Press
ZenKimchi in the Media
Articles, TV shows, and radio shows that we have made or have been featured in
ZenKimchi has been featured in and has consulted for media such as The New York Times, Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern, Lonely Planet: Korea, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Harper’s Bazaar Korea, and the Peter Greenberg Worldwide radio show. We have also written for or Plate Magazine, Yonhap News Agency, 10 Magazine, SEOUL Magazine, The Korea Herald, Newsweek Korea, The JoongAng Daily, The Korea Times, Walkerhill Magazine, and Korea.kr. We were voted into the Top Ten Best Blogs of 2011 by FriendsEat and one of the top ten best Korea blogs in 10 Magazine.
Incoming search terms:
- chosun tv eat your kimchi
- wall street journal and korean food in america
ZenKimchi on TV: Andong, Busan and More
This is another one of my favorite episodes. We did most of this with the new crew, and they were very efficient. This is a good food episode. We travel down the Nakdong River and hit Andong and Busan, two of my favorite towns.
read moreZenKimchi on TV: Pyeongchang
This was the first episode we filmed, starting in late May. Most of the time they chose my wardrobe, so don't think I normally dress in lime sherbert cardigans. Here are some highlights, commentary, and trivia from the shoot
read moreZenKimchi on TV: Jeju
Finally got my hands on a copy. This is the first of six episodes of G-Korea I did for Arirang this summer, traveling around Korea. This is about Jeju Island. I do some parasailing and go out on a yacht. I hump it up a mountain at four in the morning to watch a sunrise.
read moreYonhap Feature: For New Yorkers, cooking classes demystify Korean cuisine
By Shin Here is my latest article for Yonhap News (연합뉴스), for which I got to spend an evening with chef Youngsun Lee and fun people who gathered to learn Korean food at the Institute of Culinary Education. I appreciate the help from the school, chef Lee and the participants of the Korean Plate class. I hope you enjoy reading this article as much as I enjoyed observing the Korean Plate class! Also, for those who are interested, scroll down for my Korean translation of this article. Making...
read moreMy Article in Women’s Donga – Food Trends in Manhattan
I am very excited to share the news that my first article in Korean is published in the September issue of Women’s Donga (여성동아), a major monthly magazine for women in Korea. Under the theme of ‘food trends after the cupcake boom in Manhattan,’ I suggested ramen, banh mi and food trucks as major players, explored a few good spots to experience them, and came up with some easy home recipes and ideas to experience the flavors of the real thing without leaving home. The magazine has been...
read moreKimchi Chronicles Interview
The web site for the PBS series Kimchi Chronicles was kind enough to interview me. It’s really quick. But I warn you, you will get sucked into their web site and spend hours there when you click. 5 Questions or less: Joe McPherson of ZenKimchi Incoming search terms:kimchi chronicles suckskorean food blog kimchi chronicles
read moreYonhap feature: ‘Culinary connoisseurs crave kimchi crocks’
My first article for Yonhap News Agency posted today. I interviewed Adam Field, an onggijang (kimchi crock potter) based in Durango, Colo. He hand-produces onggi for customers eager to make their own kimchi with the same methods Koreans have used for more than 5,000 years. Read “Culinary connoisseurs crave kimchi crocks.” To order your own handmade-in-the-USA onggi, visit Adam Field Pottery. Incoming search terms:pottery in durango coloradokimchi crocksonggi pottery for saleshecraves...
read moreYonhap Feature: Manhattan ushers in the modern Korean dining experience (in Korean) 한글번역) 맨하탄의 모던 한식
I translated my latest feature article for Yonhap News (Manhattan ushers in the modern Korean dining experience) into Korean. 얼마전 연합뉴스 영문판에 쓴 기사지만, 더 많은 분들과 공유하고자 한글로 옮겨봅니다. 직역 보다 내용의 흐름에 충실한 의역정도로, 다소 한글 표현이 매끄럽지 못하더라도 이해해주세요. 맨하탄의 모던 한식 맨하탄의 한국음식의 인기는 돌솥 비빔밥의 경쾌한 지글거림이나 석쇠에...
read moreYonhap Feature: Manhattan ushers in the modern Korean dining experience
Here is my latest feature article for Yonhap News about Korean food in Manhattan. It’s always fun to meet more people in the culinary world, especially those who are commited to Korean food in New York where my heart lies. Writing stories about different aspects of Korean food in New York is my way of recording a small part of history that continues to evolve and an excuse for me to meet great people and get inspired. I hope you enjoy reading this...
read more10 Magazine: Burgers, Pizza and Wings
The latest issue of 10 Magazine features three cover stories that took months of research to produce. Three of us each went and tried to find the 10 best burgers, pizzas and wings in the Seoul area. I had the wings beat, and the task was much more difficult than I originally expected. Every time I thought I had covered a major wings joint, a new one would be mentioned. I trod in the rain to different pubs in a single evening, fought Wing Night crowds and even had to do a last minute switch up when one business closed...
read moreYonhap Feature: At under $10, filling the bellies and hearts of New Yorkers
My article for Korea’s Yonhap News Agency is now published. Needless to say, it was a lot of fun to go visit these food venues, talk to great people and eat so many delicious dishes in the name of research. I definitely got my belly full of fast Korean food from all the places mentioned in the article and more. The space given was too limited for my level of writing skills to go in-depth about the theme, but I hope you get a general picture at least. To the business owners who helped me with the...
read moreWhy I Haven’t Posted Much This Week
I’ve been adjusting to a new schedule lately. It’s because I’ve picked up a new gig. Seriously, it was a big surprise. Lemme tell you the story. Back in January, I got a call from EBS Radio’s “Morning Special” asking for an on-air interview about ZenKimchi, scheduled for mid-February. It was for the morning show, so I had to be there wa-a-a-ay early. I almost turned it down. February came, and I got there and did the interview, and it turned out well. Afterward, the producer pulled...
read more“Korean Service” at Korea.kr
My latest article for GongGang Korea (korea.kr) has been posted in Korean and English. This time it’s a short version of one of my rants called “5 Simple Rules of Restaurant Service.” This is a hindrance to Korean food globalization efforts that is not limited to Korea. Korean restaurants overseas are notorious for their unwelcoming nature. Here’s an excerpt: A lot of the problems of service in Korea, I think, stems from a concept that the manager and chef are the top bosses. They are not....
read moreZenKimchi in All-Korean Issue of Plate Magazine
It’s been a few months in the works, but the all-Korean issue of Chicago-based Plate Magazine has hit newstands. Plate is targeted to chefs and restaurateurs, and I signed up for their newsletters about a couple of years ago. Tammy and I were contacted sometime in September and October to write articles for it. Tammy has a 2-pager on breakfast in Korea (“Morning Zen: Korean breakfast picks up the pace”), which anyone who lives in Korea would know is a challenging topic. I wrote one of the main...
read moreCooking Contest Docu on TVN
Someone told me on Facebook that the documentary about the cooking contest aired on Christmas Day on TVN. Did anyone catch...
read moreThe Nanoomi Gang on KBS
A few of us from megablog Nanoomi were on a KBS morning show this week. You’ll see Mike “Feetman Seoul” Hurt, Stafford “Chosun Bimbo” Lumsden (and from SeoulPodcast) and Simon and Martina from “Eat Your Kimchi” along with me. It’s the usual silly Korean TV stuff of “Ooh, look at these foreigners interested in our culture,” but it’s all in good fun. I particularly found it funny that even though Stafford said he was from New Zealand in Korean, they posted...
read more“Living and Breathing DNA, Hansik”
Over the summer, I spent a fun day to be part of filiming a documentary about Korean food by tvK 24 as some of you may remember. I finally got the airing schedule! It’s a 4-part documentary that will air starting tonight at 7:20PM Pacific Time (10:20PM Eastern Time) and the same time every Thursday after that. Now, they tell me I’ll be in Part 2, The Cuisine of Happiness that will air next Thursday. I’m not sure if you have to keep your eyes peeled for the whole 40 minutes to catch...
read moreWhere the Slowest Foods Meet the Freshest Foods
On a hot, sticky summer day, I was interviewed for a travel magazine article about traveling to Korea. My contribution was, of course, on the part about Korean food. It was an afternoon of fun chat with Victoria, the writer, and I’ve been anxiously waiting to see how she would put all the pieces together. Now I’m happy to read the article published in the fall issue of Smart Luxury Travel (previously Sherman’s Travel Magazine). It’s a fun, informative article about Korea that...
read moreTaste over “Well-being” at Korea.kr
For the next few months I’m a guest blogger at Gonggam Korea (Korea.kr), a giant Korean-language meta-blog. I’ll mostly be writing about my observations and suggestions for promoting Korean food to Americans, kind of an expansion on my TED talk. The first piece came out a few weeks ago. It’s on why taste should take a priority over health properties when promoting to Americans in the 2010s. Let’s start with a little recent culinary history of America. In the 1960s, health food movements started in...
read moreIn Travel + Leisure and More
I hope you New Yorkers enjoyed the Asian Feastival. I’ve been following the updates and pics from @AsianFeastival and @HungryRabbitNYC. Today is my first day as a full-time blogger and writer. Yes, I’m no longer an English teacher. It hasn’t sunk in yet. Let’s hope this works. In the meantime, get an issue of Travel + Leisure Southeast Asia. The September edition is all about food, and they featured ZenKimchi as well as other great blogs, such as Market Manila, Chubby Hubby, Kyoto Foodie, Cha...
read moreJoe in Harper’s Bazaar
Harper’s Bazaar (Korean edition) came out with its September edition in all its thick perfumed glory this week. They had a feature where they asked expat professionals in different fields about living in and visiting Seoul. ZenKimchi longtime friend Michael “Feetman Seoul” Hurt is in the article. I’m at the end of the piece. My Korean isn’t good enough to translate it word for word, but I understood most of the article, and EJ helped with some parts. Here’s a quick summary of the...
read moreVideo: ZenKimchi on “Today’s Blog”
The crew at Arirang followed my fat dumpy self around for a day, talking about how Korean food encapsulates aspects of the Korean character. We eat at Gwanghwamun Jip and Mapo Jeong Depo. Thanks to Zach, Yuni and Stafford for joining. And thanks to Yoonmi for making sense out of that day of shooting. Oh, and yes, I know my name is spelled wrongly. I’ve learned that it just happens with a name like McPherson. (uploaded with written permission from...
read moreVideo: ZenKimchi Featured on SBS
http://www.vimeo.com/12971387 Here’s the segment we were on this week on SBS. The show is called “Sarang Haeyo Korea” (“I Love You, Korea”), and it’s hosted by crooner Lee Moon-sae 이문세. There are some cameos by Michael Hurt, Michael Spavor, Joshua Hall and my old high school friend Maggie, as well as the dynamic Eun Jeong with portable fetus Alkongi hangin’ around. The places where they showed us were a tea house in Insa-dong next to the Insa-dong Chatjip, Chin Chin...
read moreThe ‘Hansik Samchongsa’ in the Weekly Chosun
The Weekly Chosun (주간조선) has published a really good article by Shin Hye-gi about the Hansik “Samchongsa” (“삼총사”), or the Korean Food “Trinity” of food bloggers–that being Seoul Eats, Fatman Seoul, and ZenKimchi. I’m a slow reader in Korean, but Eun Jeong was wowed by the article, reading it three times. She said it was bold and included a lot of criticisms from us on what’s been going on with the Korean food globalization campaign. She laughed while...
read more10 Magazine: Big Food Issue for April
This past month was a good bit of work for 10 Magazine. Late February, I was getting ready to go to Daegu on assignment for the publication when the editors called me. “We’re thinking of doing a brunch cover story. Can you do it?” Stephen Revere is a religious Sunday bruncher. I knew that. I like brunch spots, too, but I haven’t been thoroughly checking them out. So I was wondering how I could possibly hit a bunch of brunches in less than a two week period and write up a big cover story. I was...
read moreTEDx Seoul Salon Pictures
The video isn’t up yet, but if you’re interested in checking out some pictures of the TEDx Seoul Salon on food, they’re posted on Flickr. Click here to see the whole set. It’s very exciting to have a franchise of TED in Seoul, and they’re planning more events, big and small. The food event was exhilarating and fun was had by all. If you’re in the area, see if you can come to the other events. Incoming search terms:korean salons...
read moreTEDx Seoul and KOTESOL Talks
The two presentations turned out well. The TED event was full of energy–passionate intelligent people. It also helped the mood that there was a little rock festival playing right outside the building. Speakers talked about food from a Korean poet, food and art, the need to diversify Korean alcohols (including beers), and a great story of makgeolli’s fight for respect in noveau riche Korea. Jennifer Flinn of Fatman Seoul, whose site I’m happy to announce is back in business, talked about the...
read moreFoodies in the JoongAng Daily
The JoongAng Daily has a piece on food bloggers, particularly Chalica Park of Vegetarian in Korea, Daniel Gray of Seoul Eats and there I am with the lovely Danielle Buckley of Wonju Wife (and Zenkimchi). Foreign foodies flock to the...
read moreJoe on KBS World
Seoul Scene with Matt Kelley was gracious enough to ask me on as a guest to talk about Seollal and about the Food Journal. Click on the link below to go to the page and then click on the tiny orange TV icon to watch the streaming video. In fact, you can invent your own drinking game on how many times I clear my throat and push up my glasses. Actually, I knew there were video cameras in the room, but there was no monitor, so I was in “radio mode” and oblivious to the idea that I should look more composed on...
read moreLatest in the Korea Herald: “2009 a year of food hits, misses”
I wrote a piece reviewing the year in Korean food for the Herald. Here’s the intro: This was the year that Korean food was going to make its debutante debut. Restaurant industry seers Baum & Whiteman predicted Korean food would hit it big in 2009. It did make some headway, but not in the way the public and private Korean food promoters on the peninsula predicted. Despite wasting money in changing the names of traditional snack foods, full-page ads in American newspapers and promoting the expensive,...
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