Judy Joo’s latest cookbook, K-Quick, promises Korean dishes in 30 minutes or less – a challenge she admits she was initially hesitant about. “At first, I thought, ‘This is so commercial. Do I really want to do this?’” she laughs. But the exercise became a creative thrill. “How can I get flavour into my food in just 30 minutes? It was about being resourceful, finding shortcuts, and realising these are things my family and friends already do because everyone’s so busy.”
Her tips are delightfully practical: “Buy pre-cut vegetables. Honestly, it speeds up the process tremendously. I can chop an onion in 30 seconds, but my friends take three minutes!” She also sings the praises of canned pumpkin for porridge and bagged coleslaw mix for quick stir-fries.
For Judy, the magic of Korean food is its punchy, in-your-face flavour. “You don’t have to do a lot with these ingredients. It’s there. It says hello and wakes you up.” Even marinating for just 10 minutes, she insists, can yield a meal that’s “good enough for like a quick family meal.”
From Wall Street to the wok
Her path to culinary stardom has been anything but ordinary. Raised in New Jersey by Korean parents, she moved to London 20 years ago, collecting influences from three continents along the way. “I like to say I cherry-pick the best of all three cultures,” she says. “I consider myself a French-trained, Korean-American Londoner.”
Before kitchens, there was Wall Street, a world she describes as “the Wolf of Wall Street days.” Extravagant dinners, late nights, and a relentless pace were the norm. “We were still taking clients to strip clubs back then. It was insane,” she recalls. “I once pulled two all-nighters in a row, showered in the gym across the street, and came back to work.”
But the kitchen, especially at Michelin-star level, is hardly less demanding. “Kitchens are just a hard place for women to work,” Judy reflects. “If you throw in childbearing and pregnancy, you can’t stand on your feet for 12 to 15 hours a day. There need to be more allowances to make kitchens female-friendly.”
The Global rise of Korean cuisine
Korean food is having a moment, and Judy is both a participant and a witness. “In my lifetime, I’ve gone from being embarrassed by my lunchbox to everyone spamming my social media asking, ‘What are they eating in this drama?’” she says. The rise of K-pop, K-beauty, and Korean dramas has fuelled a global appetite for everything Korean, food included.
But with popularity comes adaptation – and sometimes, misinterpretation. Korean barbecue and fried chicken have become international sensations, often far removed from their origins. Does this bother her? Not at all. “I wouldn’t call it bastardisation. It’s adoption. That’s how a cuisine goes global.” Still, she can’t help but chuckle at “Korean” potato crisps with no Korean ingredients.
Korean fried chicken, she explains, is itself a product of cultural exchange, brought over by American GIs during the war and transformed with tempura batter and Korean sauces. “It became a uniquely Korean product and now it’s boomed around the world.”
The comforts of home
For Judy, comfort is a bubbling bowl of Korean stew. “My favourite all-time dish is a Korean stew made of silken soft tofu and seafood in a spicy broth with kimchi. It’s called sundubu-jjigae. That, with a bowl of rice, is my happy spot.”
She’s quick to reassure home cooks: these days, essential Korean ingredients are easy to find. “You can always buy a tub of gochujang or doenjang. Soy sauce is everywhere. A lot of online retailers sell what you need.”
Kitchen confessions and guilty pleasures
Judy isn’t above a shortcut herself. “Sometimes I’ll buy something and pimp it out, like mince pie mix at Christmas. I’ll booze it up, add orange peel, nicer dried fruit. If I buy something, I’ll always make it better.”
Her guilty pleasures? “Instant ramen noodles, and Pringles sour cream and onion crisps. If they’re in the hotel minibar, I can’t resist. It just disappears.”
Organisation is the secret
Asked for her best kitchen tip, her answer is simple but wise: “It’s all about organisation. The better organised you are, the more success you’ll have. Make a list, check your ingredients, know what you’re going to do each day. Organisation is key to success in the kitchen.”
A hug in a bowl
Ultimately, good food, for Judy, is about comfort and joy. “Good food is food that hugs you back. Food that just makes you happy and warms you from the inside out. Like a loving hug.”
With her infectious enthusiasm and practical advice, Judy Joo is making Korean food irresistible – and entirely within reach. Whether you’re craving a fiery stew or a crispy bite of fried chicken, her message is clear: delicious, soul-warming food is just half an hour away.
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