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Kimchi festival to spice up Seoul
The Korea Times ^ | October 30, 2018 | Kim Rahn

Posted on 11/07/2018 6:24:26 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet

Six thousand people will be invited to make kimchi in downtown Seoul over the weekend at the fifth Seoul Kimchi Festival.

The annual festival will kick off at Seoul Plaza and nearby Mugyo-dong area on Friday through Sunday, the Seoul Metropolitan Government said.

People in Korea have traditionally made a large amount of kimchi before winter, so they can eat the fermented cabbage during the cold season when it is hard to get greens. Kimjang, the winter kimchi-making practice where families and neighbors gather to exchange labor and share food, is designated on UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage list.

During this year's festival, 6,000 people will make kimchi with 165 tons of cabbage, with the sessions taking place from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. on each of the three days, according to the city government. The scale will be up from 2016's 60 tons and 2017's 120 tons.

On the last day, 3,000 people will make kimchi for a Guinness World Record for the largest number of people making kimchi at one place. The current record was set during 2013's festival with 2,635 people.

All the kimchi made there will be offered to the underprivileged through the Seoul Council on Social Welfare and food banks in the capital.

Applications to participate in the kimchi-making sessions have closed, but visitors can make their own kimchi at a separate experience zone at Seoul Plaza. Special sessions exclusively for foreigners will also be available on Saturday and Sunday.

A large exhibition room will be set up at the plaza where visitors can see 100 types of kimchi from across the Korean Peninsula including North Korea, to be made through consultation with the Kimchi Association of Korea, the World Institute of Kimchi and Baewha Women's University.

Seven kimchi masters will present their special recipes at the Master's Kimchigan program, while chefs Yu Hyeon-su and Baek Seung-jun will give lectures on more modernized kimchi.

A kimchi-making contest will also be held on Friday, where the winner will be awarded "kimchi chef" credit and the Seoul mayor's award.

A kimchi market will be open on the Mugyo Street from Saturday to Sunday, where people can buy kimchi or kimchi ingredients at lower-than-market prices including salt and red pepper powder. People can send the purchased goods to their homes through delivery service.

Food trucks selling kimchi-infused food will be also there.

On the first day of the festival, alpine snowboarder Lee Sang-ho will attend the kimchi-making session. His nickname is "cabbage boy" as he got his start in snowboarding on a slope in Gangwon Province that used to be a cabbage patch.

"The kimchi festival has been developed as a large charity event," a city official said. "We'll make more efforts so kimjang culture can become a new part of hallyu."

Visit seoulkimchifestival.com for more information.


TOPICS: Agriculture; Food; Gardening; History
KEYWORDS: food; kimchee; kkmchi; korea
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An acquired taste.
1 posted on 11/07/2018 6:24:26 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

An acquired taste.


Yes, but one that I (but not my wife) acquired several years ago. I find myself snacking on it.


2 posted on 11/07/2018 6:27:40 PM PST by hanamizu
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

I have a taste for it.


3 posted on 11/07/2018 6:32:22 PM PST by ebshumidors
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

This story gives me the vapors (just from the wrong end of my alimentary canal;)


4 posted on 11/07/2018 6:33:05 PM PST by outofsalt (If history teaches us anything, it's that history rarely teaches us anything.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

LOL. We were there. Beautiful weather in Seoul the past week and a half, although the “fine dust” was coming in from China when we left. Just got back home today.


5 posted on 11/07/2018 6:35:35 PM PST by kaehurowing
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

I buy jars of kimchi from a local Asian grocery. Last time, he didn’t have jars, but gallon buckets. I bought one, it lasted about three weeks.


6 posted on 11/07/2018 6:39:41 PM PST by real saxophonist (One side has guns and training. Other side's primary concern is 'gender identity'. Who's gonna win?)
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To: hanamizu

Kimchi actually goes great on hamburgers and hot dogs. Try it some time.


7 posted on 11/07/2018 6:41:25 PM PST by kaehurowing
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
http://www.wikim.re.kr/index.es?sid=a2

Yes, there really is a World Institute of Kimchi.

World Institute of Kimchi
86, Kimchi-ro, Nam-gu,
Gwangju, 61755, Republic of Korea

TEL. 82.62.610.1700

In case anyone was planning on traveling there.

8 posted on 11/07/2018 6:43:25 PM PST by texas booster (Join FreeRepublic's Folding@Home team (Team # 36120) Cure Alzheimer's!)
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To: kaehurowing

I bet it would. I like kraut on hot dogs and kimchi is kraut with an attitude. I add it to spicy ramen soup for lunch. It hurts so good.


9 posted on 11/07/2018 6:43:27 PM PST by hanamizu
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To: texas booster

They actually had a big statue of a kimchi cabbage erected on Seoul Plaza, on the side near Deoksugung Palace. Everyone was posing for photo ops in front of it.


10 posted on 11/07/2018 6:46:24 PM PST by kaehurowing
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

I love good Kimchee. I just wouldn’t want to visit a public restroom a day after the festival!


11 posted on 11/07/2018 6:46:40 PM PST by jdsteel (Americans are Dreamers too!!!)
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To: ebshumidors

You say: “I have a taste for it.” AND I assume a breath from it!


12 posted on 11/07/2018 6:49:36 PM PST by TaMoDee (The Pack will be back in 2018! Go Pack!!)
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To: hanamizu

I’ve never tasted it. Isn’t it basically hot spiced sauerkraut?

I’m here to learn.


13 posted on 11/07/2018 6:56:52 PM PST by Mrs. Don-o ("I ain't denyin' the women are foolish. The Good Lord made 'em to match the men.")
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To: TaMoDee

Yeah, so?


14 posted on 11/07/2018 7:00:17 PM PST by ebshumidors
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To: Mrs. Don-o

That, and garlic and fish sauce are part of it also. There are actually all sorts of kimchi (cabbage, cucumber, radish/daikon, etc.), and everyone seems to make it a little differently. There is even a non-spicy kimchi called “mul kimchi” (water kimchi).


15 posted on 11/07/2018 7:05:37 PM PST by kaehurowing
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

My wife had always said, before the 11 kimchi-less months during two years in Georgetown Guyana, that she would die.... She now says she is different from other Koreans since her ordeal.


16 posted on 11/07/2018 7:06:31 PM PST by Jumper
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To: ebshumidors

My comment was meant to be humorous. I spent 28 months in Korea -—— dodging Kimchi breath!
I currently have a Korean Dentist —— WE laughed when I asked him if he eat kimchi prior to seeing patients!


17 posted on 11/07/2018 7:19:30 PM PST by TaMoDee (The Pack will be back in 2018! Go Pack!!)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

I wanna go, I wanna go!!!!
[They have them here in LA too]


18 posted on 11/07/2018 7:27:44 PM PST by BunnySlippers (TWO TERMS ....)
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To: Mrs. Don-o

I’ve never tasted it. Isn’t it basically hot spiced sauerkraut?


That’s one way to think of it, though the kimchi isn’t shaded like sauerkraut. I’ve never really taken to radish kimchi, I’ve stuck with the cabbage. If you can find an Asian food store buy a smaller jar and give it a try. It’s almost alive! When you open a new bottle it kind of bubbles up. If you like kraut and you like spicy food, I think you’ll like kimchi—although as some say, it tends to be an acquired taste. My wife will eat some, but not devour it like I do. One jar I got called it ‘refreshing’.


19 posted on 11/07/2018 7:32:43 PM PST by hanamizu
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To: jdsteel

Imagine getting on a bus in the morning where all 60 passengers, the ticket girl and the driver had kimchi for breakfast.


20 posted on 11/07/2018 7:39:03 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet (You cannot invade the mainland US. There'd be a rifle behind every blade of grass.)
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