Book review – K Food: Korean Home Cooking and Street Food

By Da-Hae and Gareth West

Octopus Books, £20

Korean food is certainly having a moment, and with the rise in popularity of kimchi and the fusing of western food with Korean flavours, Da-Hae and Gareth West's K Food couldn't come at a better time.

With Da-Hae's Korean heritage and Gareth's background at the D&D London restaurant group, the pair were inspired to bring Korean flavours to the UK. In the book they chat about the traditions and culture of Korean home cooking and street food, and the experiences they've had taking their Ameri-Korean street food company, Busan BBQ, around London.

K Food

The recipes aren’t challenging by any means, but instead professionals can find inspiration on how to incorporate new flavours and ingredients into their food. It details a variety of ways to incorporate kimchi â€" whether as a side, a salad, a base for a noodle soup or even a burger topping. And a roast chicken is transformed into a sticky, fiery bird with the addition of ginger beer, soy sauce and gochujang (Korean chilli paste).

The book is full of vibrant recipes and images; there’s absolutely nothing shy about Korean food. In the sweet treats section, West claims Korea has never had that much in the way of desserts, but the peanut butter crumble- covered soborro cake and hotteok (salted caramel-filled pancakes) could have fooled me.

The sharing recipes are also truly inspiring â€" the double-fried chicken with sweet chilli glaze, O-ri bulgogi (spicy duck) and the sticky, spicy pork ribs had me wanting to throw open my kitchen to the masses and smother every manner of meat in gochujang. But then, that’s the point. The Korean for family, shikgu, translates as ‘mouths to feed’. And you will certainly need to feed the masses after reading this.

By Katherine Price

If you like this, you may enjoy these

• Our Korean Kitchen Jordan Bourke and Rejina Pyo
• Fermented Charlotte Pike
• Kimchi: Essential Recipes of the Korean Kitchen Byung-Hi Lim and Byung-Soon Lim

Recipe from K Food: Mae-Un-Tang (fish market fish stew) >>

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