Truly an Authentic, Korean Culinary Experience.
Updated: Apr. 19, 2024, 10:38 a.m.| Published: Apr. 19, 2024, 10:26 a.m.
PHOTO
Joyce Park Williams, founder of Kimchee Girl, pictured in 2022 at the Fresh Market at Hershey Towne Square in Derry Township. File photo by Sean Simmers |ssimmers@pennlive.com
By Sue Gleiter | sgleiter@pennlive.com
Joyce Park Williams is getting closer to making kimchee as common as ketchup.
The founder of Kimchee Girl recently sold her Fresh Market at Hershey Towne Square food stand to devote more time to her growing condiment company. Williams’ last day at the market is April 27.
She said she sold the physical market stand and equipment, but not Kimchee Girl.
In fact, Williams said she’s making good on her promise to grow the homemade Korean condiment brand into a household name. By late summer or early fall, Williams said Kimchee Girl will be carried at seven Giant stores throughout central Pennsylvania.
Kimchee is a condiment made from fermented cabbage that is predominantly used in Korean cooking.
Williams said Kimchee Girl recently completed a build-out for a 2,300-square-foot kimchee production facility in Mechanicsburg.
Kimchee Girl produces three kimchee varieties sold in jars including Napa cabbage, cucumber and Korean radish. Unlike traditional kimchee, Williams’ version doesn’t contain fermented shrimp paste, so it’s vegan. It is also gluten-free, probiotic-rich and all-natural.
Inspired by her late mother, Yang Sun Park, who passed from lung cancer in 2013, Williams created the company using a homemade family recipe. Growing up, Williams said her family would make homemade kimchee, a laborious process that took all week. Her parents legally immigrated from Seoul, South Korea in the early 1970s and arrived in New Cumberland.
They grew all of the ingredients for the kimchee, made from Napa cabbage and Daikon radish with seasonings such gochugaru, scallions, garlic and ginger.
Kimchee Girl was one of the first vendors when the Fresh Market opened in 2022. The stand carries kimchee as well as ready-to-eat items including beef short ribs, bulgogi beef and bibimbap.
Fortunately, Williams said Kimchee Girl’s popular Korean barbecue menu will still be available at occasional pop-ups, outdoor markets and festivals in the area.
Sue Gleiter PHOTO
Stories by Sue Gleiter
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Jars of Authentic Korean Kimchee
VEGAN • GLUTEN-FREE • PROBIOTIC-RICH • ALL NATURAL
• Napa Cabbage Kimchee
• Cucumber Kimchee
• Cubed Korean Radish Kimchee
My medium spicy kimchee is handmade using my parents' recipe that they brought with them from South Korea. I use the vegetables prepared with my mom and dad's secret mixture of hot pepper flake, garlic, green onion, just the right amount of salt and ginger, and a pinch of sugar to help the fermentation process.
$13.00 (16 oz jar)
$24.00 (32 oz jar)
Cucumber Kimchee
$25.00 (32 oz jar)
(seasonal - limited supply when available)
Jars of Kimchee Girl can be purchased at our Mechanicsburg and Hershey locations, or you can order online and we'll ship it to you. We ship kimchee within the Continental US.
Jars of Authentic Korean Kimchee
VEGAN • GLUTEN-FREE • PROBIOTIC-RICH • ALL NATURAL
• Napa Cabbage Kimchee
• Cucumber Kimchee
• Cubed Korean Radish Kimchee
My medium spicy kimchee is handmade using my parents' recipe that they brought with them from South Korea. I use the vegetables prepared with my mom and dad's secret mixture of hot pepper flake, garlic, green onion, just the right amount of salt and ginger, and a pinch of sugar to help the fermentation process.
$13.00 (16 oz jar)
$24.00 (32 oz jar)
Cucumber Kimchee
$25.00 (32 oz jar)
(seasonal - limited supply when available)
Jars of Kimchee Girl can be purchased at our Mechanicsburg and Hershey locations, or you can order online and we'll ship it to you. We ship kimchee within the Continental US.
Like you, I was unhappy with supermarket kimchee.
Meet Joyce... the Kimchee Girl - Joyce is the creative chef behind all of Kimchee Girl's fabulous food. The daughter of immigrants, she is carrying on the tradition of Korean kimchee making.
Like you, I was unhappy with supermarket kimchee.
Meet Joyce... the Kimchee Girl - Joyce is the creative chef behind all of Kimchee Girl's fabulous food. The daughter of immigrants, she is carrying on the tradition of Korean kimchee making.