From the journal.
Recipes, culture, hanbok, and the meaning behind Korean traditions. Written by Eric and Mrs. Lee Youngsook, posted as we cook and source.
What to Wear at Sixty
What hwangap is Sixty years is a full turn of the Korean zodiac. Ten stems, twelve animals, one closed circle. When a parent…
Hanbok GuidesThe Quietest Hanbok in the Closet
What baji are The 바지 is the piece nobody talks about. It sits under a 저고리, under a vest, under the 두루마기. It is drafted wide at…
Hanbok GuidesThe Silk That Outlasted My Grandmother
Why hanbok care matters The silk 저고리 on the atelier form was cut in Seoul in 1978. It belonged to a customer's mother. The…
Behind the ScenesWhat Makes a Hanbok Last Generations
The question of quality A silk 저고리 came into the studio last month from a client's mother, worn once in 1987 and folded into…
Behind the ScenesA Fitting in San Mateo
A weekday morning in the San Mateo studio. The bolts of silk are pulled forward on the shelves so the light catches them. Mrs…
RecipesThe Cookbook Youngsook Would Write
The notebook lives on a shelf above the rice cooker. Its cover is soft from thirty years of being pulled down before dinner, and…
Korean-American LifeWhy the Second Generation Is Going Home
A cousin in Palo Alto took an F-4 visa in January and moved his family of four to Seongsu. He is not the only one. Three families…
Korean CultureThe Songpyeon That Teaches the Kids
The glutinous rice dough sits on the counter, warm from the water. A four-year-old presses her thumb into the ball and asks why…
Hanbok GuidesWhat Guests Will Notice at Doljanchi
Guests notice three things at a doljanchi. The baby's hanbok, the mother's hanbok, and whether the two look like they belong at…
Korean CultureThree Generations, One Dinner Table
Three generations sit at one dinner table on Chuseok. The grandmother speaks Korean at native tempo. The son answers in a mix…
Hanbok GuidesFrom Joseon Court to Your Closet
A silk wonsam from a Joseon court archive and a linen daily jeogori cut in Seoul last spring share the same silhouette. Short…
Korean-American LifeThe Heritage Essay Without the Cliché
A senior sat across from Eric last April with three drafts of the grandmother-kimchi essay. All three were competent. None…
Korean CultureWhat Korean American Means Now
A cousin who grew up in Palo Alto took a job in Seoul in 2024. Two summers later she still cannot decide which city she lives in…
RecipesTen Jars Every Korean Kitchen Holds
Mrs. Lee opens the pantry in San Mateo on a Tuesday evening. Gochujang in a small tub. Doenjang beside it. Guk-ganjang on the…
Korean-American LifeRaising Kids Who Speak Korean
Our older son said his first full Korean sentence to his 할머니 at three, on a video call, asking for 잡채. She cried. We had spent…
Hanbok GuidesFive Wedding Hanbok Variations That Work
Korean American weddings in 2026 are hybrid by default. Western vows, paebaek for the family ritual, sometimes a Korean reception…
RecipesYoungsook's Soondubu, the Way She Makes It
Youngsook sets the 뚝배기 on high heat before anything else goes in. The earthenware has to be blazing when the anchovy stock hits…
Bay AreaA Korean Event in the Bay Area
Decide what kind of event you are actually planning A Palo Alto living room at five on a Friday. A corporate event planner has a…
Bay AreaTwo Cultures, One San Mateo Childhood
The mixed identity experience A San Mateo kitchen at nine on a Sunday. 김치 in a jar on the counter. A Stanford acceptance letter…
Korean CultureTen Gifts a Korean American Will Keep
A friend called last month asking what to bring to her boyfriend's mother, a Korean grandmother she was meeting for the first…
Bay AreaHow We Hold Chuseok in California
Why Korean holidays feel different in the Bay Area Chuseok 2026 falls on a Wednesday. The kids have school. The adults have work…
Korean CultureSix Cushions, One Bow
The Western part is over. Guests are eating cake, cousins are queuing for photos, and the couple has slipped into a side room to…
Bay AreaWhere Korea Lives in San Francisco
Where San Francisco’s Korean life clusters There is no real Koreatown in San Francisco. There is a stretch of Geary…
Hanbok GuidesHanbok for the Days Between Ceremonies
A weeknight in San Mateo. A linen 저고리 over a straight-leg jean, cuffs rolled, hair pulled back. The hostess at the sushi counter…
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