From April 25 to May 2, Kim'C Market brought a small group of chefs and dedicated food enthusiasts on an eight-day culinary journey through Korea — from the live seafood markets of Seoul to the fermentation cellars of Jeollanam-do, the region long considered the kitchen of the country. The itinerary was built on relationships: with food masters, monastics, ceramicists, and chefs who rarely open their doors to visitors, and never to just anyone.
On April 29th, the group arrived at Master Kisoondo's home in Damyang. The day began with a proper education in jang — the fermented soybean pastes and sauces that form the backbone of Korean cooking — before moving into the work itself: pounding soybeans by hand, shaping meju blocks, and putting up their own jars of soy sauce and doenjang using heirloom soybeans, bamboo salt, and spring water. Each jar was marked with their name and left on her grounds to age. Somewhere in Damyang, those jars are still fermenting.
Lunch and dinner that day were both at Master Kisoondo's table — meals they cooked together using her own jang and ganjang, which made them a kind of lesson in themselves. By the end of the day, the group understood not just how fermentation works, but what it tastes like when it's done right, and what 55 years of practice produces.
On May 7th, Chosun Ilbo ran a feature on the growing number of world-class chefs seeking out Master Kisoondo for advanced training in Korean fermentation — and on what it takes to reach her. Kim'C Market was named as one of the rare connectors making that access possible. That access is what Kim'C Market has spent years building: direct relationships with the food masters, artisans, and monastics who define Korean culinary culture — and the ability to bring people who are genuinely curious into their spaces, not as tourists, but as participants.