In Crying in H Mart, Michelle Zauner associates Korean food and cooking with her mother and the way her mother showed love to her family. Learning to cook Korean dishes is important to Zauner as a link to her mother and to her Korean culture. Let's explore this in more detail.

Zauner begins her memoir with a reflection on her mother's Korean cooking. She sees a mother showing her son how to season a dish, and she recalls how her mother used to express her love through food.

When Zauner's mother is diagnosed with cancer, Zauner returns home to care for her. She prepares Korean foods for her mother, hoping to get her to eat, but her mother can only take a few bites. Zauner is adopting her mother's way of showing care through food. She feels that it is her duty to care for her mother as her mother always cared for her, and part of this is learning to cook so that she can please her mother and finally be the “perfect daughter” she thinks her mother has always wanted.

After Zauner's mother passes away, Zauner decides that she wants to make a Korean breakfast for her aunt and uncle who are visiting. She does so as well as she can and is actually quite successful. Again, Zauner is trying to find a link with her mother and her Korean heritage by making this meal. She is reaching out for memories and meaning and, perhaps unconsciously, imitating her mother. The book ends with Zauner learning to cook another Korean dish, something quite simple, and she finds great comfort in the meal and learning that she does not have to be fancy or perfect to be who she is.