About Maangchi

Hi! I’m Maangchi! Welcome to my website!

I was born and raised in Korea and have been interested in cooking and food since I was a little girl. I live in New York City now, and love to learn about food from other cultures, too. On April 9 2007, I posted a video of myself cooking Korean food on YouTube, just for fun. Right away, people were interested in it, so I’ve been making them ever since.

I made this website to share my Korean cooking knowledge and for Korean food lovers worldwide who want to learn about Korean food and talk to each other.

I mostly stick to authentic Korean recipes here because that’s what I was raised on and that’s what I know. But I’m always interested in learning new techniques and I’m constantly experimenting and developing and reworking my own recipes. Whenever I make something good, I’ll post it here!

I’m blessed to have met so many wonderful people through YouTube and my website. Meeting with and talking to my viewers and readers is the best thing about posting recipes online: they are all passionate cooks and have a lot of knowledge to share. We have endless things to talk about when I meet them and we are instant friends! I love hearing from them.

Thanks for your interest in my recipes, and take care!

In the media

Here are some interviews, stories, and reports in the media on me, my website & videos, and my readers:

October 8, 2022

I was at the New York Times Food Festival making kimchi on stage with Eric Kim.


October 1, 2020

The LA Times interviewed me and featured my traditional kimchi and chayote kimchi recipes in their all-kimchi weekend special section.

Maangchi in LA Times Oct 01, 2020


December 13, 2019

I talked to Milk Street radio about cleaning octopus, playing video games, Korean food, and sea squirts!


December 6, 2019

I was on the Splendid Table talking about cold weather cooking in Korea.


December 2019

My new cookbook was chosen by Amazon as one of the best cookbooks of the year, and by Bon Appetit as their Book of the Month, and by the New York Times Book Review as one of their Recommended Holiday Books.


November 5, 2019

I was a guest on Heritage Radio talking about Korean cooking, YouTube, and my book.


November 1, 2019

I kept a record of what I ate for 4 days and wrote about it in the Grub Street Diet.


October 28, 2019

The Verge interviewed me about my second cookbook.


Fall 2019

My new cookbook Maangchi’s Big Book of Korean Cooking is chosen as The New York Times Best Cookbooks of Fall, Eater Best Fall Cookbooks, Bon Appetit’s Fall Cookbooks We’ve Been Waiting All Summer For, Amazon’s Pick for Best Fall Cookbooks 2019, and also by Epicurious, Chowhound, Literary Hub, and Condé Nast Traveler.


July 22, 2015

The Chicago Tribune interviewed me about bibimbap and posted the recipe from my cookbook.


July 10, 2015

I was interviewed live on the The Leonard Lopate Show as part of his Food Fridays on WNYC National Public Radio.


June 15, 2015

Maangchi’s Real Korean Cooking was chosen as Yahoo Food’s Cookbook of the Week and they posted a recipe from it every day all week.


June 9, 2015

KBS Korean news: 뉴욕 한복판서 파·마늘 ‘팍팍’…유튜브 한식 전도사
(YouTube Korean Food Ambassador Tosses a lot of Garlic and Green Onion in the Middle of NYC)


June 2, 2015

The New York Times: Maangchi: YouTube’s Korean Julia Child

Maangchi in the New York Times 2015-06-03

The New York Times wrote about me and they shot a video of Julia Moskin and I making bulgogi. I also wrote a behind-the-scenes blog post about the shoot.


May 21, 2015

I was on Here & Now on American NPR:
YouTube Sensation Publishes Her First Cookbook


May 18, 2015

The Milwaukee Sentinal: Chef Chat – Maangchi promotes Korean cuisine with her videos
KoreAm Journal: YouTube Chef Maangchi Debuts New Cookbook


May 16, 2015

The Korean broadcast and print media did many stories on me & YouTubeNY:

Panel at YouTube with Korean and Japanese mediaMeeting Korean mediaHanguk kyoung jae 2015-04-16


October 10, 2011

NBC interviewed me about my YouTube channel.


September 22, 2011

I was invited to have lunch with the First Lady of Korea Kim Yoon-ok, and the Wall Street Journal wrote about it.



May 31, 2011

The New York Times wrote about me and all the other YouTube NextUp winners.


May 25, 2011

Chris Anderson, the curator of the TED innovation talks, wrote that my videos were part of a world-changing explosion of innovation and experimentation.


March 17, 2011

The New York Daily News wrote a feature story about me.
Maangchi in The New York Daily News - March17, 2011


March 9, 2011

I was a “Kimchi Taster” for Serious Eats’ Kimchi Taste Test.


February 27, 2011

The Korea Herald called my site one of “the nation’s most useful websites.”


February 26, 2011

I was featured in the New York Post article “YouTube Millionaires” which was also covered by The Korea Times.


November 3, 2010

I was interviewed by koreataste.org.


July 11, 2010

I was interviewed by Fox 9 TV in Minneapolis when I did a cooking demo for “Passport to Korea.”


June 24, 2010

The New York Kimchi Contest was picked by Time Out New York and Serious Eats New York as one of the best food events in the city that week.


March 11, 2010

Nominated by Saveur Magazine for “Most Innovative Video Content” in their 1st Annual Food Blog Awards.


Feb 24, 2010

Interviewed by 8asians.com.


Jan 25, 2010

KBS in Korea did a nice report on me. It’s in Korean, but even if you can’t understand the language, you will understand what’s going on:


Jan 10, 2010

Interview with Mr. Doowon Seo on his live radio show in Korea, “Sisa Jeonmangdae” (“Current News”) on KBS (mp3).


Jan 08, 2010

Canada’s Globe and Mail wrote a long article about me: “You Tube turns amateur chefs into food celebs.” Soon after, many other Korean media outlets reported on the story:


Oct 02, 2009

I was interviewed by Philip Gowman of London Korean Links over dinner, it was nice to meet him and he wrote some really nice things about me and my website.


May 19, 2009

My cooking class is in the New York Times Dining and Wine Calendar.


Oct 20, 2008

I was interviewed by the Joongang Ilbo in Korean.