Korean ex-fashion designer turns kimchi into detox drink

‘kimchi juice’

Park Yun-Kyung. [Photo by Park Hyung-ki]

Kimchi will become the next miracle juice, according to a former Korean equestrian club head who has turned Korea’s iconic health staple into a detox drink.

Park Yun-kyung, former fashion designer and president of SHm, recently launched drinkable Baek kimchi, designed to increase global access to the Korean fermented vegetable food whose taste and quality is not compromised in the course of shipping.

Baek (white) kimchi made without red chili pepper flakes features a mild and refreshing taste. Park’s ‘kimchi juice’ made with high-quality Korean cabbage goes through aging, juice extraction and another aging before it is finally packaged into a pack. She has already applied for an international patent for the product.

Park predicted her drinkable Baek kimchi would be very popular abroad based on good responses from multiple sensory tests. Nowadays, many foreigners enjoy kimchi, but the unique smell from the aging process of kimchi makes it difficult to store and transport. This problem can be solved while retaining the original taste and lactic acid bacteria in kimchi, she said.

Park said she has wanted to develop a signature sauce that can represent Korean cuisine overseas. While working together on the development with Foundation of Agricultural Technology Commercialization and Transfer under the Rural Development Administration, she discovered the potential of kimchi juice, a bulk substance for sauce production, and decided to commercialize it first.

Park said Korean kimchi and its applications draw attention around the world amid the pandemic as the immunity-boosting effects of fermented vegetable foods are established scientifically, hoping for exports of her product around the world.

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