Peel back the layers on this ancient Korean art.
Condiments are easy to take for granted. But when you take the time to consider the love, care, time and instinct that goes into making your kitchen staples, it’s easy to become awe-struck. In South Korea, the millennia-old art of making kimchi is not just about making a spicy snack – it’s a way of life.
As the fermented cabbage accoutrement gains popularity offshore, mass-produced kimchi packaged for export is a growing concern for Kimchi Masters, who draw on centuries of knowledge, passed down from generation to generation. It’s a fear that is shared by the South Korean government too, which has taken measures since 1994 to keep Korean traditions intact.
So protective is South Korea over its most famous dish that an official “Korean Food Grand Master” title is awarded by the country’s agriculture department to just five people. And the recipients might surprise you.
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Pogi Kimchi is likely the kimchi that you’ve eaten at your favourite Korean barbecue restaurant. It’s a whole head of cabbage (pogi means “head”) that has been brined, massaged, and usually stuffed with gochugaru (Korean red chilli powder), daikon, fermented fish, garlic, and ginger. South Korea’s Master of Pogi Kimchi is Yoo Jung-im. At 68, she is the chief executive of Pungmi Foods which has been producing kimchi since the mid 1980s.
Using recipes inherited from her mother, Jung-im says that her kimchi is singular because she uses glutinous flour rather than rice flour for her fermenting liquid, creating a richer consistency and more concentrated flavour. Also included in the broth are dried mussels, dried prawns, and dried shiitake mushrooms to boost umami flavour and nutrition.
Similar to Pogi kimchi is Soongchimchae – a version that also involves keeping the head of the cabbage intact but adds the extra maritime oomph of octopus, abalone, and fish paste for a lighter flavour. Yun Mi-wol, owner of two-Michelin-starred Yunke in Tokyo, is the Soongchimchae Master. After a career as a 1980s pop star, Mi-wol left her husband and children to start anew in Japan.
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Master of Seafood Kimchi (Haemul-Seokbakji), Lee Ha Yeon has perfected the art of mixed seafood kimchi, which includes five different kinds of seafood – raw prawns, conch, octopus, oysters and abalone. The seafood is mixed with gochugara, garlic and cabbage and allowed to ferment for at least a week.
Haemul-Soekbakji was served to royalty during the Joseon dynasty from 1392-1894 and Hayeon’s recipe comes from her grandmother – a cabbage grower. As president of the Kimchi Association of Korea, Lee Ha Yeon spreads her knowledge of salting her own fish, sun-drying chillies, and finding the best cabbage on her YouTube channel.
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Baek-Kimchi (white kimchi) is the domain of Master Kang Sooneui, who learned the art of kimchi making from her mother-in-law. Baek-Kimchi is a more subtle ferment, sweetened with dates, chestnuts and pears and omitting the spicy gochugaru.
Sooneui’s skills are hard-earned, marrying the first son of the 25th generation of the Naju Na clan meant that she was responsible for carrying on traditions while at the beck and call of her husband’s elders. At any time of day or night, she could be called upon to prepare a meal for any family member, so a stash of kimchi (and we assume some strong soju) was vital.
Finally comes Banji, a stuffed white kimchi. 83-year-old Oh Suk-ja is Master of this deeply complex kimchi which is stuffed with at least 12 ingredients, wrapped in straw and soaked in beef broth. The rare and treasured Banji was typically reserved for the upper classes and despite learning how to make the dish in her 20s, Suk-ja only began spreading the word of the largely unheard-of Banji later in life.
What is kimchi?
As we’ve seen, kimchi is so much more than chilli, cabbage and a bit of garlic. The complex balance of chilli paste, salted fish sauce, tightly-packed cabbage and cultures have been a way of Korean life for at least 4,000 years. The health benefits of kimchi have been long-known across Korea but as the rest of the world catches up, kimchi is great for gut health because of live cultures, and aids in digestion because of the presence of lactic acid. Check out our guide on how to use kimchi here.
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