Museum Kimchikan

	Museum Kimchikan
	Entrance to the museum
Korean name
Hangul	김치박물관
Hanja	김치博物館
Revised Romanization	Gimchi Bangmulgwan
McCune–Reischauer	Kimch'i Pangmulgwan

Last updated September 27, 2019

Museum Kimchikan, formerly Kimchi Museum, is a museum dedicated to kimchi; one of the staples of Korean cuisine. Exhibits focus on the food's history, its many historical and regional varieties, and its importance to Korean culture and cuisine. The museum collects data and statistics on kimchi and regularly offers activities for visitors, such as demonstrations of the kimchi-making process, kimchi tastings, and cooking classes.^[1] The Kimchi Field Museum was Korea's first food museum. In 2015, it was selected by CNN as one of the world's best food museums.

A museum is an institution that cares for (conserves) a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these items available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. The largest museums are located in major cities throughout the world, while thousands of local museums exist in smaller cities, towns and rural areas. Museums have varying aims, ranging from serving researchers and specialists to serving the general public. The goal of serving researchers is increasingly shifting to serving the general public.

Kimchi, a staple in Korean cuisine, is a famous traditional side dish of salted and fermented vegetables, such as napa cabbage and Korean radish, made with a widely varying selection of seasonings including gochugaru, spring onions, garlic, ginger, and jeotgal, etc.

Korean cuisine The customary cooking traditions and practices of Korea

Korean cuisine is the customary cooking traditions and practices of the culinary arts of Korea. Korean cuisine has evolved through centuries of social and political change. Originating from ancient agricultural and nomadic traditions in Korea and southern Manchuria, Korean cuisine has evolved through a complex interaction of the natural environment and different cultural trends.

General information

The Kimchi Field Museum was established in 1986, and is located in the Jongno District of Seoul, South Korea.

Jongno District (Jongno-gu) is a gu, or district, in central Seoul, South Korea. It takes its name from a major local street, Jongno, which means "Bell Street".

South Korea is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. The name Korea is derived from Goguryeo which was one of the great powers in East Asia during its time, ruling most of the Korean Peninsula, Manchuria, parts of the Russian Far East and Inner Mongolia under Gwanggaeto the Great. Its capital, Seoul, is a major global city and half of South Korea's over 51 million people live in the Seoul Capital Area, the fourth largest metropolitan economy in the world.

The museum was reopened at Insa-dong, Jongno District, Seoul, Korea on April 21, 2015.

Insa-dong is a dong, or neighborhood of the Jongno-gu district of Seoul. The main street is Insadong-gil, which is connected to a multitude of alleys that lead deeper into the district, with modern galleries and tea shops. At one time it was the largest market for antiques and artworks in Korea.

History

The Kimchi Field Museum was originally established in 1986 in Pil-dong, Jung-gu. From 1987, the museum was managed by Pulmuone Inc., one of the largest food production companies in Korea. In 1988, the museum was moved to the COEX (Convention and Exhibition Center) in connection with the Summer Olympic Games held in Seoul, South Korea.^[2]

Pil-dong is a dong, neighbourhood of Jung-gu in Seoul, South Korea.

Jung District, Seoul Autonomous District in Sudogwon, South Korea

Jung District is one of the 25 districts of Seoul, South Korea.

Pulmuone Co., Ltd. is a South Korean company that produces perishable foods such as tofu and soybean sprouts. It was founded in 1981, is based in Seoul, South Korea and sells its products both within Korea as well as internationally. The company provided major funding for the establishment of the Kimchi Field Museum in Seoul in 1986.

In 2000, the museum was renovated so as to expand and improve its facilities for visitors in anticipation of the third Asia–Europe Meeting in Seoul, designed to deepen political, economic, and cultural relationships between its 41 member countries.

The Asia–Europe Meeting (ASEM) is an Asian–European political dialogue forum to enhance relations and various forms of cooperation between its partners. It was officially established on 1 March 1996 at the 1st ASEM Summit (ASEM1) in Bangkok, Thailand, by the then 15 Member States of the European Union (EU) and the European Commission, the then 7 Member States of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and the individual countries of China, Japan, and South Korea. A series of enlargements saw additional EU Member States join as well as India, Mongolia, Pakistan and the ASEAN Secretariat in 2008, Australia, New Zealand and Russia in 2010, Bangladesh, Norway, and Switzerland in 2012, as well as Croatia and Kazakhstan in 2014.

Permanent exhibition

Various kimchi Korea-Kimchi-Museum-02.jpg — Various kimchi

The first part of the museum has three sections covering the long history of kimchi, including a detailed timeline for visitors.

The Exhibition of Ancient Books on the History of Kimchi
Kimchi Trends throughout Korean History
How hot peppers became a kimchi ingredient

The second branch of the Kimchi Field Museum consists of displays on the process of kimchi making, as well as short documentaries which play at regular intervals. Here, visitors can view models of 80 different kinds of kimchi and compare recipes (with a picture and description for each). In addition, there is information about what kinds of spices people have used before they adopted red peppers from Japan and Korea. Another section illustrates the regional varieties of kimchi by geographic district.

The museum provides detailed explanations of the process of making kimchi, with a diorama for each step. There is also one section in which people can view the typical environment in which kimchi would be made, including the historic pottery forms used for the fermentation and storage processes.

There are two photo zones where people can take pictures of kimchi, a display on the nutritional benefits of kimchi, and compare it with other kinds of fermented vegetables around the world. Guests are also welcome to visit an area where they can observe the Lactobacillus bacteria in kimchi through a microscope. The museum also displays a large world map with countries to which Kimchi is exported. A tasting room is open for visitors to test two different kinds of kimchi each month.

The final section of the museum consists of a resource room, where people can read books about kimchi and other traditional foods of Korea. Visitors can access kimchi-related articles and movies in the resource room.

Related Research Articles

Kimchi fried rice or kimchi-bokkeum-bap (김치볶음밥) is a variety of bokkeum-bap, a popular dish in Korea. Kimchi fried rice is made primarily with kimchi and rice, along with other available ingredients, such as diced vegetables or meats like spam.

Kimchi-jjigae (김치찌개) or kimchi stew is a jjigae, or stew-like Korean dish, made with kimchi and other ingredients, such as scallions, onions, diced tofu, pork, tuna and seafood. It is one of the most common jjigae in Korea.

Starfield COEX Mall, containing COnvention centers, EXhibition halls and many malls, is an underground shopping mall in Gangnam-gu Seoul, South Korea. It has an area of about 154,000 square metres, of which 144,000 square meters are on a single underground floor, making it the world's largest underground shopping mall. The mall is located at Samseong-dong served by Samseong Station on Seoul Metro Line 2, at the intersection of Teheranno and Yeongdong Dae-ro. The COEX Mall is adjacent to the COEX Convention & Exhibition Center, which is part of the COEX complex, run by the Korea International Trade Association (KITA).

Seongbuk District (Seongbuk-gu) is one of the 25 gu which make up the city of Seoul, South Korea. It is located in the mid-north part of the city. The current Mayor is Kim Young-bae (김영배), who has been mayor since July 1, 2010.

Dongdaemun District is one of the 25 districts of Seoul, South Korea.

Dongchimi Short-maturing Korean vegetable pickle

Dongchimi is a variety of kimchi consisting of Korean radish, napa cabbage, scallions, pickled green chilli, ginger, Korean pear and watery brine in Korean cuisine. As the name dong and chimi, suggests, this kimchi is traditionally consumed during the winter season.

Dongdaemun station train station in South Korea

Dongdaemun Station is a station on the Seoul Subway Line 1 and Line 4. It is named after one of the four great gates of the circular wall surrounding ancient Seoul, and is situated on the eastern end of Jongno. This station is also close to Dongdaemun Market.

Ilmin Museum of Art is a private art museum of South Korea, located on Sejongno street in Jongno-gu, a central district of Seoul, known for exhibiting mainly Korean art. The museum was established and run by the Ilmin Cultural Foundation (일민문화재단), a non-profit organization founded in 1994 in memory of Kim Sang-man, former president of Dong-A Ilbo, one of the major newspaper companies of South Korea. Kim devoted his entire life to developing Korean journalism and promoting Korean culture. The museum is named after his pen name, "Ilmin".

Tteok Museum is a museum located in Waryong-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul, South Korea. Founded by Yoon Sookja, the chief director of the Institute of Traditional Korean Food (한국전통음식연구소), it opened in December, 2002. The museum specializes in Korean cutlery with approximately 2,000 old Korean kitchen utensils from ancient maetdol to early 20th century kitchenwares on display and exhibits 50 of Korea's nearly 200 types of tteok.

Samseong-Dong is an affluent neighborhood or ward of Gangnam-gu in Seoul, South Korea.

Hyehwa-dong is a dong, neighbourhood of Jongno-gu in Seoul, South Korea.

Bukchon Hanok Village Korean traditional village

Bukchon Hanok Village is a Korean traditional village in Seoul with a long history located on the top of a hill between Gyeongbok Palace, Changdeok Palace and Jongmyo Royal Shrine. The traditional village is composed of lots of alleys, hanok and is preserved to show a 600-year-old urban environment.

A ttukbaegi (뚝배기) is a type of oji-gureut, which is an onggi coated with brown-tone ash glaze. The small, black to brown earthenware vessel is a cookware-cum-serveware used for various jjigae (stew), gukbap, or other boiled dishes in Korean cuisine. As a ttukbaegi retains heat and does not cool off as soon as removed from the stove, stews and soups in ttukbaegi usually arrive at the table at a bubbling boil.

Korean regional cuisines are characterized by local specialties and distinctive styles within Korean cuisine. The divisions reflected historical boundaries of the provinces where these food and culinary traditions were preserved until modern times.

Seochon (서촌) is one of the oldest neighborhoods of Jongno-gu in northern Seoul, South Korea. It translates as "West village" or "Western village" as it is west of the Gyeongbok Palace. It is also thought that the name could have derived from Mt Inwangsan as the mountain used to be called "Seosan" or "old mountain in the west." Seochon is traditionally associated with the Joseon dynasty and Korean literature.

References

↑ Kang, Michelle (25 May 2012). "Kimchi, liquor on display at unique museums". Joongang Daily. Archived from the original on 17 November 2014. Retrieved 6 October 2012.CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link)
↑ Museum Kimchikan, English intro.