Where to Start with Bill Kim
Bill Kim is a Korean-American chef, restaurateur, and author who built his career merging Korean flavors with American grilling culture. Born in Seoul, South Korea, he immigrated to the United States at age seven and grew up in the Midwest. After training in professional kitchens, he opened a string of acclaimed restaurants in Chicago, including Urbanbelly, Belly Shack, and bellyQ, a modern Asian barbecue concept on Randolph Street. His cooking draws on his Korean heritage and Midwestern upbringing in equal measure, treating the backyard grill as a meeting point between two food cultures. His cookbook, Korean BBQ: Master Your Grill in Seven Sauces (2018), earned a James Beard Award nomination and has become a go-to guide for home cooks who want to bring Korean flavors to the grill.
Start here
Korean BBQ: Master Your Grill in Seven Sauces
Bill Kim · 240 pages · 2018 · Easy
Themes: korean grilling, bulgogi, galbi, sauces, korean-american
A practical, inviting guide to Korean-style grilling from chef Bill Kim, who built his reputation at Chicago’s bellyQ restaurants. The book is organized around seven master sauces and three spice rubs that form the backbone of 80 recipes. Once you have those foundations down, everything from bulgogi to grilled short ribs to Korean-spiced vegetables falls into place.
Why Start Here
Bill Kim’s approach makes Korean BBQ feel immediately doable. Instead of presenting a long list of unfamiliar techniques, he gives you seven sauces. Learn those, and you can grill almost anything with Korean flavor. The sauces range from a gochujang glaze to a soy-sesame marinade, and each one opens up a whole set of dishes. This modular structure means you can start with one sauce and a single protein, then expand from there as you get comfortable.
The recipes are tailored for the American home kitchen with practical substitutions for hard-to-find ingredients. Kim was born in Seoul but raised in the Midwest, and that dual perspective shows on every page. He bridges Korean tradition and backyard grilling culture without dumbing anything down. The book earned a James Beard Award nomination, and reviewers consistently praise its clarity and the reliability of its recipes.
What to Expect
A 240-page hardcover with 80 recipes, organized around the seven foundation sauces. The opening section walks you through those sauces and rubs in detail, so you build a flavor toolkit before you start cooking. From there, chapters cover grilled meats, seafood, vegetables, noodles, rice, and sides. Most recipes are accessible to a confident beginner, though some grilled items benefit from experience managing heat.