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Kimchi is a representative K-food. The Korean traditional side dish has established itself as a global superfood, with its great health benefits highly recognized worldwide. South Korea exported 28-point-25 million US dollars worth of kimchi to the U.S. in 2021. That’s a whopping ten-fold increase from two-point-eight million dollars a decade ago. 

In old times, it was not easy to get fresh vegetables in the cold winter so Koreans traditionally prepared enough kimchi in early winter. The time-honored practice of preparing and storing kimchi for a long winter is called kimjang. At this time of year, many homes in South Korea have probably already finished kimjang. 

Today, we’ll learn about kimjang culture in North Korea from Kim Young-hee, director of the Public Relation Department at the Korea Hana Foundation. 

Kimchi is full of various minerals, vitamins, beneficial bacteria and antioxidants. It is indeed an excellent food in nutritional value. For Korean people, kimchi is more than just food. Koreans, whether they live in South Korea or in the North, probably all have at least one memory about the annual household tradition of kimjang. 

North Koreans generally do kimjang in early November. I remember my mom made kimchi on a snowy day and we ate white cabbage leaves with seasonings. My hometown was in North Hamgyong Province, where locals added Pollack to napa cabbage kimchi. At first, I thought it was kind of gross to put the fish in kimchi. But once it is fermented, it tastes really good. 

Many North Korean defectors make kimchi in South Korea, but strangely, the kimchi doesn’t taste the same as the one they enjoyed in the North. North Koreans also mixed a lot of Pollack with cubed radish kimchi, which was very delicious. I remember I enjoyed noodles in a cold kimchi broth. It is just inconceivable to eat those kimchi dishes in South Korea. North Korean kimchi has a distinctively tangy and fresh flavor, but South Korean kimchi never tastes like that. 

Until the 1980s, every household in South Korea would prepare more than 100 cabbages for kimjang. So, during the kimchi-making season, napa cabbages were piled up mountain-high in village alleys, waiting to be picked up. Neighbors would help each other with kimchi-making. Indeed, kimjang was a major event not only in each household but in the entire village. 

North Koreans, of course, also carry out this annual kimjang ritual. They use the word “battle” when referring to kimjang. 

In North Korea, it snows in early November. When the temperature drops below zero degrees Celsius, cabbages and radishes in the fields freeze. So, it is necessary to harvest them quickly in one or two days. Workers as well as tractors and vehicles at organizations and enterprises are all mobilized to finish kimjang quickly. That’s why locals describe the situation as the “kimjang battle.” 

North Koreans all across the country make a large amount of kimchi for winter during the same kimjang period, so some ingredients may run short later. Salt, in particular, is so precious in North Korea that it is called “gold salt.” Some even reuse salt water that others have already used. Even in that case, the person had better hurry up. Otherwise, another person may grab the opportunity. All households should do everything swiftly and aggressively during this season. Little wonder the word “battle” is used. 

These days, it is hard to find South Koreans who make kimchi with more than a hundred cabbages for kimjang. In North Korea, a family of four generally prepares 400 to 500 kilograms of cabbages and radishes. Some even secure as many as one ton of cabbages. The amount is staggering, compared to South Korea. 

When I was in North Korea in the early 2000s, a family of four was provided with one ton of cabbages. While South Korean cabbages have a firmly packed head, cabbage leaves in North Korea tend to spread like a skirt. So the cabbages might be bulky but they are not as heavy as they look. After the outer cabbage leaves are removed, about 600 kilograms are actually used for kimjang. 

Vegetables are rare in North Korea during the long winter. Kimchi made during kimjang is described by locals as a “half-year food,” as they make kimchi in early November and consume it until late April the following year. 

Some households make a small amount of kimchi against their will. In the North, enterprises are provided with fields, and the size of the fields is determined in accordance with the number of workers and their family members. If the cabbage and radish farming went well in the fields, the workers will receive a large amount of cabbages. If the farming didn’t turn out well, however, the workers will inevitably get a smaller amount than expected. In that case, they may run out of kimjang kimchi before April. They would ask for some kimchi from their friends or neighbors, who were willing to share the food in the past. But when the economic difficulties hit the country in the mid-1990s, some even sneaked into kimchi storage of other people to steal it. 

During the kimjang season, North Korean TV airs programs about kimchi-making, while major cities host kimchi-making contests joined by organizations and housewives. 

Each team participating in the competition has its own secret recipe. The North Korean kimchi-making process is similar to South Korea’s. But unlike South Korea, North Korea does not use fermented fish sauce much. 

When making kimchi, South Koreans commonly use salted fish sauce made from fermented anchovies, sand lances or shrimps. In North Korea, in contrast, sand lance is not made into a liquid condiment. Rather, the fish is fermented as a whole. The black, fermented fish does not look good but tastes great. Sand lance is only found in the West Sea, so people in Hwanghae(황해) and Pyongan(평안) provinces along the west coast put salted sand lance in kimchi. But they use only a small amount of the salted fish. Locals in North and South Hamgyong provinces on the east coast, on the other hand, clean Pollack and add the raw fish to kimchi. When it ferments, it brings out a delectable flavor that you can’t ever imagine. 

In North Korea, kimchi tastes vary a little from region to region. In the Northern provinces of Hamgyong and Pyongan, it is important to keep the fresh flavor of ingredients alive. Kimchi in southern regions including Hwanghae Province has a deep and savory taste. People in North Hamgyong Province, where Ms. Kim came from, typically make radish kimchi and napa cabbage kimchi with Pollack, while the border town of Gaeseong is famous for bossam kimchi stuffed with various types of seasoned delicacies. 

Bossam kimchi is made by wrapping seasoned fillings with cabbage leaves. The fillings are a mixture of various ingredients including chestnuts and pine nuts. When I was in college, two of my classmates were from Gaeseong. When the winter vacation was over, they returned to school, bringing some bossam kimchi with them. It was good. I found it was different from other kimchi varieties. It was surprised to find people in South Pyongan Province put whole apples or pears in kimchi to add a cool, refreshing taste. My grandmother lived in Pyongan Province, and her kimchi tasted different from the kimchi of my family in North Hamgyong Province. Kimchi in Gangwon Province, just like the one in North Hamgyong Province, uses a lot of Pollack. I attended college in Gangwon Province, and I remember cubed radish kimchi had more Pollack than radishes. It was really delicious. 

While South Korean kimchi uses lots of salted fish and seasonings to produce a deep flavor, North Korean kimchi is less salty and spicy and has a light, clean taste. North Korean defectors are surprised to find that South Korean kimchi has too little liquid. One of the characteristics of North Korean kimchi is that locals pour more broth over the kimchi after storing it in jars. 

North Koreans believe that kimchi should be fully submerged in liquid so that it remains fresh. Two or three days after putting kimchi in jars, they add broth over it. Well-off families put pork bones or chicken bones in water and boil it to make the broth. In general, people put some salt and salted fish in water and boil it. They pour quite a large amount of broth, that is, several buckets of broth, over kimchi in the jars until the kimchi fully sinks under water. They then cover the kimchi with outer cabbage leaves and press it under a heavy, flat rock, as they think kimchi will not taste good if it floats to the surface of the water. The rock prevents kimchi from popping up out of the water. Going through all the procedures, the kimchi broth becomes incredibly delicious. 

 

A kimchi refrigerator is a special home appliance developed by South Korea. Traditionally, Koreans used to dig a hole in the yard, place big jars in the hole and store their kimchi inside the jars. With a growing number of South Koreans living in apartment complexes, it was difficult to use the traditional method. As a result, kimchi refrigerators appeared in the 1990s. Using the principle of underground kimchi jars, the kimchi refrigerator maintains the ideal temperature and moisture consistently to prevent kimchi from becoming too watery or soft and keeps it in a good state for a long time. So, how do North Koreans preserve kimchi? 

In general, North Koreans keep kimjang kimchi in underground jars. In farming villages, local residents dig a hole in the ground in their family garden or storehouse and put jars in the hole. I grew up in a rural village. My parents dug a hole and placed four big jars there. When a jar became empty, my mom would take out kimchi from another jar. For kimchi storage, people living in apartment complexes in urban cities dig a hole in a small storehouse given to each household. 

When I visited my aunt’s house in Pyongyang, I found a kimchi jar placed in the hallway of the apartment building. She installed a cover in the form of a box around the jar, spread sawdust there and set up a divider next to it. My aunt said kimchi preserved in that way does not freeze in winter. Still, it is different from the traditional method of using underground jars. I thought rural villages are far better than Pyongyang in that point. 

These days, more and more families in Pyongyang and in other cities consume packaged kimchi produced by local factories. 

According to North Korean media, the country has set up kimchi factories in each province, including the Ryugyong Kimchi Factory in Pyongyang. In line with the change, it is said that North Korea’s kimjang culture is also changing little by little. 

North Korea has established facilities needed for greenhouse farming to produce vegetables, such as cabbage, lettuce, green onion and spinach, in winter. These days, fewer North Koreans, especially wealthy families, make kimchi at home. Even if they do, they make only a small amount. Alternatively, they buy kimchi produced by factories. Unlike in the past, vegetables are available at the market during winter. That means locals do not rely entirely on kimchi during winter.

In 2013, South Korea’s “Kimjang: Making and Sharing Kimchi” was inscribed on the UNESCO’s List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. In 2015, the tradition of kimchi-making in North Korea earned the same UNESCO recognition. 

Kimjang culture shows once again that South and North Koreans share the same ethnicity and culture. We’re looking forward to enjoying the pleasantly sharp and cool flavor of North Korean kimchi made during the kimjang season.