Getting started with Korean cooking
Have you ever eaten at a restaurant here in Korea and wished you could find a recipe for the dish? Or realized you were leaving Korea and were going to miss your favorite dishes? Check out these online resources for learning to cook Korean food.
My hubby and I know that one day we will leave Korea and will miss our favorite foods. I will never be quite on the level of the awesome chefs here that we have cooking for us. However, I also know that I won’t get to take my own Korean cook back to the states. So, we began researching to find recipes that we can recreate that are as close as possible to our favorites. So, we developed this list of online resources for learning to cook Korean food to share with others.
Online Resources for Learning to Cook Korean Food
So, while we are living here, I have spent a great deal of time researching and finding recipes for several of our favorites. There are five main chefs I go to when I am looking for a recipe for most Korean dishes. All of these chefs have websites and social media accounts to follow as well.
- Maangchi www.maangchi.com She is probably one of the most popular of the Korean chefs with her YouTube channel. She has been providing recipes and teaching about Korean culture in her videos for years. She is a staple in the Korean cooking community. She also has two fabulous cookbooks available (we have both!).
- Seonkyoung Longest (Asian At Home) www.seonkyounglongest.com Her channel focuses on inspiring you to cook your own Asian food at home. She shares great tips for cooking at home as well as sharing her travels. Recently, she started sharing vegan recipes as well.
- Korean Bapsang www.koreanbapsang.com Hyosun’s blog and channel started as a way to help teach her children how to cook the food they enjoyed growing up.
- KimchiMari www.kimchimari.com JinJoo’s blog and channel focus on “authentic Korean recipes that anyone can cook.” She provides a recipe key that separates out by low carb, gluten free, dairy free, vegan, low-salt, etc. She has great information for those new to Korean cooking as well.
- Julie Yoon www.chefjulieyoon.com Her blog and channel also are great for beginners. She provides more than Asian recipes. She also provides a great deal of kitchen tips that can help even the more seasoned cooks.
The reasons we think these Korean cooks are the BEST!
All of these chefs are down-to-earth and give easy-to-follow recipes. Once you start cooking Korean foods at home, you will learn to adjust recipes to your taste buds to make it more to your family’s liking or put your own take on a dish. I like that I can adjust some ingredients for my taste buds (like gochugaru and gochujang—usually have to reduce so it’s not too spicy for me! or switching to vegetable stock instead of anchovy stock since hubby is allergic to seafood). These websites have been fabulous at helping me to be more confident in my Korean cooking and when we go out to eat I know where to look for a tried and true recipe.
The other great tip that most of these chefs provide is pictures and links to their favorite ingredients and where to find them. Many of these chefs are stateside which means that if you return to the states, you can find those ingredients from links on their websites.
Check out what we learned how to cook!
Here are some Kimchi Redneck videos! Check out what we have learned! How did we do compared to our Korean cooking idols?
Read more in our Year to Learn Korean Cooking Series
Are you ready to start cooking your amazing Korean dishes at home? Then, you can also check out our series A Year to Learn Korean Cooking.
You might also like these South of Seoul Blogs to help you in the kitchen
The KimchiRednecks channel was created in September 2018 by Chuck Whittington and Melissa Edwards-Whittington. They moved to Korea in July 2017 with their three Shih Tzu daughters, Sookie, Minion, and Mayhem.
The YouTube channel started as a way to share their lives here with their friends and families back in the states. They both have a deep love for Korean culture, people, and food and love being able to share that with others.
Chuck Whittington graduated from Francis Marion University with a Bachelors in Information Systems Management. He has worked in Information Technology roles for over 20 years. Chuck has always had an interest in Korea and has traveled here many times in the past.
Melissa Edwards-Whittington graduated from Mid-Atlantic Christian University with a Bachelors in Bible and a Minor in Elementary Education. She has worked in various roles in customer service and marketing over the years.
The YouTube channel has many interests just like they do because it is an extension of their lives here in Korea. You will often find videos on their channel about daily life in Korea, cooking, foodie adventures, traveling and exploring, computer and tech pursuits, gaming, and working on the Subaru BRZ.
Over the years, many of their friends have joined them for their videos and adventures because they enjoy sharing their lives with those around them. In addition, they add new interests from time to time, like making moonshine in Korea.
Life is about growing and changing, and the longer the KimchiRednecks live in Korea, the more they learn to love this country and culture and all it has to offer.
