Korean kimchi grandmaster Kim Soon-ja, who will make her UAE debut on Saturday October 24, with a masterclass, tells us the secret to a good kimchi.
How did you end up in the world of kimchi and eventually become an official master of the dish?
Kimchi is close to my heart. It is a healthy and essential food, because I was allergic to other side dishes except kimchi as a child. I developed a very sensitive palate to taste it. I learnt the ways of making this side dish from my mother and grandmother when I was young, and my love affair with kimchi has lasted till adulthood. After hearing [people] say that kimchi in restaurants did not suit the tastes of everybody, I established Hansung Food, a company that delivers the dish to deluxe hotels and restaurants. Now, we export to 15 countries, and added UAE to the list in 2013.
Traditional kimchi uses radish and Chinese cabbage. Are there other ways to make it?
Lots of ingredients such as Chinese cabbage, radish, powered red pepper, garlic, onion, and salted seafood are required to make this dish. But there are multiple kinds of kimchi made in Korea. Almost all vegetables, such as Chinese cabbage, radish, young radish, cucumber, perilla leaves, mustard leaves, dropwort, green onion and leeks, can be used as ingredients to make kimchi. But I only use domestically produced vegetables and select good ingredients. The flavour of this dish depends on the selection of fresh and quality ingredients.
What’s the secret to a good kimchi?
Good ingredients and pouring your heart into making this dish are important. Salting and using Chinese cabbage is necessary as well. How it is stored is equally important as making it well. Once kimchi comes in contact with oxygen, it ferments early and tastes bad. It is important to put it into an airtight container and refrigerate it.
During your travels, have you noticed a growing interest in kimchi?
People around the world show an interest in this dish, but they do not enjoy it because they do not know how to keep and eat it. It is necessary to make delicious and good-looking kimchi that people around the world enjoy. I have taken a lead in developing fusion kimchi which foreigners like, including seaweed kimchi, sesame leaf cabbage roll kimchi, mini roll bossam kimchi, gardenia-seaweed roll kimchi and broccoli kimchi.
• The masterclass will be held at the Abu Dhabi National Theatre on Saturday from 4.20pm to 6.20pm. Visitors can sample authentic tastes of Korea at food stalls daily from 4pm to 7pm
sjohnson@thenational.ae
