The new K-Food Show’s documentary series,A Nation of Kimchi on Netflix,is such a mesmerisingly delicious romp that I keep wishing I hadn’t just eaten. I’m bingeing on how Koreans make kimchi,how they eat kimchi and how much kimchi they eat (nearly 2 million tonnes a year).
The “how” is beautiful to watch as everyone mucks in to wash cabbages,salt them,then smother a powerful combination of garlic and hot red peppers between each leaf before burying the cabbages in clay pots,swaddled like babies.
Food on television is a strange beast,and one that fuels all manner of reality programs,cooking competitions and cake-baking marathons. It can be hard to watch all that moaning and groaning with pleasure,smacking of lips and rolling of eyes.
The Koreans (again) have turned this into a phenomenon called mukbang,live-streamed videos in which the hosts bite,chew and swallow food,the sounds of which are magnified out of proportion. It’s the social-media equivalent of clawing your nails against a blackboard (aaaargh!).
By contrast,the three charming presenters ofA Nation of Kimchi are a delight to watch as they somehow place enormous chopstick-loads of food into their mouths and make it look positively elegant. How do they do that? (Note to self:practise in front of mirror.)
Being addicted to watching kimchi TV has inevitably led to being addicted to kimchi. I want to eat atthe tiny six-seater Chae in Cockatoo on the fringes of Melbourne,where Jung Eun Chae makes 10 different kimchi,including a summery watermelon version. And the new Jan Chi Korean Feast in Melbourne’s Richmond,with its kimchi fried rice,pork belly and kimchi arancini and kimchi-loaded fries.
Kimchi also stars atthe new Funda in Sydney’s CBD,bringing freshness and tang to kingfish crudo and wagyu steak,and at the much-lovedHansang in Haymarket and Strathfield in an earthy,comforting beancurd stew called kimchi-jjigae.
In the meantime,I am slipping crunchy kimchi surreptitiously into scrambled eggs,cheese toasties,rice congee and even avocado toast. Sorry about the noise.