Rice Table: Korean Recipes and Stories to Feed the Soul

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Toss the cabbage in a bowl with the Worcestershire sauce and olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Divide the pork cutlets between two individual plates without slicing. Pour the warm brown sauce generously over the top. Serve with shredded cabbage salad. The whole house would smell of bones. It's not a nasty smell, but it's not overly pleasant either. It's the dish I absolutely hated as a child, but it's also the one I felt so loved with." The step-by-step tutorials include images numerous enough to guide and few enough not to confuse. The appealing recipes showcase the different pasta forms superbly: gemelli with slow-cooked pork shoulder ragù and saffron lorighittas with blue swimmer crab made me particularly hungry. The subtitle – The Many Shapes Of A Family Tradition – reflects the importance of family food traditions and connections that run through the book.

I didn’t know that… The now widespread breadfruit came to West Africa from New Guinea and the Philippines. Photographs by Yuki Sugiura & Dave Brown. Individually they are delicious, they each have a place in their own right. It’s a bit sad to call them side dishes, isn’t it?” In the follow up to her first book Sea & Shore, chef Emily Scott invites you to share in the recipes that colour her day: chapters such as Rise & Shine are plump with early morning delights. Beautifully photographed, the book is rich in the colours and landscapes of the north Cornwall coast where Scott runs her Watergate Bay restaurant. Short essays – relating to time and place, foraging, and more – punctuate the unfussy, flavour-led recipes, such as monkfish and saffron curry; clotted cream and lemon drizzle bundt cake and gorse-flower fudge. When I think about my childhood, there’s this powerful moment of smell,” says Scott. “There’s this one specific memory of my father sourcing the good meat bones, and my mother preparing the broth for days on end. A rice table is a typical meal within an ordinary Korean home, and typically consists of rice, soup, a selection o three to five banchan dishes, kimchi, and a main dish of meat or fish. It’s for this simple meal that Scott has named the book, though more elaborate versions are made for special occasions and celebrations. The many recipes throughout the book lend themselves perfectly to rice table meals.

Prepare the wet batter by combining the plain flour, 30 grams of the rice flour and the cornflour. Add the water gradually to the mix and whisk to break up any lumps. I make rolled omelette (gyeranmari) from Rice Table frequently, albeit with different choice of filling. It is such a versatile recipe that works as breakfast, lunch or dinner. Great served on its own or with rice, but always with tomato ketchup! Recipe I can’t wait to make: Neri miso, a combination of miso, honey and water or sake, which has “extremes of salt and sweet that are so balanced it’s as if your taste buds have been put into a painful, yet deeply soothing, yoga position” .

Heat the vegetable oil in a heavy-based, lidded saucepan over a low heat. Add the onions, a good pinch of salt and sauté gently, stirring frequently, for about 10-15 minutes. The onions should be floppy and beautifully caramelised, with the edges catching a little colour. If you feel it is cooking too fast, add a tiny splash of water. Scotland-based Sumayya Usmani’s exploration of the food of Pakistan is full of enticing recipes, but this is a memoir, too, about growing up as a woman in Pakistan in the 1980s and 90s, and how cooking helped Sumayya find her place in the world. First, a trio of vegetables: Sautéed Courgettes, Spicy Radish Salad, and Charred Cabbage in Warm Gochujang Vinaigrette enjoyed with Braised Tofu. Although these share a number of ingredients in common, the flavours and textures are very distinct. Fill a saucepan suitable for deep-frying with vegetable oil. It should be filled deep enough to submerge the dough balls but no more than three-quarters full. Heat to 160°C. If you don’t have a thermometer, a cube of bread should brown in 12 seconds. When it reaches 160°C, turn off the heat and carefully lower a few of the dough balls into the pan, making sure you don’t overcrowd the pan. Keep the heat off for two minutes. After two minutes, the dough will start to move and float a little.Place the vegetable oil and chunjang in a cold wok or sauté pan over a low heat to slowly warm them up together. Stir constantly and fry the paste for about 3 minutes, until bubbles surface on top. You will notice the funky and salty smell of the paste. Once done, separate the fried paste and oil – you should have about 2½ tablespoons of oil. Set both aside. The oil will be used to cook the onions. I think it is important to be interested in the culture of cuisine I adopt into my kitchen, to have an insight of why such is processed in such ways traditionally. Once I gain better understanding of the culture and history that surrounds the tradition, I then feel more comfortable and confident to explore how I can adapt to suit the modern living while maintaining the respect to the origin of dish. Scott's food career began after moving to London in 2000 when she was 19, but it really took off after winning an Observer Food Monthly Award in 2019 for a recipe based on her mother's kimchi jjigae. The rustic, spicy stew, typically made with pork belly, tofu and kimchi, was voted Best Readers' Recipe by The Observer's food magazine. Continuing with the sauce, melt the butter in a heavy-based saucepan and add the flour. Cook the flour over a low–medium heat for 3–4 minutes, stirring constantly, until the mixture turns toffee brown in colour, making sure you don’t let it burn. Rice Table explores how immigration and motherhood impacted my identity as woman, using food and food memories as a medium which have been such an integral part of my journey of reconnecting to my Korean heritage. The recipes included in the book are the dishes that helped me connect the dots to rebuild my Korean identity. I wanted the recipes to carry personal meanings and stories, in hope to pass on to my daughter. Where do you find inspiration?

Once 10 minutes are up, open the lid and give it a gentle stir with a rice paddle or wooden spoon to mix it all up – notice the slightly crunchy crust at the bottom of the pan. Divide the rice between bowls and scatter with snipped chives. Serve while warm. Ursula Ferrigno’s book has a simple proposition – to share the food of the ‘divine coast’ of Italy’s Amalfi in chapters beautifully realised by an author who was born and has lived in the landscapes she writes about. The food of this region is well loved, but expect delightful takes on the familiar – green chicory ravioli is one of many I want to try. Su Scott’s intimate book shares the food and experience of a Korean mother living in Britain, and the relationship between her, her daughter and the food they eat. It’s engagingly written, and there’s much here about the importance of food and identity. The book is beautifully designed and photographed, and the recipes are a delight. Expect everything from innovative ferments (white cabbage and apple kimchi) to bold mains such as grilled clams with sweet doenjang (fermented soybean paste) vinaigrette. Perhaps Scott’s words resonates with me so strongly because my own parents emigrated to England a few years before I was born and I, like Scott’s daughter Kiki, was born in London. I am immensely grateful and full of respect for the careful line my parents – especially my mother – walked to keep my sister and I connected to our ancestral motherland, family and culture whilst also robustly encouraging us to grow up comfortable in our British identities. I didn’t know that… In Singapore, the satay is so good on the streets, no one makes their own. Photographs by Kris KirkhamOnce hot, stir in the vinegar, then warm the liquid up for a minute so the brine is hot but not boiling. Webster said: “I feel privileged that Quadrille has been able to bring this special book to life with Su during a massive rise in the popularity of Korean food. This is a book about identity and immigration. It’s about how the food you feed your children builds a story about their heritage. But it’s mainly a book about wonderful food – the kind of food we all want to eat right now.”