean American. I hope you’ll cook along with me! The book is available for purchase here.
Meatloaf-Glazed Kalbi with Gamja Salad
Meatloaf and mashed potatoes may be my ultimate comfort food dinner. This recipe was inspired by the frozen tv dinners from our childhoods – my lunch of choice when my parents were working and I was out of school for summer. The flanken-cut beef short ribs are seared until evenly brown and nicely charred around the edges before being doused in the meatloaf glaze (ketchup, garlic, dark brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, rice vinegar, and dried oregano) which bubbles up creating a shiny sauce that coats the short ribs. Make sure you thoroughly rinse the ribs to remove bone fragments – I was left with some unpleasant shards! I wasn’t sure what to expect from the gamja salad which feels like a cross between potato salad and mashed potatoes and is dotted with cucumbers, carrots, peas, and corn. But it was phenomenal! I became completely obsessed with it. It was creamy, crunchy, tangy, and a new favorite.
Book: Korean American, page 55
Rating: 5/5
How Easy Is That: Easy
Store-Bought Is Fine: —
Pricey Ingredients: flanken-cut beef short ribs
Recipe on The Drew Barrymore Show.
Gochugaru Shrimp with Roasted-Seaweed Grits
Fiery jumbo shrimp coated in a gochujaru (red pepper flake), fish sauce, and garlic glaze sitting atop a bed of creamy grits infused with gim (dried seaweed) and sesame oil and garnished with cilantro. Yes, please! It was my dream dinner and definitely earned a place in the regular rotation! Gim can be hit or miss for me in dishes, but I loved it in this take on a Southern classic.
Book: Korean American, page 40
Rating: 5/5
How Easy Is That: Easy
Store-Bought Is Fine: —
Pricey Ingredients: —
Recipe on the Thrillest.com
Jalapeño-Marinated Chicken Tacos with Watermelon Muchim
I don’t think I’ll ever need another chicken marinade! Bite-sized chicken thighs rest in a bright-green combo of jalapenos, garlic, and cilantro for anywhere from 30 minutes to 8 hours before roasting in the oven leading to tender, juicy meat in a delightfully spicy and refreshing sauce. Flour tortillas are then warmed, filled with the chicken, and topped with watermelon muchim (diced watermelon with jalapenos, gochugaru, rice vinegar, fish sauce, and sesame oil). The muchim provided a fresh and slightly sweet contrast to the spicy chicken. I can’t recommend these enough!
Book: Korean American, page 44
Rating: 5/5
How Easy Is That: Easy
Store-Bought Is Fine: —
Pricey Ingredients: —
Recipe on GMA.com
Pan-Seared Rib-Eye with Gochujang Butter
It was only after I started writing this, that I realized I made the butter with the incorrect ingredients! I used gochugaru (red pepper flakes) rather than gochujang (red pepper paste) – whoops! It was still fabulous and the simple recipe allows the pricey steak to shine. The 1.5-inch thick steak is seared on all sides over high heat until nicely browned then the gochujang butter is added to the pan, as it melts you spoon it over the steak. Mine smelled like buttered popcorn – which could have been the gochugaru! The medium-rare steak was perfect and the spicy butter divine. Next time, I’ll have to make it as written. Ha!
Book: Korean American, page 31
Rating: 5/5
How Easy Is That: Easy
Store-Bought Is Fine: —
Pricey Ingredients: rib-eye steak
Recipe is not online.
A Lot of Cabbage with Curried Chicken Cutlets
Inspired by donkkasseu (a thin, breaded pork cutlet) these thin chicken breasts are first covered in a dijon-mayo mixture, then dredge in panko flavored with curry and garlic powder and pan-fried. My chicken breasts were a little bigger than were called for and became a little unwieldy while cooking – next time I will cut them in half. The bread cutlets are topped with kkasseu sauce (Worcestershire sauce, ketchup, and dark brown sugar). The quick-pickled cabbage slaw is very simple to pull together and Eric’s favorite part of the dish! All around a delicious meal.
Book: Korean American, page 47
Rating: 5/5
How Easy Is That: Easy
Store-Bought Is Fine: —
Pricey Ingredients: —
Recipe on Epicurious.com
Maple-Candied Spam
I didn’t experience the joy that is Spam until I was in my 20s and was so sad I missed out on this deliciousness for so many years. In the intervening years, I’ve made up for lost time though. I love it best when seared on the outside and warm throughout. While the flavor of the Spam was perfect with the garlic-maple glaze, mine got a little too crunchy for my tastes. Turns out I like my Spam like I like my bacon – not crispy!
Book: Korean American, page 43
Rating: 4/5
How Easy Is That: Easy
Store-Bought Is Fine: —
Pricey Ingredients: —
Recipe is not online.
Store Bought Is Fine 
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