Kimchi - A Taste of Time, A Bowl of Intention

“A Taste of Time, A Bowl of Intention”

– The Kimchi We Make at Joo052

At Joo052, kimchi is never just a side dish. To us, kimchi holds the weight of memory, the language of seasonality, and the quiet pulse of Korean cuisine itself. In every single layer of salted napa cabbage, there’s more than flavor. There’s a farmer’s hand, a mountain breeze, a tide from the southern sea, and time—lots of it.

We believe that kimchi is one of the most remarkable expressions of Korean food culture. And as a younger generation of chefs, we carry a responsibility to respect it, study it, reinterpret it, and pass it forward.

We don’t think of kimchi as something to merely preserve. Rather, we see it as something to reawaken—to learn through the hands of our elders, to honor the soil it came from, and to give it new life on our modern table.

To talk about Korean cuisine without talking about kimchi is to overlook the very heart of how our food evolves. It is humble, adaptable, deeply rooted—and endlessly expressive.And so we begin, as always, with salt.

“Where Salt Meets Time”

– The Process and Ingredients Behind Our Kimchi

At Joo052, the kimchi we serve alongside our gukbap is not simply a garnish. It is a quiet anchor that brings balance to the entire meal. And for that reason, the process of making our kimchi begins with deep consideration and care—starting with the ingredients, and the places they come from.

1. Salt – From the Shores of Sinan, Aged for a Decade

Our salt is sourced from Seongchan Salt Farm in Sinan, Jeollanam-do. It’s sun-dried sea salt aged for over 10 years, naturally refined to the point where even microplastics are removed. The crystals are remarkably clean, with a subtle sweetness that comes only from time.

This salt doesn’t just season.It strengthens the texture of vegetables, stabilizes the fermentation process, and brings depth that unfolds with every passing day.

2. Jeotgal – Seafood Fermentation from Donggeochado

The ocean gives kimchi its quiet umami. We use traditional jeotgal (salted seafood) made in Donggeochado, a small island off the southern coast of Korea. Shrimp, anchovy, and sand lance are fermented slowly in clean seawater and stable temperatures, producing briny layers of flavor that lend our kimchi a sense of the sea—gentle, aged, and unmistakably Korean.

3. Chili Powder – Sun-Dried from the Fields of Yeongam

Our chili powder comes from locally grown peppers in Yeongam, where they are sun-dried and ground by hand. The result?Not just heat—but depth, with soft sweetness and fragrance that industrial drying simply can’t replicate. It colors our kimchi not only in red, but in rhythm.

4. Aromatics – Ground Whole, Fresh and Simple

The seasoning paste includes fresh aromatics like garlic, ginger, scallions, Korean radish, and onions—never in concentrate, never frozen. They are ground whole, so that their natural juices infuse the mix with raw liveliness and gentle pungency that only fresh roots can give.

5. Napa Cabbage – From Highland Fields Above 300m

The cabbage we use is grown in the highlands of Honam, above 300 meters in elevation. Slow to grow and dense in structure, these cabbages retain their shape and snapeven after brining—offering both crispness and character to every bite.

6. Sweet Rice Porridge – The Gentle Guide of Fermentation

To hold everything together and guide fermentation slowly, we stir in a delicate sweet rice porridge (chapssal-pul). It binds the flavors with warmth, thickens the seasoning paste, and controls the fermentation curve—allowing our kimchi to mature beautifully over time.

Some are aged for a year. Others, for up to two or even three years.

We prepare three different types of kimchi at a time, rotating with the seasons and the food it accompanies. Sometimes bright and crisp, sometimes deep and mellow—each kimchi reflects a different phase of time, a different conversation with nature.

To us, kimchi is not a supporting act.

It is the soul of the meal

—humble yet enduring, ancient yet alive.

We hope you taste not just the seasoning, but the sincerity behind it.

The thought, the hands, and the seasons that made it.

– With care, from the Joo052 Team