“I try to introduce Korean food wherever I go”: Farmers market favorite Kimchi Kooks opened Kate’s Kitchen last summer.

And Just Like That… (Sex and the City sequel) Season 1 Episode 7 — Sex and the Widow

As far as kimchi goes, the stuff that Kate Kook makes is pretty famous. Through her small-batch kimchi business Kimchi Kooks, Kate, along with her son, started selling jars of cabbage and white radish kimchi in Brooklyn stores in 2015. They quickly gained a following, which only grew a few years later when Kook started selling her crisp pajeon (scallion pancakes) at local farmers markets. But during the pandemic, Kook’s commissary kitchen space temporarily closed, and she decided to pause kimchi production to try something new: She’d had enough of being “the pajeon lady,” and wanted to open a shop where she could share a broader vision of Korean cooking.

In this issue, we’re chatting with WooJae Chung, one-half of the mother-son pair behind Kimchi Kooks. The company launched in 2015 as a purveyor of kimchi, but these days, they also dish out a variety of banchan, Korean side dishes, and a short menu of takeaway offerings at their new Bay Ridge storefront, Kimchi Kooks Kate’s Kitchen. The brand’s origins go back to 1999, when Chung and his mother, Kate Kook, arrived in Bayside, Queens, from Busan, Korea. On arrival, Kook was dissatisfied with the quality of the products she was seeing, and began to dream of starting her own kimchi company. “She worked her way from having nothing to starting her business,” says Chung.

#1. Kimchi Kooks Kate’s Kitchen: This neat little kitchen in a rather obscure corner of the neighborhood is a bit of a walk from the R stop at Bay Ridge Avenue, but well worth it. Formerly operating a Smorgasburg booth proprietor Kate Kook and her son, WooJae Chung, make all sorts of fermented and pickled Korean salads and banchan for carryout, neatly arranged for easy access in a refrigerator case. They also do a handful of hot dishes served with a choice of rice, such as beef bokkum and soft tofu hot pots.

Spot Kimchi Kooks in Season 2, Episode 3 of “Awkwafina is Nora from Queens.”

뉴욕 아리랑 Episode 9 — 뉴욕의 엄마표 김치

Korean pickled cabbage, kimchi, is another staple pickle; only a couple of years ago WooJae Chung of New York brand Kimchi Kooks set up the company with his mother using inherited family recipes, and the firm has gone from strength to strength. Its recipe depends particularly “on salting and brining the cabbage to an ideal level so that proper fermentation to reach necessary level of acidity is achieved and that the cabbage (or whichever main medium) retains healthy and bouncy texture,” Chung says.

Meet WooJae, a humble but talented kimchi maker in New York. Alongside his mom, they founded Kimchi Kooks. We sat down with WooJae to find out how hip-hop and kimchi-making have influenced him over the years. We talked about the artistry of freestyling in cyphers and kitchens, about Tupac and how his music still takes on new meaning these days, and about what inspires us to keep going.

As senior editor of New York Magazine’s Grub Street, Sierra has both highlighted some of my favorite chefs and establishments in the city and taken on the specific mission of telling the stories of women in the restaurant world today, and she has done so with a voice that is both compassionate and clever.

Martha Stewart features Kimchi Kooks on Facebook LIVE

“Sweet Meets Spicy” Padma Lakshmi interviews Kimchi Kooks

Kate Kook and WooJae Chung, the mother-and-son duo behind Kimchi Kooks, radiate warmth and generosity when asked about their journey of becoming Brooklyn-based kimchi producers. Pouring glasses of sweet Sujeonggwa tea, they talk nostalgia of Korean cuisine with charm and laughter, as well as how kimchi’s on the rise as New Yorkers get a taste for fermented foods.

Choose what food to virtually try out in this interactive video.

Before the Portuguese introduced gochugaru to Korea, there was white kimchi: Classic cabbage kimchi without the heat. This chile-free variety highlights crisp cabbage and sparkles from fermentation. WooJae Chung, owner of New York–based Kimchi Kooks, judiciously adds ingredients like ginger and fish sauce to his White Kimchi to complement—without overpowering—the cabbage’s natural flavor.

The mother-and-son duo behind Brooklyn, New York-based Kimchi Kooks uses traditional family recipes that date back to founder Kate Kook’s grandfather’s Korean rice wine brewery. Judging by their perfectly piquant Classic Kimchi, let’s just say this duo’s got some serious Seoul.

“They’re so sweet,” Demby says of the mother-son duo serving up small batch kimchi at this year’s market. Kate Kook uses recipes dating back to her grandfather’s rice wine brewery in Korea to make delicious jarred kimchi, kimchi mung bean pancakes, and kimchi dumplings.

Kimchi — Korean fermented cabbage — is having a trendy moment, with not one but two new Smorgasburg options: both Kyle’s Kimchi and Kimchi Kooks are selling jars of their traditional pickled vegetables, and Kimchi Kooks is also making kimchi pancakes on site.

Using an old family recipe, this mother and son team makes small batch Korean kimchi, which they sell in jars and will serve in hot items like pancakes and dumplings.

They offer both vegan and non-vegan options, both were delicious recipes made with their kimchi. I loved the kimchi mung bean pancakes and the grandmother’s sauce is to die for. (…)

Episode 19 — Jill chats with WooJae Chung of Kimchi Kooks about how kimchi is made and why it’s good for you

Kate Kook, 60, and her son WooJae Chung, 27, make and sell their delicious kimchee at grocery stores around the city. Now the family duo is set on showing Smorgasburg-goers the potential of their favorite fermented food with a menu ($6.50 to $10.50) of traditional kimchee pancakes and offbeat creations such as savory fried-tofu kimchee cakes, kimchee pie with cheese and beef —modeled on a Greek spinach pie — and kimchee dumplings. (…)

When Kate Kook and her son WooJae Chung set up their Brooklyn-based kimchi business earlier this year, the initial idea was to address the lack of authentic Korean dishes available in their local area. (…)

Kimchi has always been a source of Korean pride—yet the obligatory side dish (and cultural symbol) has made headlines in the past few years as cheaper Chinese imports have taken over restaurants and supermarkets. (…)