Eric Kim didn’t originally intend to become a food writer.
Having grown up in Atlanta, Georgia, he came to New York to earn his undergraduate degree at NYU and graduate degrees at Columbia University. Once aspiring to be an English professor, he arrived at his food writing career almost by surprise. A self-taught home cook, he ended up working various roles for many food media companies including Food Network, Food & Wine and Saveur, and eventually he established the popular column “Table for One” while working as a senior editor at Food52. Then, last year, he was hired into his current role as a recipe developer and writer for NYT Cooking.
Kim’s debut cookbook, “Korean American: Food That Tastes Like Home,” hit shelves this week. The book contains a mix of recipes rooted in his Korean American upbringing in Atlanta — from Crispy Lemon Pepper Bulgogi to Tomato-y Omelet Rice and Gochujang Chocolate Lava Cakes to Milk Bread with Maple Syrup.
In the book, he shares early memories of how, for his parents, scarcity of Asian ingredients bred innovation. For example, it led to a significant presence of jalapenos in home-cooked dishes until shishito peppers were more readily available in Atlanta as the Korean population grew. In another section, he describes feasting as a way to honor being alive. To that point, Kim strongly encourages everyone to write down their family recipes as soon as possible. “Really, it’s never too late,” he told me. “You will always be able to bring your family back to life after they pass with the cooking.”
‘Korean is an adjective for American’
Most of all, Kim hopes this book will extend a hand to other Korean Americans who feel they’re “straddling the nations.”
“Korean is an adjective for American,” says Kim. “It’s an American cookbook and an American experience. All I can do is tell my family story well, and this is just one story. There is no…