DC's First Kimjang: Making & Sharing Kimchi

Friday, November 17 @ 6 p.m.

Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library 

 901 G St. NW, Washington, DC 20001

Free Admission

👉RSVP here👈

RSVP UPDATE: This event is now at full capacity. Thank you for your interest! 

The Korean Cultural Center Washington, D.C. (KCCDC), in partnership with the Washington, D.C. Mayor’s Office on Asian and Pacific Islander Affairs (MOAPIA) and Tae-Gu Kimchi, proudly presents DC’s First Kimjang: Making and Sharing Kimchi, a hands-on culinary event inviting the public to experience the flavors and social dynamic of Korea’s most iconic food at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library in Washington, D.C. on November 17 at 6:00 p.m. (Doors open at 5:30 p.m.)

Just in time for Kimchi Day on November 22, the evening will include a kimchi-making demonstration, talk, and tasting with chef Patrice Cunningham, who will discuss her African American and Korean heritage and the important role of foods like kimchi in her own identity while establishing her business, Tae-Gu Kimchi.

Visitors can sample a range of Cunningham’s kimchi varieties over rice and then try their hand at mixing their own kimchi to take home in a free communal workshop following the talk—a time-honored community-building tradition known in Korea as kimjang.

In Korea, kimjang often happens once or twice a year as a way for communities to collectively stock up on and share essential foods. It is especially common in fall around the time of Thanksgiving, or its Korean counterpart holiday, Chuseok. Although a labor-intensive process rooted in the tight-knit rural communities of the past, the culinary, bonding, and even cathartic healing benefits of kimjang remain a universally treasured aspect of Korean culture in modern times.

DC’s First Kimjang will happen at an auspicious time for Korea’s national dish. The year 2023 marks 10 years since the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) inscribed kimjang—defined as making and sharing kimchi—on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2013. Washington, D.C., Maryland, Viriginia, and several other states also already recognize Kimchi Day on November 22, and the U.S. House of Representatives is expected to adopt a similar resolution on the national level this December, mirroring national celebrations in the Republic of Korea on the same day. This event is also part of the ongoing celebrations of the 70^th anniversary of the Korea-US Alliance in 2023.

The event organizers aspire to apply the spirit of this rich cultural tradition and its power to bring people together in service to one another to the vibrant, diverse communities of the Capital region. Through making and sharing kimchi, the KCCDC, MOAPIA, and Tae-Gu Kimchi hope to foster genuine cultural appreciation, strengthen community bonds, and unite the greater DC community in a spirit of gratitude.

DC’s First Kimjang: Making and Sharing Kimchi is free and open to the public, but due to limited space and supplies, advance registration is required. 

Left: Attendees participate in a public kimjang event in Korea / Right: Patrice Cunningham

About Patrice Cunningham

Chef Patrice Cunningham was born and raised in Washington, D.C. and is the founder of Tae-Gu Kimchi, which she launched in the summer of 2020. While running her catering business, Cunningham took the opportunity of the pandemic to pursue her dream of getting her mother’s kimchi recipe into the grocery stores, focusing her business on sharing her heritage and passion for Korean-American cuisine. Cunningham has sold her kimchi products at regional farmers markets while making her way into major grocery stores and ultimately throughout the United States. She does her utmost to spread the love of kimchi throughout the region and country.

“As a child, making and jarring kimchi for our friends and family at the end of every summer was our family tradition,” says Cunningham. “I can still hear my mom yelling for me to pass her different ingredients to pour into the large silver bucket that she mixed beautifully by hand onto the crisp, clean, and fresh Napa cabbage.”

About Kimchi

Kimchi is a traditional Korean preservation method that can produce a wide array of dishes. Ingredients can and do vary regionally, but usually include some combination of vegetables, garlic, ginger, chili peppers, salt, and fish sauce. The mix is pickled and fermented, which was an effective way to preserve vegetables during the winter months. Cabbage is the most common vegetable used to make kimchi although carrots, radish, cucumber, and scallions are also frequently used. Kimchi is also incorporated into a variety of traditional Korean dishes and is eaten with almost every Korean meal.