Born and raised in Atlanta, Eric Kim is the son of immigrants, and his debut cookbook, “Korean American: Food That Tastes Like Home” (Clarkson Potter, $32.50), features recipes that reflect both the tension and the harmony of exploring his Korean roots.
Currently a writer for The New York Times Food and Cooking sections, and a columnist for The New York Times Magazine, Kim moved to New York City some 12 years ago to attend Columbia University.
“Korean American” begins with the words, “When I was seventeen years old, I ran away from home.” But Kim quickly observes that “we can never run away from who we are.”
“Atlanta for me growing up was always just the hometown I wanted to leave, because I was eager to escape my mother’s grip, and eager to not be there anymore,” Kim said in a recent interview. “I think a lot of teenagers feel that way about their hometowns, and don’t really appreciate their hometowns until later in life.”
Credit: Jenny Huang
Credit: Jenny Huang
That happened for Kim during the pandemic, when he moved back to Atlanta for a year to work on “Korean American” with his mother, Jean. Writing down her recipes, he realized that his cooking was a reflection of her cooking, as well as her two nations, the United States and South Korea.
“I had this idea about what I wanted my adulthood to look like. It certainly didn’t involve me moving back home for a year,” Kim said. “But I’m really glad I did. I think the pandemic did this for a lot of people. It really reset my values, and it sort of reset what I would like to prioritize in my life.
“I’m embarrassed that I didn’t know what was under my nose the whole time. I feel like I really took Atlanta for granted. I think I also took my family for granted. And my mom. So I think this book is sort of a prodigal son moment of coming home.”
When Kim’s parents moved to Atlanta from South Korea in 1983, there wasn’t a single Korean grocery store near where they lived. And as he explains, “nontraditional” ingredients show up in “traditional” recipes, because that’s the way his mother does it.
“A lot of the headnotes for the recipes are about specific meals that we have in Atlanta and that we really look forward to, especially on Buford Highway, where a lot of Korean restaurants are,” Kim said. “And a lot of immigrant cuisines reside there. I think that’s the way you feel Atlanta through the book.”
Among the significant foods he celebrates in the book, Kim loves the Caramelized Kimchi Baked Potatoes that Jean helped create.
“The baked potatoes were inspired by the baked potatoes we would always get at Ryan’s Buffet and Sweet Tomatoes,” he said. “My mom would put sugar in her baked potato at the buffet. We just thought that was normal, and what you did. The kimchi baked potato in the book was certainly inspired by that.
“I think that’s the point about taste memory and flavor. So much of our memories and experiences in life are tied to sensory stimuli. There are studies that show taste is both smell and what you eat. It’s the olfactory part of it that is connected to the same part of the brain that deals with memory and emotion. That’s why we are so emotional about food.”
Among the places Kim shops when he’s in Atlanta, he declared Buford Highway Farmers Market “so gorgeous.”
“I love going there because the aisles are labeled after different cuisines and cultures. I really love shopping like that,” he said. “I think it’s a way to see the different immigrant communities that are in Atlanta. It tells such a great story. The DeKalb Farmers Market is also really great. There are plenty of H Marts all over the city. It’s where I would currently get my Korean groceries when I come back home.”
One of Kim’s favorite places to eat is Ton Ton at Ponce City Market. “That’s actually one of my favorite bowls of ramen in the world,” he said. “I’ve been to Japan, Tokyo and Kyoto, and had ramen, and I like Ton Ton the best.”
Surprisingly, perhaps, Kim said he might come back home for good one day.
“At the end of the day, what I’m really excited about is someday moving back home to Atlanta,” he said. “That’s kind of a dream I have. Not for the near future. But I think you fully become an adult when you realize that the place you grew up in was actually quite idyllic. I met my partner in Atlanta. Both of our families live in Atlanta. We both live in the Northeast right now, but I think it’s really lovely to have this pull from home.”
RECIPES
These recipes from “Korean American” by Eric Kim illustrate the way Atlanta immigrants fused two different food cultures to create an inventive hybrid cuisine that Kim says “tastes like home.”
Credit: Handout
Credit: Handout
Sesame-Soy Deviled Eggs
“These are the deviled eggs I make the most,” Kim writes in his cookbook. “They sort of taste like if you took gyerangbap, or egg rice, and turned it into a single party bite: salty from soy sauce, nutty from sesame oil, and full of deep savoriness from the roasted seaweed. My parents love these because they taste, well, Korean.”
Credit: Handout
Credit: Handout
Yangnyeom Roast Chicken
“Though you could swap a turkey for this roast chicken, in those earlier Thanksgivings when all the teenagers in my family cooked the big feast on our own, we often just roasted a chicken — sometimes two, if the guest list was long,” Kim writes. “But as an adult, I now find that brushing the sticky, spicy-sweet yangnyeom sauce normally found on Korean fried chicken, makes for an incredible centerpiece bird that glistens red.”
Credit: Handout
Credit: Handout
Caramelized Kimchi Baked Potatoes
This sweet baked potato feels like a full meal. You could serve it alongside a side salad or just eat it as is. If you want to make a large party platter of baked stuffed potatoes, use smaller spuds.
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