Amazon.com
Dok Suni is an enchanting combination of personal narrative and appealing recipes in which Jenny Kwak shares stories and food from her mother's Korean kitchen. Since few cooks are familiar with Korean food, it is helpful that Kwak's descriptions of each dish tell what results to expect: Spinach and Clam Soup, you discover, "is good boiling hot (yet) there is a cool sensation about the flavor ... from the clams." The 70 recipes in this volume include important classic Korean dishes. There are six versions of Kim Chi, the incendiary pickle made from cabbage or other vegetables, garlic, and mounds of red pepper. Bibimbop, a dish of sautéed chopped vegetables served over rice--often in a heated clay dish--is topped with a raw egg that cooks as you mix it in. Proving how much Koreans love beef, Kwok gives her mother's recipes for Bulgogi and Kalbi. Bulgogi is thinly sliced beef marinated in soy sauce, sesame oil, and rice wine, then grilled. The short ribs used for Kalbi are similarly marinated before they are barbecued.
A caveat is necessary. Though Dok Suni is coauthored by a native English speaker, select recipes contain some questionable or incomplete directions. For the Pumpkin Porridge, the black beans are cooked for only five minutes, and no presoaking is called for, which seems an inadequate cooking time. Where brown rice is called for, there is no indication whether to use short or long grain. This being said, the book is still an inspirational introduction to Korean cooking that's also filled with Korean folklore and charming family narratives. --Dana Jacobi
From Library Journal
The second book on Korean food in a matter of months is proof that interest in this cuisine is indeed growing. Kwak and her mother own a popular Korean restaurant in New York City (Dok Suni, its name, means "strong woman"). Kwak's book is a more personal one than Deborah Coultrip-Davis and Young Sook Ramsay's Flavors of Korea (LJ 9/15/98) and, unlike their book, is not vegetarian. However, Coultrip-Davis and Ramsay include far more recipes than Kwak's 75, with more information about the cuisine as well. Still, given the paucity of books on the subject, Dok Suni is recommended for most larger collections (despite its inflated price).Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Review
"Every dish at Dok Suni's tastes as if Jenny's mother made it. It's not just home-cooked-- it's mother-cooked."--Quentin Tarantino
"Thanks to Jenny Kwak, I'll be able to create fabulous, aromatic, and piquant Korean dishes in my own kitchen. Her recipes are sensational, but I also love her stories. Leafing through the pages of Dok Suni, I felt as though I were in the kitchen with Jenny and her mother, listening, learning, sampling."--Lisa See, author of On Gold Mountain: The One-Hundred-Year Odyssey of a Chinese-American Family and Flower Net
"I understand that Dok Suni means 'strong woman,' and that's got to be true, because it takes a strong woman to make ribs this good."--Alex Rockwell, filmmaker
Review
"Every dish at Dok Suni's tastes as if Jenny's mother made it. It's not just home-cooked-- it's mother-cooked."--Quentin Tarantino
"Thanks to Jenny Kwak, I'll be able to create fabulous, aromatic, and piquant Korean dishes in my own kitchen. Her recipes are sensational, but I also love her stories. Leafing through the pages of Dok Suni, I felt as though I were in the kitchen with Jenny and her mother, listening, learning, sampling."--Lisa See, author of On Gold Mountain: The One-Hundred-Year Odyssey of a Chinese-American Family and Flower Net
"I understand that Dok Suni means 'strong woman,' and that's got to be true, because it takes a strong woman to make ribs this good."--Alex Rockwell, filmmaker
Review
"Every dish at Dok Suni's tastes as if Jenny's mother made it. It's not just home-cooked-- it's mother-cooked."--Quentin Tarantino
"Thanks to Jenny Kwak, I'll be able to create fabulous, aromatic, and piquant Korean dishes in my own kitchen. Her recipes are sensational, but I also love her stories. Leafing through the pages of Dok Suni, I felt as though I were in the kitchen with Jenny and her mother, listening, learning, sampling."--Lisa See, author of On Gold Mountain: The One-Hundred-Year Odyssey of a Chinese-American Family and Flower Net
"I understand that Dok Suni means 'strong woman,' and that's got to be true, because it takes a strong woman to make ribs this good."--Alex Rockwell, filmmaker
Book Description
In Dok Suni, Jenny Kwak offers a loving and delicious introduction to the most exciting cuisine in the food world today-- Korean cooking. Whether you are one of the millions of Americans who are already devotees of the spicy, healthful, home-style world of Korean food or you're trying it for the first time, Dok Suni will delight with flavorful, authentic, easy-to-prepare specialties and a taste of the family traditions that come to life in every dish.
Ranging from hearty and spicy soups (said to heal whatever ails you), barbecued beef favorites, and rice and noodle dishes to seafood and chicken specialties and the irresistible appetizers and side dishes that make every Korean meal complete, the recipes include: sautéed Korean vermicelli with vegetables * ginseng chicken in broth * spicy stewed crab * beef barbecue with sesame-salt dipping sauce * Korean dumplings * seafood pancake * stuffed zucchini * hearty kimchi soup * among many others.
More than a recipe collection, Dok Suni (the name means "strong woman") opens the door to an entire cuisine. Sprinkled with handed-down fables, secrets for easy preparation, and loving salutes to an immigrant mom who worked hard to make it in America and shows her love through her out-of-this-world kitchen creations, the book is a truly passionate celebration of Korean cooking and eating.
From the Publisher
Praise for Dok Suni's Korean Home Cooking: "Every dish at Dok Suni's tastes as if Jenny's mother made it. It's not just home-cooked--it's mother-cooked." --Quentin Tarantino "Thanks to Jenny Kwak, I'll be able to create fabulous, aromatic, and piquant Korean dishes in my own kitchen. Her recipes are sensational, but I also love her stories. Leafing through the pages of Dok Suni, I felt as though I were in the kitchen with Jenny and her mother, listening, learning, sampling." --Lisa See, author of On Gold Mountain: The One-Hundred-Year Odyssey of a Chinese-American Family and Flower Net "I understand the Dok Suni means 'strong woman,' and that's got to be true, because it takes a strong woman to make ribs this good." --Alex Rockwell, filmmaker "[Dok Suni's] pork spareribs seasoned with chili paste and garlic are perfect." --New York Magazine "The hippest Korean restaurant in town...[Dok Suni's offers] the most delicious Korean food and a cool vibe." --Paper "With food like this, I could happily eat at Dok Suni's several nights a week. It is home-style cooking, fresh, simple, and, of course, spicy--but not at all greasy or heavy." --The New York Observer
From the Inside Flap
In Dok Suni, Jenny Kwak offers a loving and delicious introduction to the most exciting cuisine in the food world today--Korean cooking. Whether you are one of the millions of Americans who are already devotees of the spicy, healthful, home-style world of Korean food or you're trying it for the first time, Dok Suni will delight with flavorful, authentic, easy-to-prepare specialties and a taste of the family traditions that come to life in every dish. Ranging from hearty and spicy soups (said to heal whatever ails you), barbecued beef favorites, and rice and noodle dishes to seafood and chicken specialties and the irresistible appetizers and side dishes that make every Korean meal complete, the recipes include: Saut3/4ed Korean Vermicelli with Vegetables, Ginseng Chicken in Broth, Spicy Stewed Crab, Beef Barbecue with Sesame-Salt Dipping Sauce, Korean Dumplings, Hearty Kimchi Soup among many others. More than a recipe collection, Dok Suni (the name means "strong woman") opens the door to an entire cuisine. Sprinkled with handed-down fables, secrets for easy preparation, and loving salutes to an immigrant mom who worked hard to make it in America and shows her love through her out-of-this-world kitchen creations, the books is a truly passionate celebration of Korean cooking and eating.
About the Author
Jenny Kwak and her mother own and operate Dok Suni's restaurant in Manhattan, which was featured in New York magazine's Best of New York issue.
Liz Fried is a freelance writer based in New York City.
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