Cook Korean!: A Comic Book with Recipes [A Cookbook] by Robin Ha

Cook Korean!: A Comic Book with Recipes [A Cookbook] Reviews

• 
  First Second Books

  Since I'm a vegetarian, I'm always a little anxious about Korean food, because there's the potential for secret!fish sauce. This book is super-adaptable both for vegetarians and for people who don't have as much time to spend cooking as they'd like.
  
  Also, the chapter heads are gorgeous!
  
  
• 
  7jane

  3,5 stars.
  This is a rather fun Korean cookbook, since it’s in a comic form, making it also a fairly quickly read (plus one can see all the dishes ready here, no photos needed). The author is a Korean who moved to US in her teens, and usually does comics, so doing this book must’ve been easier in that sense. There are 60+ recipes, including fusion dishes, and some area already vegetarian (and further some can be made vegetarian/vegan with some changes). Every recipe group and recipe has an introduction, and a few food stories are also included.
  
  The cartoon girl in this book, Dengki, acts as the author-voice. The general introduction shows 7 key ingredients, the fridge, the pantry, a typical table (for a family), rice types, rice how-to, and the food regions (North Korea included). I think the food processor sound – ‘wee’ – was funny, for the other meanings that word has… I would’ve used ‘whirr’ or something like that! XD
  
  Some recipes I found interesting:
  Bean sprout salad, Soy spinach, Pan-fried tofu, Spicy bok choy, Soy garlic beef over rice, Spicy pork over rice, Kimchi stew, Seaweed soup with beef, Black sesame porridge, Spicy cold noodles, Brown sugar pancakes, Kimchi fried rice, Gimbap rolls, Kimchi pancake, Omelet fried rice, Black soybean noodles, Spicy chicken tacos, Soy sesame mayonnaise (in the Korean Burgers recipe).
  (not showing the kimchi & pickles because they are quite familiar to many; and seafood and alcoholic drinks sections because I have no interest in them)
  
  Reading this was quite fun, though I think you might be left wanting more recipes. Still, it was worth getting this, and the humorous and informative text made things even better. Really tempted to make some food from here, now…
• 
  Yodamom

  Perfect for the visual chef who wants to learn basic Korean cooking
  The animation is very well done with easy to follow recipes.
  Sweet backstory to go along with the authors recipes, and her path to getting this book done.
  I have a lot of experience with cooking Korean foods and still found some new ideas in here. All the recipes are good solid basic Korean cooking that will lead the reader down the path to delicious eating. I couldn't help but like the author her personality comes through in the illustrations. This book has been added to my gifting idea library.
  
• 
  CaseyTheCanadianLesbrarian

  This is the first cookbook that I’ve just, like, read cover to cover. The comic format really lends itself to that, as does Ha’s habit of adding cultural context and details to recipes. The recipes are also interspersed with personal stories, like about how popular one dish was for kids to bring to school or how she learned how to cook something from her mom. I love the bright, colorful drawings: cute and emotional for stories and practical and helpful for recipe instructions. Warning: Cook Korean! will make you very hungry.
• 
  Tisha

  Have you ever seen a recipe book with illustrations??? I hadn’t until I came across this beautiful book!
  
  This book is all about Korean foods. Being a K-drama fan, I loved this vibrantly illustrated book jam-packed with illustrations of Korean foods and recipes to make them.
  
  Although I do not own a great interest in cooking or eating, I love watching cookery shows and so, when I came across this book, I felt like I have to read it!
  
  As I have been following Korean dramas, movies, reality shows for a while, most of the things here are quite familiar to me. So it was easy to relate. But even if someone who is not acquainted with the Korean culture at all reads this book, that person will also be enjoying it I believe. And if you are passionate about eating and cooking, just READ IT!
  
  The writer+illustrator, Robin Ha has presented each and every step of cooking so beautifully that I just kept looking at its pages!
  
  See, how stunning and eye-catching the illustrations are!
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  I loved this book! ^_^
• 
  Jean

  I've been looking forward to reading this cookbook since seeing it on NPR's Best of 2016 list. I had to wait a little longer than anticipated because my 10-yr old son opened the Amazon package first and started reading it before I had a chance! He was initially attracted to the bright, comic book-style drawings, but then became fully drawn in because the book is so much more than just recipes. Cook Korean! also includes background information about the author, her food journey (her love for cooking started in Italy as an exchange student), how she developed the recipes and came up with the idea for the cookbook, and the role that food plays in Korean culture.
  
  I own a few other Korean cookbooks, but this one rates the best on so many levels. I love the format's originality and Robin Ha's playful drawings. Packaging the recipes in this graphic style makes Korean cuisine seem more accessible and less intimidating. Perhaps because of the novel concept of the book, I incorrectly assumed the recipes would be Korean-inspired, but not necessarily recipes your grandmother would make. While there is a chapter on Korean fusion, the majority of the recipes are for traditional Korean dishes. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the author also included many comfort-food recipes that my mom used to make us growing up but that you rarely see included on menus of Korean restaurants - in other words, "everyday" recipes and not just special occasion dishes.
  
  I made the Chile Chicken Stew (dakbokkeumtang) last night for dinner and got a thumbs up from all three of my kids and the hubby. When does that ever happen?! I've also got about a dozen more recipes earmarked to try, many of which were picked out by my kids. This imaginative and fun book would make a great gift for lovers of Korean cuisine or anyone who may be curious about it. I plan to buy three more copies for my sisters-in-law!
• 
  Maia

  I got this from the library expecting to just check out the vegetarian recipes, but I got sucked it and read the whole thing! Each chapter opens with a beautiful watercolor painting, a short comic on the author's relationship with a specific dish, and then a wide variety of brightly colored and clearly drawn recipes. There are soups, noodle dishes, a seafood section, a meat and poultry section, six recipes for different types of kimchi, porridges, snacks, cocktails, rice cakes and Korean fusion. Many cookbooks try to be food-blog-type-memoirs at the same time, with mixed success. This book balanced the perfect amount of memories and cultural information to recipes. I finished reading it and immediately wanted to cook something!
• 
  Verena

  Now that I’ve prepared a couple of these meals, I can give this book the 5-star rating it deserves.
  
  Pros:
  - The food is great!
  - There’s a good variety of recipes, and each section of the book contains an introduction to the kind of meal it is about (how it is prepared, when it is eaten, additional cultural context).
  - These introductions also contain autobiographical comics related to the topic, which I enjoyed.
  - The artwork in general is very pretty and helps making the instructions very easy to follow.
  
  Cons:
  - My family is now very distrustful of the spice level of any food I prepare.
  - Whenever I flip through the book and look at the sketches and paintings, I get very hungry.
  
  I’d highly recommend this to everybody who would like to get into cooking Korean food.
• 
  Alexandra

  Excellent, informative, very easy to follow. Wonderful introduction to Korean cooking. I've cooked a couple recipes in this book and they've all turned out delicious! I wish all cookbooks came in graphic format!
• 
  Denver Public Library

  I am a fan of illustrated cookbooks and streaming Kdramas so was thrilled when I discovered this cookbook depicting how to make some of the popular foods I've watched actors enjoy. Ha's illustrations made the recipes easy to follow. The sections on seasoning/sauces, Korean barbeque and noodles was very educational and over all have helped me when dining out. I've had luck with some of the more basic recipes like pan fried tofu but given time constraints, I am happy to support my H Mart for staples like kimchi, pickled radish and more.
• 
  nishka chokhani

  again, amazing style of cookbook, love love loved this
• 
  Navya

  So pretty I thought I could eat it
• 
  Bryan

  Ha’s graphic memoir was my favorite read of 2020 so I bought this to support her previous published work and out of the interest of learning about Korean cuisine. I wish there were more books like this! There are little vignettes that can totally be seen as a precursor to her memoir. Also, there’s a “host” of sorts who walks the reader through everything! I currently keep this book in my bag in the lucky moment I might be near an Asian grocery/market whenever I’m traveling.
• 
  Raina

  I've been saying all cookbooks should be comics for years. At least since
  Relish, which triggered memories of illustrated recipes from my childhood.
  
  Not that I get a say - as much as I love eating, the kitchen is not my domain in our house.
  So, of course, as soon as I finished this book, I handed it over to my partner, since
  1. I hope she makes some of these recipes sometime, and
  2. She's been flirting with the idea of writing an auto-bio/cookbook graphic novel for about as long as I've known her.
  
  I fell in love with Korean food at the spa. Just thinking about the dishes we order there makes me salivate. Of course, maybe I'm extra wistful because we haven't eaten at a restaurant since March.
  
  So, while I skimmed (and certainly didn't make) the recipes, reading the interesting facts about ingredients, short autobio pieces, and looking at the pictures was such a pleasure.
  
  I'd previously read Ha's
  Almost American Girl, and part of me wishes these two books had been released as one big integrated work. Blended together. But that's me. I imagine the cooks looking at this for actual cooking instruction might be more impatient with a bunch of extra bio stuff.
  
  I personally found the character who narrates this book unnecessary and kind of tiresome - I would have like it more without a filter between Ha's voice and our ears. But the illustrations are clean and clear (full color), the more realistically-illustrated chapter pages are gorgeous, and the recipes seem very doable (and delicious).
  
  Definitely one I want to keep around the house for a while. Yumm!
• 
  Hannah Notess

  I checked it out of the library and didn't get a chance to try out any of the recipes, but the art and design are absolutely outstanding! I love the watercolor art at the beginning of each chapter, and the recipes are a perfect blend of great art and informative sidebars that don't distract from the main flow of the recipes. It's really impressive and original to see a recipe book like this, I loved paging through it and hope to check it out again...
• 
  Sara

  I wouldn’t normally include a cookbook on my list for Goodreads but this book is definitely unique! Each recipe is drawn out in beautiful detail with helpful tips interspersed with the directions. Sometimes the veggies have cute faces too, which is always fun. I’d always thought cooking Korean food would be too hard and though I have yet to try it this book makes it feel possible! I want all cookbooks to be made like this because as a visual learner it’s soooo amazing to see how the veggies should be chopped etc. I picked up useful cooking skills and things to improve my cooking of all types of food just from my first read. There are comic book pages of information before each section that describe bits of Korean culture and the author’s early life. Make sure you know where your closest Korean grocery store is before you start reading because you’ll want to cook right away! Yum!
• 
  Karah

  I saw two recipes in this book that I would eagerly cook: Chile Chicken Stew and Brown Sugar Pancakes. One of my aunties would love these recipes. The problem rests in the fact that she has been occupying herself away from books. I mention books to my Auntie but I keep hoping she'll return to the love.
  
  Thank you, Robin Ha and her mother, for writing this book.
• 
  Buchdoktor

  Robin Ha war ein typisches südkoreanisches Kind, für das die Mutter gesunde Gerichte kochte und das während des Studiums kaum Zeit zum Selbstkochen fand. Das änderte sich mit einem Sprachaufenthalt in Italien und ihrem Umzug nach New York. Wenn die Wege zu beliebten Restaurants in der Großstadt weit sind, kann zuhause Kochen erheblich stressfreier sein als in die Stadt zu fahren. Als Cartoonistin entwickelt Robin Ha die kochende Koreanerin Dengki, mit der sie auf Tumblr bekannt wird.
  
  Has Kochbuch besteht aus Comic-Seiten, die aus ihrem Leben berichten und z. B. über koreanische Sitten informieren. Der Kochbuch-Teil ist zum großen Teil in Sketchnotes gehalten und wie andere Kochbücher auch in Lebensmittel-Kategorien gegliedert: Fleisch, Meeresfrüchte und Fisch, Suppen, Nudeln, Porridge, Reiskuchen für verschiedene Zwecke, Reisrollen = Sushi, Marinaden, Pfannkuchen, Snacks und Fusionsküche (Integration ausländischer Spezialitäten in die einheimische Küche) sind ebenso geboten wie Hühnersuppe für die Seele im koreanischen Stil.
  
  Die Kombination von Sketchnotes und Listen finde ich optisch ansprechend und sehr gut zu merken. 7 Grundzutaten der koreanischen Küche (Sojasauce, Fischsauce, gerösteter Sesam, Sesamöl, Sojabohnenpaste, Chilipaste und Chiliflocken) lassen sich ebenso leicht merken wie die 16 Lebensmittel, die ein koreanischer Kühlschrank enthält, oder die Dauerlebensmittel aus einer koreanischen Speisekammer. Wer bereits andere asiatische Küchen ausprobiert hat, hat außer den Chili-Varianten vermutlich schon alle nötigen Lebensmittel und eine Wokpfanne im Haus. Eine Umstellung kann das Reiskochen und allgemein das sprudelnde Kochen in einem sehr großen Topf sein. Mich haben besonders die koreanischen Nudelsorten angesprochen (aus Weizenmehl, Süßkartoffelmehl, Buchweizen, flache Nudeln und Udon), die sich problemlos lagern lassen, selbst wenn man keinen koreanischen Supermarkt in der Stadt hat und sie im Versand beschaffen muss.
  
  Sketchnotes als Mittel zur Informationsvermittlung haben mich hier endgültig überzeugt, sie konzentrieren sich auf das Wesentliche und sprechen das Bildgedächtnis des Lesers an. Das Lettering ist klar und gut lesbar, die Wahl der kräftigen Farben von Dengkis Hanbok wiederholt sich in den Illustrationen und strahlt eine optimistische Wirkung aus.
  
• 
  Jenni

  I want to cook everything in this book. It's a recipe book for people like me, who never grew up cooking because their parents (in my and author's case, mothers) cooked in crazy quantities and in my case, weren't into having anyone help. So cooking became this mysterious art that only truly gifted people could get right. Robin's adorable book is about demystifying everyday cooking and boiling (ha!) recipes down into easy-to-handle and remember tropes that anyone can master in no time.
  I do make really good kimchi at home (and I was surprised at how easy it is once I started making it!) so I am looking forward to extending the kimchi-making joy to other Korean foods that Robin Ha proudly presents with appetizing illustrations. Read it, even just for fun if you have no desire to cook.
• 
  Freya

  This recipe book was given to me as a present, and it's a lovely gift for anyone who would like to explore Korean food and culture. Robin Ha starts each chapter (soups, seafood etc.) with a bit of a cultural explanation, and both these explanations and the steps of the recipes and final product are all illustrated by her.
  
  I love a cook book with pictures of what the finished product is meant to look like, but it was also so helpful to have pictures of the ingredients and what to do in the steps, as I might have found some steps confusing only in text.
  
  There's a good mix of sweet and savory, spicy and non-spicy recipes in here for variation and taste and I can't wait to start cooking some of this delicious looking 음식 (food)!
• 
  Andria

  I can't rate this because I didn't really get to try any of the recipes but I loved what I read. My doctor told me to lay off on spicy foods right as I picked this up. But if you're interested in Korean cooking, this is a good one. This is a book that actually contains helpful, instructional graphics. Many graphic cookbooks are simply illustrated. Not so here. (Anyway how does a drawing of what a pineapple looks like help me learn how to cut a pineapple?) I was impressed and hope to return to this book soon.
• 
  K.

  Loved it! Easy to read and easy to follow with plenty of colorful comic drawings of the preparation process. Definitely one to purchase for my kitchen - I can't wait to try out the 삼계탕 (samgyetang), a ginger chicken soup, this winter!
  
  Also, you can never go wrong with a few alcoholic recipes, if you ask me.
  
  
• 
  Libby Lucy

  I really really really love Korean food. However, I’m super intimidated by the complexity of flavors and the variety of ingredients. Ha not only manages to demystify the Korean kitchen, she gives you a little bit of her story and her heart.
• 
  Kirsten

  This is super-awesome and cute and well done. I want to try everything here. Unfortunately since we’re under lockdown I can’t go to an Asian grocery right now to find all these ingredients. :( Someday.....
• 
  Loz

  Delightful. Bright art and a straightforward voice portray approachable, delicious looking recipes in a very personal way. I loved it!
• 
  Vicky Marie

  It's a graphic novel filled with Korean recipes. What more could I ask for?
• 
  Jonatan Billiau

  Beautifully made, endearing art, excellent and simple recipes. Highly recommended introduction to both graphic novels and Korean food.
• 
  Eva Guerrero

  ¡Me ha encantado!
  Es un libro súper útil al que volver una y otra vez si te interesa Corea y su cocina (y a mí me atrae muchísimo)
• 
  Mbgirl

  Been through this comic book cookbook twice— made gaji Namul last night.
  
  Enjoy the simplicity of the layout— fun and yummy!
  
  The recipes fit me!!