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L.A. Son: My Life, My City, My Food Kindle Edition

by Roy Choi (Author), Tien Nguyen (Author), Natasha Phan (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

4.7 1,855 ratings

Editors' pick Best Cookbooks, Food & Wine

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A memoir and cookbook from the creator of the gourmet Korean-Mexican taco truck Kogi, the star of Netflix's "The Chef Show," and the culinary advisor to Jon Favreau's film "Chef."

“Roy Choi sits at the crossroads of just about every important issue involving food in the twenty-first century. As he goes, many will follow.”—Anthony Bourdain

From the maverick chef the New Yorker called “The David Chang of L.A.” comes a cookbook that’s as inventive, creative, and border-crossing as the city to which it pays homage: Los Angeles.

Los Angeles: A patchwork megalopolis defined by its unlikely cultural collisions; the city that raised and shaped Roy Choi, the boundary-breaking chef who decided to leave behind fine dining to feed the city he loved—and, with the creation of the Korean taco, reinvented street food along the way.

Abounding with both the food and the stories that gave rise to Choi's inspired cooking, L.A. Son takes us through the neighborhoods and streets most tourists never see, from the hidden casinos where gamblers slurp fragrant bowls of pho to Downtown's Jewelry District, where a ten-year-old Choi wolfed down Jewish deli classics between diamond deliveries; from the kitchen of his parents' Korean restaurant and his mother's pungent kimchi to the boulevards of East L.A. and the best taquerias in the country, to, at last, the curbside view from one of his emblematic Kogi taco trucks, where people from all walks of life line up for a revolutionary meal.

Filled with over 85 inspired recipes that meld the overlapping traditions and flavors of L.A.—including Korean fried chicken, tempura potato pancakes, homemade chorizo, and Kimchi and Pork Belly Stuffed Pupusas—L.A. Son embodies the sense of invention, resourcefulness, and hybrid attitude of the city from which it takes its name, as it tells the transporting, unlikely story of how a Korean American kid went from lowriding in the streets of L.A. to becoming an acclaimed chef.

Editorial Reviews

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Featured Recipes from L.A. Son

Download the recipe for Abalone Porridge Download the recipe for Carne Asada Download the recipe for Kimchi Pupusa

Review

Street-wise, honest in its admission of trials and punctuated with vernacular swagger, Choi’s debut pays tribute to family and his enduring fascination with the melting pot of Los Angeles. — Kirkus Reviews

“While [Jacques] Pepin’s autobiography was the epitome of the traditional chef’s life, it may be that Choi’s will be the same for the new generation … “L.A. Son,” co-written with Tien Nguyen and Natasha Phan, pops with Choi’s hip-hop verbal rhythms.” — Los Angeles Times

‘With driving metaphors coming fast and furious throughout this memoir cum cookbook, there is no doubting and no pulling away from Choi’s gritty embrace of L.A.’s mean streets.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Choi is the rare chef whose life story--which includes working with chef Eric Ripert and a weeklong cocaine binge--is as compelling as his food.” — Food & Wine

“At the moment, Roy Choi is one of the most prominent lenses the nation has into L.A.” — Los Angeles Times

His beautiful book .... is two parts story (Choi’s coming up), one part recipe (his OMG crazy good creations, like ketchup fried rice). You may never cook from this book (though the recipes are eminently doable), but it won’t matter. It’s a fun flip even if all you do is drool.” — Lisa Ko, author of The Leavers

“A a memoir-cookbook that moves like a novel.” — New York Times, cover of 'Dining' Section, in article about Roy's new restaurant

“In its pages, and even more so in person, one finds in Choi a personality who is at once high-end and low-end, flawed and at the top of his game, relentless and chill, coarse and refined-and absolutely, unapologetically authentic.” — Ad Week

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00BATIKN4
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Anthony Bourdain/Ecco; Illustrated edition (November 5, 2013)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ November 5, 2013
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 28182 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 355 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #639,436 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #57 in California Cooking
- #133 in Mexican Cooking
- #161 in Potato Cooking

Customer Reviews:
4.7 1,855 ratings

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Tien Nguyen
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Tien has been writing about food and culture for over a decade.
She is the co-author of several cookbooks, including Sohn-mat: Recipes and Flavors of Korean Home Cooking with Monica Lee, the founder of Los Angeles's legendary Beverly Soon Tofu restaurant; L.A. Son: My Life, My City, My Food with chef Roy Choi, a New York Times bestseller; and The Red Boat Fish Sauce Cookbook, one of NPR’s 2021 Books We Love.
She was previously the Senior Food Writer for L.A. Weekly, and her work also has appeared in the Los Angeles Times and Lucky Peach, among other publications.
Tien's work has been honored by the Association of Food Journalists. She also teaches food journalism at the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.
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Natasha Phan
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Roy Choi
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Amanda

An unconventional cookbook, a great memoir

Reviewed in the United States on January 4, 2014

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I bought this book ostensibly for my husband, after he recommended I listen to Mr. Choi's NPR interview. The interview he gave on Fresh Air was smart and funny and engaging, and even though I don't live in a town with a bustling food truck population, I have read my fair share about them. This book is has great recipes, wonderful and at time heartbreaking stories from Mr. Choi's own life, and these great, color saturated photos. This is one book that I'd recommend the hardcover over the Kindle version, just so you can lay it out and pore over it. The recipes are varied, interesting, and for the novice as well as the pro. You may not want to buy it for your mom if she is offended by pot smoking and f-bombs, but everyone else will adore it. (Your mom will probably like it, too.) I love a cookbook that's as great to cook from as to read!

19 people found this helpful

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KD

Great book

Reviewed in the United States on September 4, 2023

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Great book, great chef, we met him at his restaurant in Vegas. We had one of our best five course meals ever. Buy the book, visit the restaurant, become a fan.

Reviewed in the United States on April 9, 2024

Verified Purchase

The hardcover I got was in great shape, and the read itself is spectacular. The recepiea are fun and easy to follow.

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Amazon Customer

Great read and great recipes! I want to meet Roy!!

Reviewed in the United States on May 20, 2021

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This book is a great read as well as it has cookable recipes. He brings you on a tour of LA and Korean culture. I have loved watching him on the The Chef show but his book gave me a greater understanding of his work, style and background. He is humble and gifted. He also shares a story of finding ones person through challenge and hard work. As well as the trauma and trials of cultural immigration that affect a person of color. He is doing amazing work for others and has been an inspiration throughout the pandemic! .

One person found this helpful

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Quailynn McDaniel

Capturing LA food scene

Reviewed in the United States on December 7, 2020

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I enjoyed the first person perspective growning up in LA and his journey into the culinary world. I appreciate his unique path to culinary greatness he found in spite of many challenges thrown his way. Impressive perseverance.

Reviewed in the United States on February 15, 2024

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I got this for my brother for Christmas and my mom and I couldn't stop reading it, we didn't want to wrap it up. Since then its become something we all want to have in our kitchen. Love Roy Choi

Reviewed in the United States on December 30, 2023

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Bought this book for my son and he loved it. I read it and have to agree, it was great.

Reviewed in the United States on March 26, 2022

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I found out about this book watching The Chef Show, which Chef Roy co-presented with Jon Favreau. I'm so glad I saw the show because this book spoke to my heart (and my stomach). The book is about 70% gripping memoir and 30% recipes (some classical, some fusion) and I found it extremely hard to put down.

To quote Iron Man, there is "language" in this book, so if you have sensitive sensibilities, you may want to cover your eyes. That said, he's had an amazing life. Personal favorite chapter was about cooking for Rokusaburo Michiba. I watched every episode of the original Iron Chef and hearing about apprenticing in the Iron Chef's kitchen was awesome.

For the recipes, I immediately felt at home. As a kid who grew up on Oahu, you know you're in good hands when one of the ingredients listed for the dishes in the book is SPAM (defined as "SPAM. Gotta have SPAM"). Now I finally have real recipe for SPAM banh mi, French onion soup, and abalone porridge. Some of the ingredients aren't in your corner store, but I know I'll have fun trying to find them.

If you're interested in the twists and turns, the drive and persistence, and the craft and skill that created the Kogi food trucks, you don't want to miss this one. Someday I will get to have a real Kogi taco... Looking forward. Until then, I'll reread this and do my best on the recipes.

6 people found this helpful

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