It almost doesn’t pay back the trouble it can make for you, to visit South Korea these days. First, there was the big ’emergency’ travellers’ alert about not importing poppy seeds. Now, it seems, there’s a special emphasis on interdicting Korea’s national food: Kim Chi!
Freshly rubbed Kim Chi: Raw Nappa Cabbage, treated with hot peppers and salt. Then
allowed to ferment for weeks, or even months. The national condiment of Korea…
Kim Chi seems pretty simple in itself: Whole heads of Napa Cabbage rubbed with mashed chili peppers and salt, and left to ferment. Traditionally in earthenware jugs buried in the ground…
The everything dish
Some native Koreans eat Kim Chi three times a day (at least). It’s THE condiment, salad, and side dish that literally goes with everything they consume.
And it’s made by the lead cook in many households, in large quantities. For smaller families, it’s often purchased, ready-made, at the grocery store. One way or the other, is as ubiquitous on Korean tables as salt and pepper shakers used to be at Western meals.
So, it stands to reason folks would want to be sure they could get enough if it if they were travelling outside of the country. Or returning from abroad. One way or the other, South Korean airport officials at the nation’s busiest international air terminal – Inchon – confiscated almost 11 tons of Kim Chi in various sizes and for-mats from travellers last year.
A liquid? Really?
Kim Chi is classed in with other fermented, sauced condiments. And as such, comes under the gen-eral heading of ‘liquids’ on inspectors’ lists of banned substances. It’s not the tell-tale pickly aroma or other characteristics of the stuff that offends. It’s the classification as a liquid which renders it a No-No.
As in most western nations, the rules say liquids can only be transported aboard commercial passen-ger aircraft in individual, sealed containers accommodating 100 ml or less of… whatever. That’s hardly a appetizer’s worth for most Koreans.
Caught in a broad ‘dragnet’
Other foods commonly caught in the ‘liquids’ dragnet include peanut butter – which many inexper-ienced travellers assume is NOT a liquid. Except when interpreted by customs officials under inter-national air transport rules. There are may others – mainly pastes and spreads – that fall into the same category. Which doesn’t mean you can’t import them, just that they have to be packed and shipped separately, or sealed in checked baggage.
My take
I would fail miserably as a Korean. I really don’t like Kim Chi. I’d go as far as to say, it nauseates me. And I’m not the only westerner I know who agrees with my assessment of the stuff.
On one hand, I know – intellectually – that it’s cabbage, it’s fermented, and it’s therefore a very healthful concoction. It’s just that, at the visceral level, my body rejects Kim Chi as violently as if it was a non-compatible transplant organ.
On the other, it’s good to know – as a humanitarian at heart – that much of the Kim Chi confiscated at Inchon is not just thrown away. It’s donated to local community welfare centers along with other con-fiscated items, according to airport officials. At least, it’s not wasted…
~ Maggie J.