Kimchi from China sells to restaurants for about 1,700 won ($1.15) per kilogram, while Korean-made versions average about 3,600 won ($2.45), more than double the price.
In the first 10 months of this year, South Korea imported $159m worth of kimchi, almost entirely from China, while exporting $137m.
…
There are more than 150 recognised types, made with radish, cucumber, spring onions and other vegetables, seasoned with blends of chilli powder, garlic, ginger and fermented seafood paste, shaped by local climates and tastes.The fermentation process produces beneficial lactic acid bacteria that contribute to kimchi’s reputation as a health food.
Families traditionally prepared large quantities together during kimjang, the annual winter preparation ritual recognised by Unesco as intangible cultural heritage.
OK, stuff changes. How good/bad according to taste.
Market forces mean that price, rather than origin or method, are now the decisive factor.
That’s why The Guardian is pissed. Imagine allowing something as common as trade to determine culture!
If you have to ask how much it costs (a) you can’t afford it and (b) you’re a fucking pleb. Whaddaya mean, check my privilege?
You must buy our artisanal local produce because [Reasons]….
“more than double the price.”
Helping with the two times table: the Guardian knows its readers.
Kimchi from China sells to restaurants for about 1,700 won ($1.15) per kilogram, while Korean-made versions average about 3,600 won ($2.45), more than double the price.
In the first 10 months of this year, South Korea imported $159m worth of kimchi, almost entirely from China, while exporting $137m.
159×1,700 = 270, 137×3,600 = 493. Some comparative advantage in the export trade there, or easy money if no one can tell the difference?
The smart money is on importing it from China then exporting it elsewhere in the world at the higher price commanded by the Korean article.
“kimjang, the annual winter preparation ritual recognised by Unesco as intangible cultural heritage.”
Oh FFS. Do we really have to pay for this shit? Pickling some vegetables about the time you get near the end of season? And I bet it’s dying out, more of a hobby thing now, as people in Korea are busy working at Samsung, Hyundai or in a K-Pop band and they just buy it from the Korean version of Sarson’s.
Kimchi, probably in the same delicacy class as The Swedish rotting fish delicacy, Surströmming
nah… more like spicy sauerkraut.
Sürstrommung is actually edible… I have Opinions about Sauerkraut and Kimchi.
We like Sauerkraut in the Polish peasant dish Bigos – a cold weather staple in our house. Not as good as Haggis & Neeps, mind, but good enough to batch-cook.
“rotting fish delicacy”: what, like the anchovy relish favoured by the Romans? Conquered much of the known world, those boys, perhaps by exhaling at their enemies.
You mean Garum? That’s not much different from the fish/oyster sauce used in the asian kitchen, or Worchestershire sauce in the UK.
And neither the Brits nor the Chinese are known for DnD-esque breath weapon attacks last time I checked… 😛
And I wish I could get my hands on decent Haggis, can’t even get the base ingredients over here… Sheep innards are Verboten for some silly reason…
I think the official excuse is scrapie (= mad sheep disease), that’s the US position, anyway. I’ve not noticed that Haggis munchers are (particularly) mad.
There is no such thing as ‘decent’ haggis.
Heathen!
The thing with this sort of talk is that a new thing arrives and hipsters jump all over it because they can throw a word around no-one knows about. I’ve had kimchi and I quite like it, but I generally like pickles.
There’s probably hipster Koreans that are talking about Yorkshire pudding or sherry trifle.
If you’re in Merton (S London) there’s a large Korean* community with many excellent and cheap restaurants.
* When S Korea came into existence, they had no money and couldn’t afford an embassy in Mayfair, so they went for Raynes Park, which was cheaper. All the Korean immigrants clustered around there.
I’d guess that quite a lot of the exports go to China. Most of the kimchi I see in Hong Kong supermarkets is Korean.
The Chinese are well familiar with the quality and safety of Chinese food products;)
Whether it still be the case I defer to Marius, but there was a time when every ground floor shop unit in every Hong Kong border village was stacked floor to ceiling with infant formula.
So, the invaluable international body that is supposed to stop wars has people with time to designate things as “intangible cultural heritage” – I guess there are no wars anywhere they should be preoccupied with.
I suppose that, if there were no UN, there wouldn’t be anybody designating “intangible cultural heritage” thingies.
Single-person households have more than tripled since 2000, now accounting for more than 36% of all households,
Whistling past the closed primary schools…
A First World problem?