Could Korean food become the next favorite in America?

“The lines can be 100 deep; quite an amazing phenomenon,” said Samuels.

Samuels also believes that Korean tofu dishes have a future in America: “Tofu is very popular. I would love to see tofu houses come to the east coast ... Once people get to know about making tofu Korean style, it will get popular.”

“I think sundubu is very popular,” said Kim, who provides a set of tofu recipes in her book.

Yet, when it comes to cooking Korean in the States, finding the ingredients can pose a challenge. To address the problem, Kim, Samuels and Chung went to great lengths to create recipes where most of the ingredients could be purchased from American supermarkets.

Chung, a Tokyo-based Korean food teacher and restaurant consultant, developed modified dishes like potato and basil pancakes and asparagus fritters for “The Korean Table.”

“Korean food needs to become globalized,” said Chung, 56, over the phone. “But it cannot be done with our ingredients.”

Chung spent three weeks in Boston with Samuels, who she first met in a cooking class in Tokyo, visiting supermarkets and finding ways to maintain the flavor and essence of Korean cuisine with produce and ingredients that could be easily found in the States.

Having spent approximately 17 years living in Japan, Chung is experienced at finding substitutes for traditional Korean ingredients: “When I lived in Japan, starting 1975, there were not a lot of ingredients.”

Chung has a point. For Korean cuisine to become global, it needs to be adaptable, malleable. Judging from the likes of innovators like David Chang, Korean cuisine is not only flexible, it is compatible with other cuisines.

Another key player in the current and future globalization of Korean food lies in what Samuels calls “soft power.”

“I fell in love with 'Daejanggeum (Jewel in the Palace),'” said Samuels, who thinks it would do well on channels like PBS or the Food Network. “I think it would do quite a bit for the popularity of Korean cuisine ... Plain old garden variety Americans have 'Daejanggeum' clubs. They love this program ... I'm now watching 'Le Grand Chef (Sikgaek),' the movie and the series.”

Chung agrees with Samuels. “It used to be that the Japanese thought that all Korean food was barbecue or spicy. But there has been a big change in the Japanese attitude toward Korean food and culture after 'Daejanggeum' was shown in Japan,” Chung wrote in an e-mail interview.

“Now they see it as healthy and good for the skin,” she said over the phone. So, is the American palate ready to embrace Korean cuisine?

“I think we've gone beyond the hamburger,” answered Samuels.

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