Introducing Eating Books On the Go—a guerrilla-style book pairing series where I go to restaurants and order food to match my book. First up: Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner paired with Korean BBQ at Gan-Hoo BBQ. A note from my boyfriend: “Missed opportunity to call that blog post ‘Boo-Hoo at Gan-Hoo.'”
We ordered the Beef Platter combo, which comes with high-quality cuts like Wagyu ribs, short rib, ribeye, flat iron, beef toro, etc. There was a nice variety of richness and fat, so the thin brisket crisped up quickly at the edges, while the thicker cuts stayed tender and charred more slowly. Dipping the meat in sesame oil and wrapping it in a pickled radish offered a nice balance, cutting the salt with a sweeter crunch.
We’ve been a bit spoiled by other restaurants where the staff grills the meat for you (presumably because they don’t trust us to do it ourselves, which…fair), and growing up in Korea, my mother handled the grilling. So it seems I’ve been KBBQ-spoiled my whole life. Gan-Hoo left us to our own devices, and though we may have gotten overambitious and crowded the grill (which may have resulted in a small cloud of smoke above our table), at least we got some practice in to avoid any future grill-related mishaps.
They also brought us a complimentary oolong tea panna cotta just as we were debating where to go next for drinks and dessert, which kindly took care of that issue.
“You’ll likely find me crying by the banchan refrigerators, remembering the taste of my mom’s soy-sauce eggs and cold radish soup…Sobbing near the dry goods, asking myself, Am I even Korean anymore if there’s no one left to call and ask which brand of seaweed we used to buy?”
—Michelle Zauner
The way Michelle Zauner writes about food—as an expression of her mother’s love or as a bridge between the absence of language and the strange fluency of navigating the Korean grocery store—is an incredible gift. I knew I would connect with her story as a biracial Korean American who also shares a complicated relationship with their mother, but I never expected to cry while reading it (I’m too tough!) The chapter that’s centered on H Mart, originally published as an essay in The New Yorker, captures that longing for a piece of home so beautifully, and while my connection feels very personal, the themes of identity and grief are universal.
Food is so layered throughout this memoir that I couldn’t settle on a single dish to pair it with, which is why I chose Korean BBQ with all its accoutrements. I’ll probably revisit this book in the future for a recipe post, not simply because I loved it and it’s filled with food descriptions, but I’ll take any excuse I can to eat more Korean food.
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