Last week, I discovered some kimchi at the local indoor farmers market in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. While talking with the seller, I found out that all the ingredients where grown organically on a local farm and that a local fisherman provided the fish sauce. When I asked about the recipe, the seller introduced me to the chef. He told me that he looked at some kimchi recipes and tried and tested them before creating his own recipe.

I was skeptical, but the kimchi looked too good to pass up, so I bought a small jar and came home. I had some of the kimchi with lunch and it was quite good. There was enough water to it, which is the way I like my kimchi. The taste will change as it ages, an experience I’m looking forward to.

The interesting thing about the kimchi is that none of the producers were Korean. Being nosy I asked the seller and the chef if they had lived in Korea and they had not. From the short conversation, I got the impression that kimchi was kimchi, a transnational food available to all who like the probiotic benefits of fermented food. Korea was in the background, much like Germany is in the background when people talk about sauerkraut.

I remember liking the kimchi made in Ann Arbor by a local company specializing in fermented food. I never had a chance to talk with the owners because they do not sell directly, but my guess is that they came to make kimchi for its health benefits. In their marketing and promotional material, none of the people associated with the company are Korean and Korea is mentioned only in passing, whereas the contents and health benefits are described in detail.

The kimchi-as-a-probiotic boom is part of a larger interest in fermented foods in the US. Earlier in this decade, Japanese kombucha became popular, particularly among hipsters. There has been new interest in sauerkraut, which became famous in the mid-20th century as an essential component of the Reuben sandwich. Food, like other matters of taste is trendy, and kimchi has become an integral part of the fermented food boom.

Kimchi is part of another boom: Korean-Mexican fusion. Emerging from the talents of Korean-American chef Roy Choi, Korean-Mexican fusion uses Korean ingredients, kimchi being one of the most important, in tacos and burritos. In 2008, Mr. Choi founded the Kogi Korean BBQ food truck in Los Angeles and it became an instant hit. The number of food trucks expanded and Mr. Choi received several awards for his creative recipes. Korean-Mexican fusion has since spread to other cities in the US and Korea.

The 2002 World Cup stirred a Korean food boom in Japan, but the focus was on bibimbap because that was perceived as healthy. Kimchi grew in popularity because it accompanied every meal and fit in easily among the many other pickled vegetables that have long been part of Japanese cuisine. Slowly kimchi became mainstream, creating a Korean-Japanese fusion that is found most frequently in casual izakaya bars.

The interesting thing about the spread of kimchi in the US and Japan is that the Korean government and other promoters of Korean culture have had nothing to do with. During the presidency of Lee Myung-bak (2008-2013), the government made a concerted push to “globalize” Korean food, but it had little success. I remember hearing discussions at the time in which Koreans insisted that kimchi would never be popular overseas because “foreigners” find it too spicy and don’t like the smell. Clearly this is not the case.

All of this shows that cultural transmission is hard to plan. It happens spontaneously and takes unexpected turns. The non-Korean chef in Rhode Island discovered kimchi during his education. Korean-American Roy Choi drew on his family heritage to create something unique. Japanese menu planners used kimchi to give typical Japanese foods a new twist. None of this would have been possible, of course, if consumers had not responded favorably to the kimchi experiments.

At a deeper level, it shows that culture is always in flux and is thus hard to own. What is “Korean” today may not be “Korean” tomorrow. A cultural product may fade away as new cultural products appear. Cultural products that are transmitted become transcultural, taking on new identities and meanings in the process. This is what has happened to kimchi; it originated in Korea, but is no longer “Korean.”


By Robert J. Fouser

Robert J. Fouser, a former associate professor of Korean language education at Seoul National University, writes on Korea from Ann Arbor, Michigan. He can be reached at kagoshimabob@gmail.com. -- Ed.