Simply Delicious One Course Meals

By Kye Kim (Recipe anecdotes contributed by Michelle Kim Vaughan)

(Bookhouse Publishers)

Living in a city with hot eateries and restaurants, cooking at home may not be appealing to busy Seoulites.

But author Kye Kim’s newly published bilingual book, “Simply Delicious One Course Meals,” introduces easy ways to cook the dishes you love when eating out ― such as jajangmyeon (noodles with black bean sauce), sushi rolls and shabu shabu.

Kim, who wrote two books on food previously ― “Michigan Cook Kye Kim’s Neat Cooking: Brunch, Lunch, Dinner” and “Kye Kim’s Modern Korean Cooking” ― has been living in Michigan for some 40 years. The Korean immigrant is also known for her cooking columns which she contributed to popular Korean-American online community “Missy USA (www.missyusa.com).”

The new book offers easy-to-follow recipes, very practical for busy working men and women who don’t have much time to spend in their kitchen.

“I realize that not everyone has a lot of cooking experience,” Kim writes in her book.

“And when your free time is precious, you may not have the energy to make something that is complicated or time consuming. It was very important to me to not only share recipes for delicious food, but to make that food accessible to people who live a modern life. So for all of you busy people out there, this book is for you. It will teach you how to make a quick, easy, one-course dinner or lunch that will be both healthful and delicious.”

The large book has recipes for more than 50 one-course meals, in six different categories: beef, chicken, noodles & rice, pork, seafood and vegetarian. For Chinese food lovers, Kim’s recipes on kanpoonggi, oyster jjambbong (noodle soup with oysters) or mapo tofu are very helpful. For healthy snacks, follow her recipes on okonomiyaki (Japanese Savory Pancake), shrimp stuffed tofu or pan-fried tofu with sweet and sour sauce.

For those who prefer Korean food for their daily meal, try tofu kimchi bibimbap, one-pot seafood and vegetable rice (yeongayng sotbap) or bulgogi rolls. For Korean snacks, try her recipes on potato and zucchini pancakes, Korean steak babobs and kimchi pancakes.

Kim also offers recipes on Vietnamese spring rolls, spicy chicken curry, sushi handrolls and seafood ddeokboki (spicy rice cakes).

The book is a good introductory guide for anyone interested in cooking. Kim’s recipes are easy to follow, while offering a good variety of dishes from Korean to Japanese to fusion.

(dyc@heraldcorp.com)