The epitome of wifely home cooking

For housewives, what could be more fun than looking around other people's homes and watching the meals served next door?
Home-cooked meals have their own unique story, so the same menu tastes different in each home.
"Let's Cook Rice" captures the three meals a day at Mayor Lee Jae-myung's house.
His wife, Kim Hye-kyung, tells her own delicious stories as if unfolding each and every recipe she has meticulously written.
Just because you're a politician's wife doesn't mean you get a special or extravagant award.
It's a meal we eat every day, but if you think about who will eat it and put in more effort, it becomes a little more special.
A recipe passed down from my mother-in-law, a dish I learned from my mother, a menu I prepared to nourish my husband, a lunchbox I packed for my sons who were away, and a natural seasoning I made myself...
It contains 66 home-cooked recipes, from dishes learned in cooking classes to dishes developed over 27 years of marriage.
All of them were created through numerous trials and errors.

The author considers seasonal ingredients packed with nutrients, simple recipes, and homemade natural seasonings to be the most important ingredients in his cooking.
Only when the love of the person who will eat it is added to this basic formula can a hearty and delicious dish be completed.
Not only the home-cooked meals we eat every day, but also the various things that happen in the kitchen provide a rich spectacle.
Old, worn-out items are imbued with memories and stories related to cooking, and the housekeeping know-how of adding a touch of style to tools and dishes is sensational.
As you read the story of family and food, told after 27 years, you will feel as if you are sitting at a well-prepared table.

There are memories in the old pots on top of the gas oven.
Because these are the things my mother gave me when I got married.
A mother's desire to prepare a home for her daughter who is getting married remains the same now as it was then.
My mother was no exception.
As the eldest child and only daughter, my parents prepared so many household items for me, including pots and pans, that we were able to start our married life without having to buy any kitchenware.
Even though I am over 50 years old, I still cry when I think of my mother who worries about me.

--- p.44

When an important guest is coming, flowers are prepared along with food.
If you prepare flowers that match the season and the color of the dish well, arrange them in a small glass bottle or vase and place them between the plates, your table will look much more stylish.
It is also a good idea to decorate using a variety of green materials rather than just flowers.
It is especially suitable for summer dining as it provides a refreshing feeling.
Conversely, in fall or winter, using dried flowers can create a unique feel.

--- p.50

As time passed and experience accumulated, flexibility in cooking emerged.
If there was nothing, I made do with it. If there was not enough, I made do with it. I started to create my own new menu by replacing the missing ingredients with the leftover ingredients.
Just as my attitude towards life has become more flexible over time, so has my food.
To put it nicely, it would be a spirit of challenge, but to put it in vulgar terms, it would be something like 'returning ingredients'.
Before I knew it, I had the luxury and comfort of making a variety of dishes with just one ingredient.
When the seasons change, we often prepare a variety of dishes by stocking up on fresh, high-quality seasonal ingredients from the market.
It is clear that our attempts to try anything have enriched our family's meals every season.
--- p.58

There's no need to go out of your way to buy groceries to prepare a meal for one.
In fact, after going to the market, I'm so tired that I don't even have the energy to set the table.
You can prepare a wonderful meal of your own using just the ingredients you have at home and the side dishes you always have on hand.
If you chop up all sorts of leftover vegetables that are always in the fridge into bite-sized pieces, add them to udon noodles, and stir-fry them in savory oil, you get a wonderful dish.
You can also spread the roe from the salted pollack roe that is in a corner of the refrigerator on rice, drizzle some sesame oil over it, and mix it in.
If you have a ripe avocado, remove the peel and pit, slice it, and top it off with a side of your choice. This will make a dish that will rival any restaurant.

--- p.84

Setting the table is almost like a comprehensive art.
First, consider the season, weather, your family's health and preferences, recent diet, and even the inventory in your refrigerator. Then, plan today's menu with insight and a detailed strategy.
Do it.
Here, you combine variables such as the type and condition of ingredients on the market, price, and budget to make a quick decision.
Next, we move on to the actual cooking skills using the ingredients we have acquired.
At this time, time is what determines the outcome.
Cooking is like performing on stage, a time-consuming art.
Cold things become even colder, hot things become even hotter, crispy things are made right before eating… By carefully controlling the time that passes for each, the secrets of maximizing the taste are realized.
A meal is finally born after a arduous journey, like directing ingredients to create a symphony.
--- p.92

My father's memorial day and my husband's birthday come on the same day every year.
After working late into the night to perform my father's ancestral rites, my husband's birthday the next day usually takes a back seat.
Moreover, since there was plenty of food left over from the ancestral rites prepared the day before, all we had for his birthday was to prepare seaweed soup, tteok japchae, and sometimes grilled ribs and serve them with the food from the day before.
I felt a little sorry, so I decided to make some seaweed soup specially, and that's how I made sea urchin seaweed soup.
My husband likes sea urchin and seaweed soup with sea urchin roe boiled in it better than seaweed soup with beef.
After my husband slurps down a bowl of cool soup, I feel happy, as if I have added a little gift for him.

--- p.152