Unmi Abkin - Curry & Kimchi: Flavor Secrets for Creating 70 Asian-Inspired Recipes at Home

The mission of Storey Publishing is to serve our customers by publishing practical information that encourages personal independence in harmony with the environment.

Edited by Deanna F. Cook and Sarah Guare

Art direction and book design by Carolyn Eckert

Indexed by Christine R. Lindemer, Boston Road Communications

Cover photography by Keller + Keller Photography, except authors photograph, inside back by Cara Totman

Interior photography by Keller + Keller Photography

Additional photography by Cara Totman, 9, 10 bottom, 11 top, 16, 17 top left, 42 top left, 170 and Roger Taylor, 11 bottom, 17 bottom left, 156 top right, 160, 161 bottom left

food styling by Unmi Abkin and Roger Taylor

Prop and photo styling by Ann Lewis

additional prop and restaurant styling by Donn Boulanger

Text 2019 by Unmi Abkin and Roger Taylor

Ebook production by Slavica A. Walzl

Ebook version 1.0

October 15, 2019

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages or reproduce illustrations in a review with appropriate credits; nor may any part of this book be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or other without written permission from the publisher.

The information in this book is true and complete to the best of our knowledge. All recommendations are made without guarantee on the part of the author or Storey Publishing. The author and publisher disclaim any liability in connection with the use of this information.

Storey books are available at special discounts when purchased in bulk for premiums and sales promotions as well as for fund-raising or educational use. Special editions or book excerpts can also be created to specification. For details, please call 800-827-8673, or send an email to .

Storey Publishing

210 MASS MoCA Way

North Adams, MA 01247

storey.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data on file

to Guy and Jeanine Saperstein, who have helped so many, including us, to follow their dreams.

Instant Pot Recipes

I really wish I could tell you something about my mother, but she left soon after I was born. Id like to think she was a good cook. My story started in South Korea, as part of a family that struggled to keep a roof overhead and dinner on the table. My father was a neon sign artist and an alcoholic. My older sister, Sunmi, cared for me as well as she could during the long stretches when my father was unable to do so.

A huge part of my relationship to food has to do with the lack of it. My family wasnt wealthy or even particularly stable. More often than not, we were homeless and hungry. In the last few months before I was sent to an orphanage, we sometimes slept on rooftops and searched for food wherever we could find it.

One of my first memories of food is when I was four or five, staring at a fruit stand across the street from where I was waiting for my sister. Bananas were piled up on a table, and I had never seen anything like them before. I knew they were food because they were stacked near fruits that I recognized; I just had no idea what they were. I was pretty sure they would be amazing and I really wanted one. I think of this often when I eat a banana. I dont take it for granted.

When I was six or seven, I was adopted by a Jewish American man and a Mexican woman and eventually moved to the United States. I soaked in the Jewish food traditions of my fathers family and spent summers with my mothers family in Mexico. To this day, I have a soft spot for hamantaschen and pan dulces, as they represent the acceptance and love of my new family, in two new countries.

My families, then and now, gave me the strength and will to follow my passion, food, wherever it led me from California to France, Morocco, and Massachusetts. They supported me when I spent countless hours in professional kitchens across the country, learning and absorbing whatever I could in order to make and capture new memories of food, and when I opened three restaurants of my own.

I never thought much about writing a cookbook until I reflected on my distinctive food heritage and I realized that I did indeed have my own special and unique perspective on food. My experiences both as a chef and as a mother have shaped the way I cook, creating food that is clear and vibrant, simple and easy to execute, and above all delicious.

My father is a baker and my cousin is a chef, so some of my earliest memories are the sights and sounds of professional kitchens: crashing pans and silverware on plates, and more often than not, cursing (sometimes in several languages). I started working in restaurants when I was 15, washing dishes, and I never looked back.

One doesnt survive in the restaurant industry for long without developing an eye for efficiency. There is a subtle art to creating a menu that dazzles while still being sustainable for the people producing it. This skill has served me well in my 17-year working relationship with Unmi, and in our 14-year marriage. Between Unmis passion for flavor and feeding people and my ability to pare unnecessary steps and ingredients without sacrificing the soul of a dish, we have created a book full of recipes that we are proud of. We hope they become a part of your life the way they have become a part of ours.

Im lucky to be growing up in a restaurant like my dad did, and I feel proud that it is named after me! Some of these recipes have been my favorites for years, like the mac and cheese. I like it so much that one time when I was in preschool, I invited my whole class for lunch without telling my parents. Uh-oh! I taste-tested almost all of the things in this book, and they are really good for kids!