Key Points
- Overseas shipments of Korean kimchi rose to an all-time high last year.
- The fermented vegetable dish has recently gained massive popularity across Australia.
- A Korean food giant announced it will produce Australian-made kimchi.
Sarah Fleming said it wasn't exactly love at first taste when she tried kimchi at a Korean restaurant five years ago.
"My reaction was similar to that of someone who first ate Vegemite. The first impression was different from what I expected,” the 44-year-old education support officer and content creator told SBS Korean.
“Now I love kimchi and I eat it often because it's my favourite food," she added, citing the dish’s “zesty flavour” and “healthy probiotics”.
Fleming said she’s glad kimchi is now so readily available at restaurants and supermarkets across Australia.
Kimchi is a traditional Korean dish of salted and fermented vegetables. Credit: neomistyle/Getty Images
Kimchi, the cornerstone of Korean food
Kimchi is a traditional Korean dish of salted and fermented vegetables, typically cabbage or radish, that’s eaten as a side, added to soups or stirred through rice.
Known for its spicy, tangy and slightly sour taste, kimchi's origins can be traced back more than 3,000 years.
Today, there are hundreds of variations of kimchi.
Jung-Su Chang, the executive chef of Funda, a modern Korean restaurant in Sydney, said kimchi is essential to Korean food.
"I can say that Korean food is kimchi, and kimchi is Korean food," he said.
"We can make various dishes with it. Kimchi has tremendous expandability.”
In addition to serving dishes like pork bossam and wagyu steak with radish kimchi, Chang said his restaurant even introduced a kimchi martini with unexpected responses.
"In the past, foreigners used to talk negatively about the smell of kimchi, but that’s all changed," he said.
"We are preparing to make dishes using kimchi in ways that are more familiar to Westerners, through frying or pureeing."
From left to right: Eugene Cha, Managing Director of CJ Foods Oceania, and Jung-Su Chang, executive chef of Funda restaurant in Sydney. Credit: SBS Korean
A Korean food giant enters Australia
According to Korea Customs Service statistics, the country’s kimchi exports reached 44,041 tonnes in 2023, an all-time high and almost double the figure from 2016.
Kimchi was exported to more than 90 countries worldwide in 2023, with exports reaching $156 million, an 11 per cent increase from 2022.
Japan and the US were the biggest markets for Korean kimchi exports, with the Netherlands, Australia and the UK ranking in the top five.
In recent years, more and more Australian independent producers have begun producing kimchi locally.
Some individuals, like Fleming, are making it at home.
"I prefer plain vegetarian kimchi without fish sauce. I don't like fish, so I make the kimchi myself at home without fish sauce," she said.
Korean food giant CJ Foods recently announced it would introduce a line of Australian-made kimchi under the Bibigo brand.
Kimchi on the shelves of a Korean grocery market. Credit: SBS Korean
Eugene Cha, Managing Director of CJ Foods Oceania, said, “Consumers in Australia strongly prefer foods made of fresh ingredients, so we have decided to produce kimchi locally.”
"With our fresh kimchi range, Australian consumers can enjoy the authentic flavours of Korea, made with locally sourced cabbage from farms in Victoria and Queensland, while reaping the health benefits of this beloved dish."
Why is kimchi gaining global popularity?
Sunmin Yoon, Director of the Korean Cultural Centre in Australia, said kimchi’s rise popularity was particularly sharp following the COVID-19 pandemic.
Last year, the centre held five days of workshops, demonstrations and tastings to celebrate International Kimchi Day on 22 November.
The ‘5 Days Kimchi Delight’ workshop held by the Korean Cultural Centre in Australia. Credit: Korean Cultural Centre in Australia
When introducing kimchi to Australians, we often give the example of Vegemite.Sunmin Yoon, Director of the Korean Cultural Centre in Australia
"In Australia, many people enjoy kimchi with an open mind when introducing it as a healthy fermented food,” Yoon said.
Seunghye Choi, of the CJ Food Research Institute Kimchi R&D, said there are 100 million to 1 billion lactobacilli per 1 gram of kimchi.
These 'good' bacteria are said to aid with digestion and gut health.
"Kimchi contains a large number of vitamins, minerals, dietary fibre and other functional ingredients, along with a variety of physiologically active substances," Choi said.
When explaining the popularity of kimchi abroad, Yoon said people's interest in Korean culture, such as K-pop and K-dramas, must be considered.
"As interest in Korean culture has increased worldwide, people seem to have naturally become curious about kimchi."
Fleming, who lives in South Australia, said she fell in love with Korean food and culture after listening to her daughter's favourite K-pop artists.
"My daughter loves BTS a lot. We would drive to the school in the car and listen to music together. I loved it so much that I started listening to K-pop and fell in love with Korean culture and food," she said.
From left to right: Sunmin Yoon, Director of the Korean Culture Centre in Australia, and Ahyoung Kim, the centre's manager for the Korean food program. Credit: SBS Korean
"When we had events 10 years ago, Australians would ask me what kimchi is. We had to explain that it was a fermented food. These days, when we have kimchi events, Australians are more likely to tell us how well they know kimchi and ask us additional questions such as how to make it more delicious."
Similarly, chef Chang said Australians' reactions to kimchi at his restaurant have changed a lot.
"As K-culture gained popularity, more people watched kimchi eating scenes in Korean dramas and movies, I think more people want to try kimchi.”
Yoon stressed that one thing perhaps not fully recognised in Australia is that kimchi is traditionally a symbol of togetherness.
"Kimchi is also a food that represents sharing and affection. It is Korean culture to make kimchi together and share it with people. I think kimchi can express this kind of warm heartedness."
