K-Salon | Korean Food in American Media: An Evolution

By tracking the evolution of Korean food in America, from an obscure “ethnic” cuisine to mainstream popular culture (and major money maker), we can observe the rapid formation of a unique culinary canon–one that is neither Korean nor American, but something else entirely: Korean American!

In this lecture, New York Times food writer Eric Kim will explore the journey of Korean food coverage in the US, focusing on the addition of Korean food and culinary terms to the English dictionary; the commercial success of gochujang due to viral recipes like cookies and pasta; and the release of multiple Korean cookbooks this season alone. His talk will analyze how exactly coverage of Korean and Korean American cuisine broke through the ceiling of a systemically (and famously) exclusionary industry: food magazines, book publishing, TV and media. The talk will also address the pitfalls of rapid success: the scarcity-mindedness and infighting within the Korean American community. As a participant from the frontlines of a cultural and culinary shift, Kim promises to share entertaining but instructive first-person anecdotes for an enriching talk about how culture moves when an object is bright and shiny, and when everyone suddenly wants a piece of the same pie.

About the speaker:

Eric Kim is a New York Times food columnist and essayist born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia. His debut cookbook, Korean American: Food That Tastes Like Home (Clarkson Potter, 2022), was an instant New York Times Best Seller; his follow-up, Spaghetti Junction: Essays from a Tangled Life, is forthcoming from Crown Publishing in 2027.

About K-Salon:

Organized by the Asian Studies Program in the School of Foreign Service, “K-Salon” was launched in 2026 to foster conversations about the place of Korean culture in the U.S. and the world. The initiative is supported in part by the Korea Foundation.