Kimchi takes spotlight at Korean festival

By Vicki Viotti
Advertiser Staff Writer

What starts as a humble head of cabbage ripens to become the culinary heart of Korean culture, despite the fact that even among its fans in Hawai'i, kimchi is dismissed as a mere sidekick.

In-Soon Choi of Chul Ra Do Gwang Ju, South Korea, was the winner of the Presidential Award in a kimchi competition in Korea. Rebecca Breyer • The Honolulu Advertiser

Yesterday, it also took center stage at a symposium held at the Center for Korean Studies at the University of Hawai'i. The Conference on Arts of Kimchi explored aspects of the dish most folks would never contemplate.

"Traditional Kindred System and Obedience to One's Husband Seen through 'Honbul,' " for example, is an exposition on how a Korean bride conventionally adopts the family kimchi recipe of her husband, tutored by her new mother-in-law.

In this way, the recipe becomes a kind of bloodline, handed down from mother-in-law to daughter-in-law.

The primary organizer of the conference is Myung-Iee Yoo, a professor of economics and director of the Research Institute of Women and Culture at Dongshin University. The symposium is part of the institute's mission to solidify kimchi's position as a respected element of world cuisine.

Some are also taking a scientific interest in kimchi.

Researchers, especially in China, are wondering if there's a link between the preparation and the fact that the disease SARS has not taken hold in Korea, Yoo said.

And work has begun on a Korean government initiative to build a data base of all the types of kimchi.

There are 350 of them, she said.

A special variation of kimchi — once served to royalty — contains shrimp, watercress, pine nuts, persimmon slices and other exotic ingredients wrapped in wonbok cabbage. Rebecca Breyer • The Honolulu Advertiser

On Wednesday, she provided a sneak peek at the preparation of a special variation, once served only to royalty.

"I've never heard of it," confessed Minwoo Shin, Korus general manager, as Choi unwrapped packets containing shrimp, watercress, pine nuts, persimmon slices and other exotic ingredients in bossam kimchi.

The final product, reminiscent of laulau in a delicate, vegetarian way, is an artful assemblage of the treats, wrapped in the prepared wonbok cabbage and Korean parsley, then drizzled with the chili pepper marinade that gives kimchi its trademark reddish complexion.

When it's finished, Choi said, the diner unwraps the parcel, eats the insides, tears up and consumes the cabbage wrapping and drinks the chili dressing.

From beginning to end, she said through Shin's translation, it's a cosmic experience. The bundle is like the earth, with fruits of the sea and land, multicolored and arranged to represent the four winds. The golden bowl in which it sits signifies the universe, and the chili water, the ocean. Yin and yang, the basic elements of equilibrium, are present and accounted for.

"That implies that the person eating it receives the yin-yang stuff," Shin relayed. "They're very balanced."

Reach Vicki Viotti at vviotti@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8053.