Contents
Written by Jacqueline Briggs Martin and June Jo Lee
Illustrated by Man One
BELLEVUE, WASHINGTON
Dedication
To all those, especially my sisters
Laura and Audrey, who cook with love and
build community with handmade food. J.B.M.
To my remix family
Philip, Louisa, Blue, and Ari O. J.J.L.
To my wife, Laura, for her never-ending
support, and my kidsAlex, Max, and Vivi
who put up with my crazy schedule,
and to my parents, for being excellent
role models and allowing me
to dream big. M.O.
Text copyright 2017 by Jacqueline Briggs Martin and June Jo Lee
Illustrations copyright 2017 by Man One
READERS to EATERS Books
12437 SE 26th Place, Bellevue, WA 98005
Distributed by Publishers Group West
www.ReadersToEaters.com
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, transmitted,
or stored in an information retrieval system in any form or by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without
written permission of the publisher.
Printed in the U.S.A. by Worzalla, Stevens Point, Wisconsin (1/17)
Book design by Red Herring Design
Book production by The Kids at Our House
Creative support and consulting by Crewest Studio. www.crewest.com
The art was created in separate layers. Most of the backgrounds were first
spray-painted onto large canvas, then photographed. The characters and
detailed drawings were created in pencil, then inked digitally on the computer,
where all parts were then assembled.
The text is set in Gora, a whimsical extended slab serif font
created by Russian designer Misha Panfilov.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3
First Edition
Library of Congress Control Number: 2017931112
ISBN 978-0-9836615-9-7
Make ramen with chef Roy Choi.
Slide an egg into the broth.
And put on cheese,
sesame seeds,
and colorful greens.
Serve it up.
See a smile.
Roy says good food
makes smiles.
Chef Roy Choi can chop an onion in an instant,
carve a mouse out of a mushroom.
Hes cooked in fancy restaurants,
for rock stars and royalty.
But hed rather cook on a truck.
Roy calls himself a street cook.
He wants outsiders, low -riders,
kids, teens, shuf f lers, and skateboarders
to have food cooked with care, with love,
with sohn -maash.
Sohn -maash
[ ] is the flavors in
our fingertips. It is the love
and cooking talent that
Korean mothers and
grandmothers mix
into their handmade
foods.
Kimchi
[] is fermented
vegetables, similar to
sauerkraut. It is tangy,
briny, a little spicy,
and delicious.
Bibimbap
[] is mixed rice.
It is served in a bowl
with hot rice topped with
flavorful veggies and
meats, a fried egg,
and chili -miso
sauce.
Roy Choi was born in Seoul, Korea.
His family moved to Los Angeles
when Roy was two.
Growing up, Roy loved his moms food
made the Korean way by hand briny and tangy kimchi,
spicy bibimbap, scallion pancakes
studded with oysters.
Her kimchi was so special
friends bought it from the trunk of her car,
so popular his parents opened
a restaurant Silver Garden.
While Roys parents were busy earning a living,
he explored Los Angeles. Streets
were his living room and his kitchen.
He tried tamales, tacos, hot dogs,
but nothing was tastier
than his moms cooking.
Banchan
[] are the many
shared dishes of kimchi,
seasoned vegetables, meats,
grilled fish, and stews served
alongside personal bowls of
rice on a Korean table.
To Roy the family restaurant
was the best good place.
All day Roys mom and her crew
chopped, mixed, and seasoned by hand.
Roy loved the bustling kitchen,
crowded with banchan.
And at p.m. everyone gathered at booth #1
for Dumpling Time.
Family together, making food.
Roys best good time.
Take off aprons and sit down.
Spread flour on the table.
Peel a wrapper from the stack.
Spoon on yummy filling
and fold, fold, fold.
Tell stories. Share news. Laugh.
Neighborhood changed. Restaurant closed.
Parents new jewelry business. Big house in the burbs.
But to Roy life was not better. He didnt
look like other kids, sing the same songs,
or eat the same snacks.
Where did he fit? Roy was all mixed up.
When Roy finished school,
he didnt know what to do.
He walked the streets,
found rough places.
Worn out, he always came back home,
where his mom helped him get strong
with kimchi, rice, tofu stew.
One day, as Roy watched a cooking show,
he realized where he could fit:
I saw myself in the kitchen.
I saw myself at home.
He went to cooking school and learned
teamwork, knifework, saucework.
When he graduated, Roy took jobs at fancy places.
He felt just right in his white chefs coat,
running the kitchen crew,
cooking for movie stars,
cooking for a thousand