Hi! I’m Maangchi! Welcome to my website!
I was born and raised in Korea and have been interested in food and cooking all my life. I learned how to cook from my family, relatives, friends, vendors on the street or the market, wherever I could learn a new recipe or technique. I made this website in 2007 because I wanted to make a Korean food encyclopedia of everything I knew. I’ve been adding to it and updating to it constantly since then but there’s still more to do!
My recipes are mostly traditional, authentic Korean recipes because that’s what I know best. But I’m always interested in learning new techniques and I’m constantly experimenting, developing, and reworking my own recipes. Whenever I make something good, I’ll post it here!
My website has grown and grown and is the #1 site for Korean cooking on the internet. I also have two best-selling cookbooks and have been featured in many media outlets (see below).
I live in New York City now, and love to learn about food and culture. I’m blessed to have met so many wonderful people through cooking. My viewers and readers are all passionate cooks and have a lot of knowledge and funny stories to share. We have endless things to talk about when we meet and we’re instant friends! I love hearing from them.
Thanks for your interest in my recipes, and take care!
Here are some interviews, stories, and reports in the media on me, my website & videos, and my readers:
I was at the New York Times Food Festival making kimchi on stage with Eric Kim.
The LA Times interviewed me and featured my traditional kimchi and chayote kimchi recipes in their all-kimchi weekend special section.
I talked to Milk Street radio about cleaning octopus, playing video games, Korean food, and sea squirts!
I was on the Splendid Table talking about cold weather cooking in Korea.
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.
I was a guest on Heritage Radio talking about Korean cooking, YouTube, and my book.
I kept a record of what I ate for 4 days and wrote about it in the Grub Street Diet.
The Verge interviewed me about my second cookbook.
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.
The Chicago Tribune interviewed me about bibimbap and posted the recipe from my cookbook.
I was interviewed live on the The Leonard Lopate Show as part of his Food Fridays on WNYC National Public Radio.
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.
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)
The New York Times: Maangchi: YouTube’s Korean Julia Child
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.
I was on Here & Now on American NPR:
YouTube Sensation Publishes Her First Cookbook
The Milwaukee Sentinal: Chef Chat – Maangchi promotes Korean cuisine with her videos
KoreAm Journal: YouTube Chef Maangchi Debuts New Cookbook
The Korean broadcast and print media did many stories on me & YouTubeNY:
NBC interviewed me about my YouTube channel.
I was invited to have lunch with the First Lady of Korea Kim Yoon-ok, and the Wall Street Journal wrote about it.
USA Today did a front page story on me and some of the other YouTubers in the Next Up program, and the future of YouTube and the media.
The New York Times wrote about me and all the other YouTube NextUp winners.
Chris Anderson, the curator of the TED innovation talks, wrote that my videos were part of a world-changing explosion of innovation and experimentation.
The New York Daily News wrote a feature story about me.
I was a “Kimchi Taster” for Serious Eats’ Kimchi Taste Test.
The Korea Herald called my site one of “the nation’s most useful websites.”
I was featured in the New York Post article “YouTube Millionaires” which was also covered by The Korea Times.
I was interviewed by koreataste.org.
I was interviewed by Fox 9 TV in Minneapolis when I did a cooking demo for “Passport to Korea.”
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.
Nominated by Saveur Magazine for “Most Innovative Video Content” in their 1st Annual Food Blog Awards.
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:
Interview with Mr. Doowon Seo on his live radio show in Korea, “Sisa Jeonmangdae” (“Current News”) on KBS (mp3).
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:
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.
My cooking class is in the New York Times Dining and Wine Calendar.
I was interviewed by the Joongang Ilbo in Korean.
Which to get? Both are best sellers and either one is a good choice if you want to learn Korean home cooking. Maangchi's Real Korean Cooking has all the recipes for all the essential Korean pastes and sauces, but my second book Maangchi's Big Book of Korean Cooking has more recipes, more photos, and more variety.