This title of the film is “How to Make Kimchi: according to my Kun Umma”. It is a short documentary directed by Samuel Kiehoon Lee. It was shown at the UIC multi-cultural film festival. The film was shot with the help of The Canada Council for the Arts, Toronto Arts Council and NFB Filmmaker Assistance Program. The main character in the film is the director’s aunt Bong Ja Lee.
The film was shot in 2003 and it won the Jury Award for the Best Documentary Short at the San Diego Asian Film Festival in 2003. The film was produced by The National Film Board of Canada.
The story is about Koran society in Canada and their immigrant life. It is told through the making of kimchi, which is a famous Korean dish. Kimchi resembles spicy cabbage and it can be found in homes of all Korean families. They eat it traditionally with rice for all meals.
Kimchi is a dish that has strong roots in Korean culture. They made it before they had refrigerators. They would make it and then bury it in the ground so that it would remain fresh for consummation during long winters. The Koreans in Canada cherish their customs.
Canada encourages ethnic heritages and that is why they support studying Korean for children in schools. The parents of the children born in Canada want them to be familiar with the Korean language and literature.
Bong Ja Lee, Samuel’s aunt used to teach Korean language and literature to children in school, but now she only works as a program coordinators. She makes plans. Bong Ja Lee thinks that is misfortunate not to speak Korean and look like a Korean. She says that a person who can speak is a smart person. It is usually the American born Korean who are studying the Korean language.
Multiculturalism is very important in Canada and that is why the state gives great support to its preservation. The cultural heritage of each civilization is very important because when cultures mix they influence one another which enriches all of them.
There is also a Festival Caravan Seoul where Bong Ja Lee works every year. She is the chairperson there. The Korean society makes food, including kimchi. They also present Korean culture, dance and music. At the beginning of the film we can see them play a traditional instrument. Korean folklore is supported in Canada and it is very interesting for the Western people.
Kimchi has a symbolic role in this documentary. Its purpose it to show how a community is connected with a simple dish. We see the whole process of making it. The audience also finds out throughout the story that modern Koreans buy kimchi, but the older people, like Bong still make it themselves. She has been making it since she was very young and plans to keep the tradition until she becomes too old for that.
Samuel Kiehoon Lee asks the Western people in the street if they know what kimchi is, and they answer that they don’t. when they hear what it is like, they wish to taste it. Some of them may have eaten it before without knowing it.
It is a Korean habit to it kimchi with rice for all meals. It is the dish that traditionally brings the whole family together at the table.
The process of making kimchi takes some time, but it seems to be easy when Bong Ja Leer does it. First, they go to the supermarket to buy the ingredients. Those include cabbage, oriental radish, green onion, garlic, anchovy sauce, shrimp sauce, hot pepper powder and sea salt. Bong doesn’t buy all of this, because she already has most of it at home, but she shows us the food at the supermarket. She calls the main ingredient, which is cabbage, bae chu.
When they return home, they head for the kitchen and put the cabbage into the sink. Firstly, she prepares salty water and puts cabbages cut in halves into it. It is supposed to stay there for about ten hours. After that, she washes the cabbage. Bong points out that the kitchens in Canada are designed for Western women and she uses some books to stand on them, so that she can reach the counter.
The next thing Bong does is wash the cabbages and wait for twenty minutes. Then she grates seven radishes. She adds three cups of dry hot pepper and mixes it with water and anchovy sauce. She adds shrimp sauce, ginger, garlic and sugar. Green onions are the last ingredient. It is all mixed well. She spreads this mixture on the cabbage leaves and puts it all into jars. It is well pressed there. Then Bong places the jars in the shade for two days and then in the fridge. After that, it can be served.
Kimchi changes and ferments. When kimchi gets too old, for example after a month, the taste keeps changing. It becomes too sour. Then, they make other dishes with it, such as stew with rice or they wash it and use in numerous ways.
The point is they the Koreans never throw kimchi. It would be a disrespect for their cultural heritage and their ancestors.
While Kiehoon shoots his aunt, we can see the relationship between them and what Koreans expect for their children. His family remarks that he doesn’t speak much Korean, although he understands it a lot. They encourage him to study it. They also talk about his getting married and making money to do that. They joke, but they state that he should choose a Korean girlfriend instead of the Western one. There is also the language barrier between Kiehoon and Bong, but they laugh about it because they can understand each other after all.
Works cited
How to Make Kimchi According to My Kun Umma. Dir. Samuel Kiehoon Lee. The National Film Board of Canada, 2003. Film.
