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Loving Kimchi pancake, or kimchi jeon, I wanted to take back home the knowledge sufficient to make some myself. That’s why I went to the Kimchi Seoul Academy.
A staple in Korean cuisine
Inside a traditional house in the famous Buckchon Hanok village, the teacher greets you at the door and invites you to take off your shoes before entering the beautiful house. Once inside, you start by putting on a colorful apron while sipping some delicious tea to wait for everyone to arrive. Lee Sang-mi, the teacher then explains how the class is going to go and some facts about the house and the history of kimchi. She is very knowledgeable and it’s very interesting hearing her explanations throughout the lesson.
I had a nice time drinking tea and chatting with my friend Julie whom I met that day through the app NomadHer.
A winter tradition
In the next room, they laid out all the ingredients on the tables. She explains how you need to salt the cabbage beforehand so it softens and renders a lot of water. Even if fewer Koreans participate in the tradition, families still get together at the beginning of the winter to make enormous batches of kimchi while the cabbages are in season. After the explanations, you get around 800g of cabbage and a piece of daikon radish and carrot. You need to cut in thin julienne without slicing your fingers! The vegetables are going in the sauce made of ingredients like pepper powder, sesame oil, or sticky rice paste. You can modify a little bit the dosage depending on your spice tolerance. After putting on some gloves, you have to mix the sauce and the vegetables and put a smaller quantity in between each layer of cabbage.
I loved that the teacher took the time to go around and take pictures for everyone. She is very committed and thanks to her I have pictures of this experience that aren’t selfies.
Take your delicious kimchi home
You can then put your cabbage in 2 bags and write your name on it. They will then package your creation sous-vide so you can take it home. While they do that, you get to eat some freshly made kimchi pancakes with sesame oil and seeds. It was delicious. And the second tea we drank was very welcomed in the cold weather of December.
I took mine with me back to France where I made a lot of kimchi pancakes for my family. I was scared it would not survive the flight, but everything went well and the pancakes I made were delicious!
So if you are in Seoul and want to book a fun and delicious experience, this is a great choice. At ₩45000 (~31€ or ~$34) the regular course is an affordable and unique experience you can enjoy alone or with your family. (Children must be over 6yo and need the help of a parent up to 10).
What’s a staple of your home country’s cuisine? Let me know in the comments!
