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.
Where Korean Lives in the Bay
Who lives where Around 100,000 Korean-Americans live across the nine Bay Area counties. The largest clusters are in San Mateo…
Korean CultureWhere to Wear Your Hanbok Here
The Bay Area Korean community is smaller than the one in Los Angeles or New York but quietly substantial. Around 100,000…
Korean CultureWhat the Street Cart Remembers
Why Korean street food matters Korean street food is not just convenient eating. It is the food of after-school memories, of…
Hanbok GuidesWhat Your Child Will Outgrow Beautifully
Korean-American children typically own one or two hanbok between their first birthday and their teens. The pieces grow with them…
Korean CultureAppreciation, Appropriation, and the Honest Answer
The short answer Yes, non-Koreans can wear hanbok respectfully. Most Korean people are pleased to see non-Koreans take the time…
Hanbok GuidesThe Pieces a Hanbok Asks For
The chima jeogori is the main event, but a Korean traditional outfit usually involves several small pieces that finish the look…
Korean CultureIs Hanbok Always Silk? No.
The basic definition Hanbok (한복) literally means “Korean clothing.” In modern usage it refers to Korean traditional…
Hanbok GuidesThe Eighty Dollar Polyester Isn't Hanbok
The internet is full of hanbok-shaped clothing. Costume-shop sets, mass-produced polyester chima-jeogori pairs, Halloween-counter…
Korean CultureThe Diaspora Is Keeping It Alive
The diaspora story Roughly two million Korean-Americans live in the United States, the largest Korean diaspora population outside…
Hanbok GuidesThe Wedding Hanbok Plan, In Order
Most modern Korean weddings include two looks. A Western-style dress and tuxedo for the main ceremony and reception. A…
Korean CultureSixteen Hundred Years of Korean Cloth
Three Kingdoms (57 BC to 668 AD) The earliest visual evidence of hanbok comes from tomb murals of Goguryeo, one of the three…
RecipesWhat We Cook When We Miss Home
What Korean comfort food means Korean comfort food is not a specific category. It is whatever Korean dish a particular…
Korean CultureThe Most Direct Line Home
Many Korean-American customers tell Eric the same story. They grew up Korean at home and American everywhere else. They speak…
Korean CultureMeeting His Family for the First Time
What is generally expected Korean family events lean conservative. Cocktail attire is the default for weddings, dol, milestone…
Hanbok GuidesWhat to Wear on Seollal Morning
Seollal falls on the first day of the lunar calendar, usually late January or early February. It is one of the two biggest Korean…
Korean CultureThe Table Set for the Ancestors
What jesa is Jesa (제사) is the Korean ritual of ancestor veneration. The family gathers, typically at the home of the eldest son…
RecipesWhy Korean Food Begins With Time
The three foundations Korean cooking rests on three fermented foundations: kimchi (fermented vegetables, primarily napa cabbage)…
Hanbok GuidesHow Eric Tells Customers to Fold It
A hanbok, cared for properly, outlives the occasion it was made for. Eric's mother still has the wedding hanbok she wore in 1979…
Korean CultureThe Korean Word For What You Already Feel
What jeong means Jeong (정) is one of those Korean words that does not translate well. It describes a deep, unspoken attachment…
Hanbok GuidesHow the Hanbok Got Its Shape
Hanbok is older than Korea itself. The basic silhouette, a short top tied at the front and a wide skirt or pants underneath…
Korean CultureThe Korean Art of Reading the Room
What nunchi means Nunchi (눈치) literally translates to “eye-measure.” In practice it means the ability to read a room…
Hanbok GuidesWhat My Father Wore to His Sixtieth
Men's hanbok is the part of Korean traditional dress that most Korean-American men encounter only briefly, at a wedding, at a…
Korean CultureWhat Do The Colors Mean?
Obangsaek, the five cardinal colors Korean color theory traces back to obangsaek (오방색), the five cardinal colors corresponding to…
Hanbok GuidesYes, You Can Wear It
Eric gets this question often. A non-Korean friend is marrying into a Korean family. A non-Korean guest is invited to a dol. A…
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