The authors of “Koreaworld” want to expand the universe of Korean food

If you ask food journalist Matt Rodbard what the biggest food stories are right now, he may talk about an often-spicy cuisine that was born on a peninsula in Asia. “I think it’s one of the biggest stories of our generation, the rise of Korean food,” Rodbard said. “And you see it everywhere now.”

Rodbard, along with chef and co-author Deuki Hong, documented some of that story in the two cookbooks they’ve written together: “Koreatown,” published in 2016, and their latest, “Koreaworld: A Cookbook,” released this year.

In their first book, they focused on Korean communities in the U.S., such as Los Angeles’ Koreatown, which contains the largest concentration of Korean-owned businesses in the country. They profiled popular restaurants like Soban, which is known for dishes like braised short ribs (“galbi jjim”) and, more recently, for being a favorite of “Parasite” director Bong Joon-ho. And perhaps more than anything, they wanted their audience to be aware of Korean cuisine beyond dining-out staples like barbecue.

“Korean food can’t just be good barbecue. Nothing wrong with good barbecue, but really expanding that conversation,” said Deuki Hong. “And I think with ‘Koreatown,’ we got the opportunity to do that as first-time authors.”

After “Koreatown” came out, Hong and Rodbard decided to wait and see where Korean food went next, and in the meantime they pursued separate careers. But over the next four years, there was a sea change centered on other Korean exports like TV, film and K-pop that spilled over into food.

The success of “Parasite” and Netflix’s “Squid Game” boosted awareness of Korean cuisine as well as Korean drama. Take “Parasite.” A key scene featuring a dish called ram-don (a fictionalized name for a real noodle dish called jjapaguri) caused the dish itself to become a hit, with plenty of people posting their personal takes on the recipe. Around the same time, new Korean restaurants like Atomix in New York City (which opened in 2018) were attracting international acclaim.

“It really was the right, perfect recipe of things happening at the right time,” said Hong. “We call it this cultural trifecta of the cuisine, the music, the arts, all kind of hitting at the same time.”

Part of this can be attributed to the Korean Wave, or “Hallyu,” the government-sponsored promotion of Korean pop culture. While technically dating back to the 1990s, Hallyu has become a priority for South Korea’s leaders in recent years. This year, authorities budgeted $1.3 billion for content production, with several lines in that budget directly linked to Hallyu. In fact, Rodbard and Hong met in 2012 on a book project sponsored by the government.

With all of these cultural forces intersecting, the two started writing their second book together in 2020. They were able to work with many of the same editorial and publishing personnel involved in the first book, but this time would be a little different. “We really challenged ourselves,” said Rodbard. “We didn’t repeat recipes, we didn’t repeat stories and we landed on ‘Koreaworld,’ which just expanded the universe of Korean food.”

As authors of a documentary cookbook, they decided to set a good portion of “Koreaworld” in Korea and made three trips there during their reporting. They focused largely on regional dishes, including a recipe they called Jeju tangerine salad with chile, inspired by their time on Jeju Island.

With the book finally released earlier this year, Hong and Rodbard hope it will bring more specificity to the conversation around Korean cuisine, and a more regional focus. Hong likened it to the recognition of Sichuan and Sicilian cuisines.

“So many cuisines have established that,” he said. “Maybe Korean food gets to that point where we’re like, ‘OK, we’re gonna go to this Jeju restaurant.’ That’d be a nice little moment in Korean food.”

As for a third book? Rodbard and Hong mused that plant-based Korean cuisine might be next, but they’re going to take time to see what happens first. Maybe check back in a few years.