Korean food has found an audience in Kenya, if attendance at a recent kimchi-making workshop is anything to go by. But the reception was not always warm.
When Evalyne Akinyi Odhiambo first proposed to teach people how to make kimchi, a traditional Korean side dish, the idea was met with scepticism. Who would pay to spend an afternoon learning how to salt and ferment cabbage?
Ms Akinyi, however, is not a stranger to venturing where few others are willing to go, so she did not shy away from taking the gamble.
“There are many people out here who are willing to learn new things, whatever they may be, just to make their minds grow,” she says. “But beyond that, there is a growing community of vegans in Kenya, as well as people who are simply looking for healthy food. And kimchi, I must say, is very good especially for gut health and even for the skin.”
Two workshops later, the response has given her reason to believe that she might be on to something. About 21 people attended her first workshop in June, while the second one, held recently at Our Wonderhouse in Nairobi, drew about 34.
Who is interested?
Kenyans accounted for about half of the participants at the first workshop and roughly three-quarters at the second, Ms Akinyi says.
“I get a lot of Indian and Arab expatriates, as well as a mix of other nationalities, but the larger percentage makes me believe that Kenyans are starting to embrace kimchi,” she says.
But what exactly is it?
Kimchi is a traditional Korean dish made by salting and fermenting vegetables with a mixture of seasonings. While napa cabbage is the most common vegetable base used to make kimchi, the recipe, Ms Akinyi says, is not necessarily fixed.
“You can make kimchi with either sliced or whole napa cabbage, but you can also make it using radish, cucumber, or green onions,” she explains.
Even the mixture of seasonings can vary from family to family.
At her workshop, Ms Akinyi uses ingredients such as garlic, ginger, plum extract, fish sauce, and gochugaru (Korean red pepper flakes that give kimchi its characteristic colour and heat). Some of these can be substituted or eliminated, depending on availability and preference.
The plum extract, for example, can be replaced with blended apples or fresh peach juice, the fish sauce can be omitted for a vegan version or substituted with shrimp paste, while the amount of gochugaru can be adjusted to suit individual tastes.
“The key thing is to understand the basics of salting and seasoning,” she says. “Once you get that, you can play around with as many ingredients as you’d like.”
The seasoned vegetables are then packed into airtight containers and left to ferment. How long the kimchi is left to ferment, Ms Akinyi says, depends largely on personal preference. It can be eaten after about five to seven days, when it has developed some of its characteristic tang, or left for several months for a deeper, more pronounced flavour. Some varieties can even be aged for up to a year.
“You get the best umami [Japanes for pleasant savory taste] the longer it stays,” she says. “But there are people who prefer fresh kimchi made that same day, because they don’t want the tangy flavour.”
Most common mistakes
But while the process may appear straightforward, there are a few details beginners need to pay special attention to. According to Ms Akinyi, some of the most common mistakes in making kimchi involve handling, storage, and getting the salt levels right.
“Fermentation requires hygiene and proper storage,” she says. “If, for example, you use the same spoon that was in your mouth to scoop more kimchi from its container, you are introducing other bacteria that can interfere with the healthy bacteria in your kimchi. If you also fail to seal the container properly, air gets in and disrupts the environment. This is why kimchi containers are very essential.”
The temperature at which kimchi is stored also matters. Ms Akinyi recommends keeping it between zero and four degrees Celsius once it is refrigerated, as freezing it can interfere with the fermentation process.
Getting the salt level right is equally important. She recommends using salt equivalent to about two percent of the weight of the vegetables, as too much or too little can affect the fermentation and ultimately, the final taste.
Evalyne Akinyi Odhiambo, founder of Gaila Global Ventures, is using the workshops to introduce Kenyans to Korean food while building a business around kimchi and other Korean-inspired offerings.
Photo credit: Pool
And while kimchi is commonly served as an accompaniment, Ms Akinyi says its uses extend beyond that.
“You can pair kimchi with anything,” she says. “You can have it on the side with rice. You can eat it with barbecue since it goes really well with meat. You can also make pancakes with it for breakfast, use it to make broths for meat or noodles, or even prepare it on its own as a stew.”
Strengthening ties
More than how it is prepared or served, however, kimchi also carries cultural significance. In Korea, there is a tradition known as gimjang, in which families, neighbours, and communities come together to prepare large quantities of kimchi to last them through winter.
The practice, which Unesco has recognised as part of the country’s intangible cultural heritage, is as much about bringing people together and strengthening community ties as it is about preparing food.
“You’ll find people travelling back home to their families so they can make kimchi together,” Ms Akinyi says. “And traditionally, it's never about just one family making kimchi on their own. The whole community comes together and works collectively.”
This communal aspect is what Ms Akinyi hopes to foster through her workshops, beyond just introducing Kenyans to healthy and diverse food options. “The idea is to create a community and culture where people can learn and grow together,” she says.
She has already begun to see that spirit of togetherness among families, couples, and groups of friends who attend her workshops together and use the experience as a way to spend time with one another.
“In the most recent one, there was a mother who came with her daughter who had just come back to Kenya from abroad. She believed it would be a great way for them to bond,” Ms Akinyi says.
“I’ve seen parents coming with their children, siblings coming together, and there has even been one participant who attended the first workshop by herself and then came back for the second one with about four of her friends.”
Beyond the social experience, Ms Akinyi says kimchi also holds commercial potential. She has encountered businesses that sell kimchi containers and refrigerators, which she sees as an indication of the market that has grown around the food. Some of her participants also attend her workshops hoping to explore this potential. One such participant is Raphael Mutono, who owns Old Lake Bistro, a bar and restaurant in Kikuyu.
“I like trying different cuisines at different restaurants, which is how I ended up having kimchi for the first time at a Chinese restaurant,” he says. “I liked it and even tried to make it once after that, but I wanted to learn and get the authentic taste from someone more experienced, so that maybe I can even introduce it to my restaurant later on.”
For Ms Akinyi, teaching Kenyans to make kimchi is also a way of bridging the gap between Kenya and Korea.
“Aside from sports and music, the other thing that really binds people together is food,” she says. “It can break down barriers between people of different communities or countries and teach them how to communicate and live together.”
And that cultural exchange is part of the appeal for some Kenyans.
Marina Nyambura attended the workshop partly because of her interest in Korean culture, having first encountered kimchi through Korean dramas.
“I first heard about kimchi from K-dramas, especially in scenes where mothers brought these huge containers of kimchi for their children, who would eat it with different foods,” she says. “I eventually managed to try it at a restaurant, and I remember liking the taste, but the portion of the side dish was small, so I just had the thought at the back of my mind that I should find a place where I could buy it.”
Rather than simply looking for somewhere to buy it, however, Ms Nyambura decided to learn how to make it herself.
“I figured I should learn how to make it, partly because of the hygiene aspect and partly because the idea of learning new things in this mundane life is exciting,” she says.
Surprised by how simple the process was, Ms Nyambura now plans to incorporate kimchi into her diet regularly as part of her healthy-living journey.
For Ms Akinyi herself, the connection with Korea goes back several years. Her interest began while she was a student at Kenyatta University, where she took Korean language classes at the King Sejong Institute.
She later won a Korean language and public speaking competition, earning an opportunity to visit South Korea for a two-week cultural experience in 2018. In 2019, she returned to the country for a year-long technical programme funded by the King Sejong Institute, where she studied graphics and web design.
On her return to Kenya, she worked for a Korean restaurant in Village Market before moving to a specialty store that sells authentic Korean products. It was through these experiences that she gradually learnt more about Korean food, including kimchi.
“I encountered kimchi repeatedly while in Korea and even while working for the Korean businesses here in Kenya. They serve it with almost every meal,” she says. “Watching them make it, I realised that it was something I could do, so I began paying attention to how they prepared it. I also did extensive research and experimented using both what I observed and what I learnt.”
She later began making kimchi herself and distributing it to different restaurants under her company, Gaila Global Ventures. But getting kimchi onto the market and scaling up production was not as straightforward. Ms Akinyi says she would need the necessary health certifications and a suitable production space before she could scale up production and sell the fermented vegetable commercially.
The workshops therefore offered her another way to build the business while sharing what she knows.
“Before I can reach where I need to be, I thought I could share the knowledge I have and build a community around the product,” she says.
She has been charging Sh2,500 per person for the workshops, covering everything from the ingredients to the storage container needed for 500g of kimchi each participant makes. She, however, expects this fee to change in the future as the cost of ingredients fluctuates.
At the current price, she estimates that she would need about 50 participants for a workshop to make financial sense, but for now, her priority is to create visibility, grow a community, and establish a market for Korean food in Kenya.
Sourcing some of the ingredients remains one of her biggest challenges. While most of them are locally available from supermarkets and Korean food businesses in Kenya, supplies can sometimes be inconsistent. As the business grows, she hopes to eventually source ingredients in bulk, possibly importing them directly.
She plans to hold another workshop in November, featuring either kimchi, kimbap (a Korean seaweed rice roll), or tteokbokki (Korean rice cakes).
In the longer term, Ms Akinyi hopes to partner with Koreans and take the workshops a step further, creating what she describes as a proper gimjang experience.
“I want to have a farm where we can go together as a community, pick whatever ingredients we need, prepare them, make the kimchi together, and then share a meal,” she says. “It’ll be a community where people can learn, earn, and serve at the same time.”
