Sarah's online videos have captivated millions of viewers with their insightful behind-the-scenes peeks at Korean food, home cooking, and multigenerational home life.
The viral online kitchen collaboration of Sarah Ahn and her mother, Nam Soon, is now a must-have cookbook that blends the emotional intimacy of Crying in H Mart with practical cooking advice based on Nam Soon’s decades of experience as a skilled home cook and restaurant owner, backed by the rigorous recipe-testing power of America’s Test Kitchen.
More than 100 recipes are framed by mother-daughter conversations that are funny, touching, profound—and universally relatable. Inside you'll also find:
- Ingredient selection and produce guide: Get in-depth guidance on what to look for when shopping, whether at a Korean market, Costco, or Trader Joe's, or online, as well as how to select and prep produce and other essential ingredients.
- Technique how-to’s: Nam Soon’s decades worth of experience are invaluable in explaining how Korean cooking techniques adapt to the American kitchen.
- Heritage recipes plus Umma's original dishes: You’ll learn to make everything from the simplest banchan (Marinated Avocado) or trendy midnight snack (Sandwich Hotteok) to lovingly swaddled, long-fermented whole-head cabbage kimchi to inventive desserts (Korean Lunchbox Cake). You'll even get the the secret recipe from Sarah’s uncle (a professional baker) for Milk Cream Doughnuts.
- Kitchen wisdom direct from mother to daughter: Shared secrets and advice open a window onto a level of family intimacy rarely seen in cookbooks.
The Ahns understand that when generations come together in the kitchen, so much is shared: food, cooking techniques, but also wisdom, advice, family history, and love.