Curry & Kimchi

September 2, 2019
Abkin and Taylor, chefs of Coco and the Cellar Bar in Easthampton, Mass., coax readers toward Asian “flavor secrets” in recipes best suited for those new to the wok. A Korean bolognese—a pork sauce seasoned with ginger and gochujang, which may be “unmistakably Korean”—will feel familiar “when you pour it over Korean Spaghetti or stuff it in Korean Sloppy Joes.” Korean-inflected dishes, drawing from Abkin’s early childhood in South Korea, are a relative strength here. Other Asian cuisines are less expertly evoked: coriander and shrimp chow fun tries without success to “avoid the muddiness” of a stir-fry by arranging boiled noodles next to corn starch–thickened sauce, topped with shrimp and raw pea shoots. Readers may be thwarted in their quest for Asian-inspired cuisine by the fact that ingredients are scattered throughout each recipe. Cooking a “cleaner, simpler” shiitake mushroom and tofu pad Thai, home cooks might be dismayed to turn the page and find a dozen ingredients that didn’t make the initial shopping list. Once the reader learns the book’s quirks, the recipes themselves are manageable and flavorful.

November 1, 2019
James Beard Award semifinalist Abkin brings her unique perspective to this collection of 70 recipes inspired by her Korean, Mexican-American, and Jewish heritage and her experience preparing Asian-inspired cuisine. Abkin collaborates with chef Taylor, her husband and partner in restauranteurship, to play with and hone traditional recipes to a point where they are accessible to the home cook, appealing to young palates, and enjoyable to both prepare and eat. Encompassing salads and main dishes along with dressings, salsas, sauces, condiments, pickles, and infused oils, this collection includes many popular favorites such as green Thai curry, ramen broths, bibimbap, and many more. Abkin and Taylor offer insights on their process and motivation for each dish in a brief introduction and color photographs showcase the appealing results readers can strive for. A suggestion for alternate ingredients, other treatments, or tip for using leftovers accompanies each recipe. Because so much of the book focuses on sauces and other accoutrements, it is easy to imagine expanding on the recipes included here by utilizing those dressings in different ways.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)