About Me

Hi there! I’m Andrew.

Nice to meet you

I’m a happily married, Korean-American living in NY who absolutely LOVES food. I’d describe myself as a pretty reserved & introverted person (INFJ!), but my wife would say otherwise, haha. I guess I’m pretty loud & passionate, once you get to know me. So stick around & let’s get to know each other! 🙂

I am a licensed pharmacist by day & an avid/passionate homecook by night! Really I’m just a big foodie! Hahaha. For me, it’s more than just about following recipes or developing them. My FAVORITE part about cooking is when I’m able to see the smile on everyone’s faces as they eat the food that I’ve prepared for them. ESPECIALLY my wife. I love it when she gets SUPER excited, her eyes dilate, and she starts dancing & singing when she thinks it’s yummy! It just makes me feel sooo so happy that I feel full just from seeing that 🙂 I LOVE cooking & I LOVE exploring and experimenting with many different flavors/cuisines to bring together an awesome plate of happiness, hehe.

Why the name “YangYummm”?

Well.. actually, my wife came up with the name! It’s my last name “Yang” + “Yummm” for what you would say when you eat yummy food AND “Yangyum” or “yangnyeom” is also a Korean word that means flavor/seasoning.

I LOVE food! Food has ALWAYS been there my whole life. I have so many fond memories of my halmoni (grandma) and my mom’s cooking. When I was little, I always loved coming home from school to a home cooked meal (even if it was just as simple as chicken nuggets & homemade french fries). I loved it! and I often took it for granted. They always cooked such delicious and homey meals for us every single day! Some of my favorites include: my halmoni’s Sujebi, my mom’s homemade kimchi, kimchi jigae, dwenjang jigae, dakgalbi tang, and so much more!

Most of my cooking is all self-observed and self-taught. I didn’t get to have much formal training in cooking techniques or whatnot. I always just watched either my mom or halmoni growing up.. or just learned from watching my favorite cooking TV shows, like MasterChef, Restaurant Impossible, Iron Chef & Chopped. More recently, I’ve gotten into some korean cooking shows as well, like Baek Jong Won’s Alley Restaurants and Street Food Fighter. My mom was always so obsessive with all of her things in the kitchen.. she would never let me help her out or touch her things. If I ever moved something and didn’t put it back where it was supposed to be, OH my goodness… all hell would break loose! Hahah.. She was like any typical Asian mom who loved to save her fancy, luxurious Chinaware set for special occasions and special guests ONLY. No one in the family got to touch it. Not even herself! Haha.

It wasn’t until college that I was able to finally start cooking for myself.. mostly because I HAD TO in order to survive. Then, when I turned 30, I moved out on my own and got to FULLY kick off my cooking passion. My amazing wife helped me to start my own food page on Instagram & bought me the books that taught me all the fundamentals & wonders of cooking that I still use and study to this day! (The Professional Chef & The Flavor Bible.. just to name a few!). Fast forward a year or so after the pandemic, and here I am today.. still LOVING and GROWING in my passion for cooking.

I originally started this blog as a hobby/passion that I love and as a means to commemorate my halmoni’s & my mom’s amazing Korean recipes (which I think are pretty bomb and deserve widespread attention). But why stop just there? I’ve been trying out and testing many different ways to creatively fuse Korean cuisine with other cuisines, especially Italian. I always vibe with Disney’s “Ratatouille” when little Chef Remy says, “Anyone can cook!“. My goal is to develop the most delicious recipes that are tried & tested and easy to follow.. and to hopefully inspire you with awesome food that I love and enjoy eating. I promise I will only post recipes on this blog that I would personally make and eat for myself in my own household. I absolutely love it when friends post the food that they’re making and give me a shoutout that they used my recipe. Tag me @yang.yummm in your instagram photos & stories and consider following me for more delicious food inspo!