Umma: A Korean Mom's Kitchen Wisdom and 100 Family Recipes Hardcover – April 1, 2025

I have not been more excited for a cookbook in a long time, and this is coming from someone with an alarmingly large cookbook collection! I stayed up late reading the whole book in one day. As a Korean-American, I own a lot of Korean cookbooks, and am familiar with many of the recipes in this book. So why would I be so excited for this book? Here's why:1) You can get a real sense of how meticulously the recipes in this book have been researched/tested. There are so many helpful tips that make you feel as if you are recreating a recipe that has been passed down in your family. I really feel as if I have a Korean ahjumma in the kitchen with me, giving me pointers.2) The recipe selection not only includes the standard recipes you would typically find in a Korean cookbook, but insight into how Sarah's mom meal preps and plans meals. I feel as if I'm given a peek into the inner workings of a Korean family, and am inspired to plan my own family's meals around the recipes in this book. As someone whose mom did not cook that much growing up, I find this incredibly helpful and I almost feel like I've been adopted into another family and am learning their secret recipes, haha.3) There are some very interesting "restaurant" style dishes like Korean fried chicken, kimchi grilled cheese, and cream-filled doughnuts. I follow Ahnest Kitchen on socials, and I know how diligently these recipes have been tested and vetted. I am very excited to try my hand at them, as the author was obsessed with perfecting these recipes so that they taste even better than in the restaurants.Whether you are Korean or not, new or experienced at Korean cooking, I highly recommend this book. It is filled with stories of their family's history and Korea. I learned a lot of new things, and will continue to work my way through these recipes.

I have been waiting for months for this moment.This is not just a cookbook, pages and pages of photos, stories, tiniest little tips that Umma wouldn’t leave behind, and the most gorgeous pictures for each step.I find most cookbooks intimidating and unapproachable, I look up a recipe and that’s it, but Umma’s book is like that favorite novel that you go over and re-read, over and over again.I have been following Sarah’s videos for months and when I saw the news about this book, there was no doubt that I wanted it.Every recipe from Umma that I tried from Sarah’s TikToks has been absolutely incredible. On point instructions and tips that make a huge difference.They even included a whole section to introduce Korean ingredients, their preferred brands and tips on buying Korean vegetables and herbs like Perilla and aster scaber. Cannot wait to try every recipe from this amazing book.Thank you Umma and Sarah ♥️엄마, 이 글은 당신을 위한 것입니다.저는 엄마의 강인함과 헌신을 존경합니다. 저도 엄마처럼 살고 싶어요—강하면서도 섬세하고, 다정하면서도 단단하며, 끝없이 사랑을 주는 사람이 되고 싶어요. 그리고 엄마의 정원... 그것은 제 꿈이에요. 가족을 돌보고, 최고의 것을 아낌없이 나누는 모습은 제가 본 것 중 가장 아름다운 광경이에요.저는 그런 사랑을 제 가족에게서 받지 못했지만, 엄마를 보면서 제 마음 한 켠이 치유되었습니다.감사합니다, 엄마. 엄마는 많은 사람들에게 따뜻함과 치유를 선물해 주는 분이에요. 엄마께서 행복과 건강으로 가득 찬 삶을 사시길, 그리고 사랑하는 사람들과 소중한 순간들을 많이 만들어 가시길 진심으로 바랍니다. 엄마의 길이 오래도록 사랑으로 가득하길 바랍니다.

This book is a pleasure. I have over 100 Asian cookbooks and I am constantly making Asian dishes. This is the first book that not only brought food to my table but put passion in my heart and knowledge in my brain. This isn’t just a book featuring Korean recipes but a love letter to Korean culture, food and each other. It not only explains how to make recipes but why. The why has always been a big part of what I have felt has been missing. This mother and daughter team has brought splendid book full of recipes and love and I am very appreciative of it.

I love how this book has been written with so much heart. There are details to the why and how of recipes, a lot of background written and also an ode to her parents and very relatable to immigrant kids like me even though I am not Korean myself. I appreciate lots of pictures to show how to make a recipe for people like me who aren't as familiar with Korean cooking. Highly recommend!

I have been anxiously looking forward to this book release, being a huge fan of Korean cooking. I have mastered gimbap, galbi and bulgogi but have always wanted to expand my repertoire. This book is quite simply, a Korean cooking bible for me. It has beautiful photos, heartwarming stories, excellent tips and extreme attention to detail in every recipe. The tips from Umma make this book stand out. Learning her secrets have made me excited to cook every recipe - and there are over 100 of them! America’s Test Kitchen does not disappoint. I own their Cooking School Cookbook and knew that the quality of this cookbook would be superb.Even if you never cooked one recipe from the book, the stories from Sarah, and the conversations included between mother and daughter are worth the purchase! I read half the book in one night and didn’t want to put it down!An excellent book I will treasure for years to come.