Noah Cho teaches middle-school English in the San Francisco Bay Area. His writing has appeared on NPR's CodeSwitch, Shondaland, The Atlantic, and The Toast. He spends most of his free time going on hikes with and taking photos of his doggo, Porkchop.
Halmoni didn’t tell me she loved me. Her love could be seen in the work of her hands.
Sure, the food is delicious, but it’s that sense of community that makes Korean barbeque what it is.
Columnist Noah Cho on pandemic food cravings, home cooking adventures, and much-missed restaurants.
You can turn almost nothing but kimchi and liquid into something vibrant and nourishing to eat—something that everyone seems to want right now.
“My father, was alive, in me—in my reflection, in my voice, in my posture.”
“You can tell a lot about a Korean restaurant based on the banchan it offers.”
Harabeoji’s favorite thing to eat, and the thing to which he attributed his long life, was raw garlic.
“Dealing with someone else’s culture, someone else’s media, and trying to Americanize it is something I can’t understand.”
I need something that is going to tingle, tell me the food is alive. Because I want to be alive, too.
“I found myself dwelling on these parts of Korean culture as a way to reconnect with my identity and also the memory of my mom.”
