Curry & Kimchi

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

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data on file

Dedicated

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

Contents

Our Roots

Part 1: Dressings and Salads

Korean Hot Pepper Dressing

Grilled Shrimp, Asian Pear, and Watercress Salad

Honey Miso Dressing

Honey Miso Noodle Salad

Jalapeño Lime Dressing

Orange, Mango, and Avocado Salad

Orange Ginger Vinaigrette

Chinese Chicken Salad

Togarashi Dressing

Broccoli Salad

Red Wine Vinaigrette

Zesty Jalapeño Cabbage Slaw

Part 2: Sauces and Salsas with Main Dishes

Spicy Szechuan Peanut Sauce

Dan Dan Noodles

Instant Pot Recipes

Manchamanteles Salsa

Pork Carnitas Tacos

Scallion Ginger Jam

Clay Pot Miso Chicken

Shoyu Ramen Broth and Tare

Coco Shoyu Ramen

Hoisin Barbecue Sauce

Hoisin-Glazed Baby Back Ribs

Plum Sauce

East-West Rice Bowl

Korean Hot Pepper Sauce

Grilled Short Rib Tacos

Bibimbap

Thai Peanut Sauce

Thai Chicken Rice Bowl

Korean Bolognese

Korean Spaghetti

Korean Sloppy Joes

Chow Fun Sauce

Coriander Shrimp Chow Fun

General Tso's Sauce

General Tso's Tofu

Vegan Coconut Curry

Steamed Kabocha Squash and Tofu Rice Bowl

Cilantro Salsa Verde

Chili Con Carne

Green Thai Curry

Salmon and Green Thai Curry Rice Bowl

Ponzu

Miso-Glazed Cod Rice Bowl

Teriyaki Sauce

Salmon Teriyaki Bento Box

Phad Thai Sauce

Shiitake Mushroom and Tofu Phad Thai

Mornay

Macaroni and Cheese

Part 3: Condiments, Pickles, and Infused Oils

Spicy Miso Paste

Lime Shallot Crème Fraîche

Thai Cabbage

Kalbi Marinade

Soy-Cured Eggs

Miso Marinade

Seasoned Bean Sprouts

Seasoned Carrots

Pickled White Onions

Quick Kimchi

Xander's Cucumber Pickles

Pickled Shiitake Mushrooms

Pickled Japanese Turnips

Pickled Ginger

Ginger Oil

Chive Oil

Chile Oil

Togarashi Oil

Seasoned Rice Wine Vinegar

Szechuan Oil

Everyday Equipment

Everyday Ingredients

Thank You

Index

Metric Conversion Charts

Steep Yourself in Culinary Creativity with More Books from Storey

Share Your Experience!

Our Roots

Unmi

I really wish I could tell you something about my mother, but she left soon after I was born. I'd 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 wasn't 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 don't 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 father's family and spent summers with my mother's 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.

Roger

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 doesn't 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 Unmi's 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.

Coco

I'm 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!

The Secret Ingredient

Seasoned Rice Wine Vinegar

You'll see that a number of recipes in this book contain seasoned rice wine vinegar. The key to many Asian dishes is finding a balance between salt, sweet, and acid, and nothing delivers all three quite like seasoned rice wine vinegar.

Why are these elements of flavor so important? Acid and salt amplify other flavors, and the sweetness helps balance out salt and acid. You can certainly purchase a bottle at the store, but we rely on this unique and potent blend so much that we have been making our own using organic rice wine vinegar and honey instead of sugar (see recipe). Don't underestimate the power of adding a splash to a sauce or dressing that needs a little something extra to make it sing!

Coco Principles

This book represents a chance for us to relate some of our accumulated knowledge and experience from decades of working together in our restaurants, including our present restaurant, Coco and the Cellar Bar, in Easthampton, Massachusetts. Our success lies in our ability to simply execute clarity of flavor. Our straight–forward methodology is easy for the home cook as well, and we hope to inspire you to create exciting, flavorful, globally inspired food in your own kitchens. We have enjoyed creating this book immensely and are delighted to share some of our philosophies for creating memorable meals for family and friends. In the back of this book you will find lists of our everyday equipment and ingredients that help us make these dishes at home.

Seasoning One of the most important things an inexperienced cook at Coco must learn is to have a healthy respect for the power of proper seasoning. We tell these young cooks that the key to maximizing flavor and texture is to understand exactly what a given amount of salt will do. That understanding comes over time, usually with sometimes comic, sometimes tragic, results. One way to increase the odds of success is to use the same type of salt every time you cook, so that you can become familiar with it. We prefer Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt for seasoning during the cooking process, and Maldon Sea Salt Flakes for finishing plates. We find Diamond Crystal to be a pure, consistent product, and because of the flake shape of the grains, a packed teaspoon of Diamond Crystal contains considerably less salt than a packed teaspoon of table or sea salt. This means there is less chance of over-salting your dishes as you are getting used to your salt. Maldon is a much more delicate and flakier salt. Just a few flakes sprinkled over the top of a dish adds an unmistakable crunch and pop of salinity that really wakes up a plate.

A Note on Alternative Sweeteners

One of the most profound shifts in cooking today is the use of sweetener alternatives in place of refined sugar. Cooks are making the switch for a number of reasons, including health and sustainability. We prefer mild honey, like clover or wildflower honey, and coconut nectar because they don't have a large impact on the flavor profile of a dish. Wherever it makes sense, we have included sugar alternatives.

Balance A principal concept that sets the food at Coco apart is the constant pursuit of balance. We look at the interaction between six components — salt, spice, fat, acid, sweet, and umami — and try to find balance among them. It is easy for most people to identify when a bite is too salty or too acidic; too spicy or cloyingly sweet. When these aspects of flavor are working together, however, most people don't notice the balance — they just recognize it as delicious. The cooks at Coco all have to ask themselves over and over, "What is this missing?" or "Why does this still taste flat?" Making delicious food requires a great deal of tasting, and just as much critical examination. A perfect example of these principles at play is a well-made bowl of ramen.

Planning Making good food isn't usually the result of some epiphany, where the first time you try something it works perfectly and the recipe is set in stone. We all have to assess how well something works the first time we try it and adjust accordingly the next time. By planning ahead and prepping some ingredients the day before, we can make sure everything comes together on the plate in a timely fashion.

A Note on Umami

Umami is a combination of the Japanese words for "delicious" and "taste" and describes a very primal savoriness that we associate with Parmesan cheese, mushrooms, steak, tomatoes, anchovies, olives, and — especially — ketchup. The most famous (or infamous) chemically manufactured source of umami is MSG or monosodium glutamate, but there are plenty of other man-made sources of glutamate as well, like soy sauce and fish sauce.

Presentation Presenting food in an appealing and attractive fashion can be as tricky as preparing it properly. Arranging a plate requires a light touch and a confidence that comes from lots of experience. In order to take some of the guesswork out of presentation, we have included four-step progression photos for many of the recipes. These will give some insight into how we approach plate construction — and some inspiration for your own plates!

Joy We'll be the first to admit that it isn't easy to keep the stresses of the modern world from affecting our outlook on life, but our frame of mind has a profound effect on our cooking. If you are angry or preoccupied, you are more likely to skip steps or miss the subtle cues that can be the difference between a good meal and a great one. We try to maintain a sense of gratitude and joy about our circumstances, and we try to remember how lucky we are to be able to do what we love and feed our friends, family, and guests.

Flavor Balance and Sauces

A bowl of ramen is a perfect example of the importance of flavor balance. The deep meatiness of the chicken and pork broth needs the contrast of the salty sea elements in the dashi, and both of those need to be balanced by the umami-packed tare. The toppings add important layers as well — from the sweet brightness of the pickled shiitake mushrooms to the creamy fattiness of the soy-cured egg and the spice from the togarashi oil. We've spent years perfecting the flavor components of the dishes in this book, so that they will come together perfectly each time.

Our ramen recipe is also a great example of how a well-crafted sauce embraces and supports the main ingredients in a dish. We think the foundation that is laid by a well-balanced sauce is so important that we have organized the recipes in this book around the sauces. We first provide a recipe for a sauce, and then present a dish that includes that sauce.

Part 1Dressings and Salads

These salads are just as good as those in our restaurant, but they are particularly favorable to the home cook thanks to sturdier ingredients like broccoli or noodles and dressings that you can make a day or two ahead of time.