Gomo Kimchi
“Gomo Kimchi is homemade, small-batch kimchi made with a mind to share a piece of my family, myself, and Korean culture with the good, kind people of Glasgow (the people really do make Glasgow).”
By Melanie Goldberg | Photos by Melanie Goldberg
Run by Korean-American Eddie and his Glaswegian partner, Maggie, the newly opened Gomo Kimchi resolutely embodies a sense of family and community. Located on Allison Street, the shop sells both fresh regular and vegan kimchi jjigae (stew), kimchi fried rice, kimchi jeon (pancakes) and toasties, alongside stocking jars of their homemade kimchi. Influenced by the cultural diversity of the area and what Eddie refers to as Govanhill’s “burgeoning food culture”, the couple officially opened the shop in March.
The pair began their journey by running pop ups and workshops throughout Scotland, selling their signature kimchi and kimchi-based foods. Maggie is vegan and so the pair were keen to create a tasty plant-based version made with tofu. Fish sauce is considered a key ingredient of traditional Kimchi, which also often contains seafood, so the task was definitely a challenge. Both versions have been very popular.
Gomo translates to ‘paternal aunt’, and refers to Eddie’s aunt, a former Korean Olympic speed-skater from whom he learnt his trade. From Korea to America to Scotland, Eddie’s family recipe has traversed continents. The actual process itself of crafting kimchi has always been considered a family affair, with all able relatives pitching in during the occasion.
Kimchi is a staple food in Korean culture and has been around for almost two millennia. Possessing a vast range of health benefits, the fermented vegetable dish is packed full of nutrients and probiotics which, according to Healthline, “may strengthen your immune system…reduce inflammation”, and “slow ageing”.
We visited his shop to talk to Eddie and find out more…
So, what does your typical day to day look like?
It varies from day to day actually. I generally spend all of Monday making kimchi. It takes about 11-12 hours from beginning to jar. I also still have my day job, which is doing freelance writing content and editing and so a lot of Tuesday gets spent catching up on that work as well.
In the last couple of weeks, I’ve used Wednesday to make more kimchi to keep up with the demand, so I’ve had to make kimchi twice a week which I wasn’t really planning on. Then if I’m not making kimchi, I usually cook and get all the food ready for Thursday.
Ironically, the days we’re open are a little bit more mellow for us. Basically, right now it’s a seven-day-a-week type of operation which I probably won’t be able to sustain so I need to figure out how to make the processes efficient and planned out better – and also hopefully down the road get some help.
Do you have any future plans for Gomo Kimchi?
Jars of homemade Gomo Kimchi
We’ve had requests from little green grocers and food places that have asked us if we’d be willing to supply them with kimchi, so we’re also interested in that. Just to see what other people can, and want, to do with kimchi and different ways that it can be used and then also just to get jars of kimchi out to people.
I have thought that if things were to go really well, further down the line it would be good to maybe have different locations, just to be able to share our food across the way. If we can do that throughout the UK that would be amazing, but right now we’re just focused on making this shop work and getting this to be successful. Right now, the focus for us is the kimchi and making the kimchi good.
What was it that made you choose Govanhill to set up your business?
I feel like there’s a very nice community feel when you just walk down Vicky Road in Govanhill and we really like that it’s also a very multicultural place. I feel like there are a lot of people that are represented in Govanhill.
When this spot opened up, it was actually recommended to us by a realtor and so we came in and took a look and we really liked the space. We didn’t want a place that was too big because there’s just me, I wanted to keep it small, and also make it more affordable for us.
The Govanhill area for us is attractive in a lot of ways and the first few weeks have proved that that was the right move because everyone has been incredibly welcoming and there’s a certain sense of gratitude which I was not expecting. That of course makes me feel really good and makes me feel like that was the right decision for us to come here.
What has been your experience of the Korean community in Glasgow?
Before I opened this shop, I probably met one or two Koreans people in Glasgow in my three years here and in the last three weeks I would say at least half a dozen or more Korean people have stopped by.
I know there’s a small diasporic Korean community in Glasgow, I just never really saw many Korean people and so it was really heart-warming for me to have Korean people come and be really happy about this.
We were speaking a little bit in Korean and so it was really nice and very welcoming. It seemed like there was a hunger for something like this, so I’m hoping that going forward, this can be a de facto gathering space, even though it’s quite small in here – just a place where they can feel a bit at home and feel like it’s a bit of a community for them and maybe build and foster that Korean community.
As a Korean-American, my experiences are going to be different from those coming from Korea. There are a lot of different experiences, but I want everyone to be able to feel like it’s a place where they can experience their Koreaness, for lack of a better way of putting it.
What role has your family played in the development of your business?
I would not have been able to do it without them. The business is called Gomo Kimchi and gomo means paternal aunt. It’s my dad's oldest sister and she taught me how to make kimchi and so she calls me pretty much once a week to check in. I talk to my mom all the time about recipes and different ways of doing things for food and then my brother and cousins check in regularly.
They obviously aren’t here, but have visited. They came when my partner and I got married last year, but it was before I’d done this. I was doing markets at the time and so they’ve tried the kimchi and they liked it, thankfully, which was a big relief, but there definitely wouldn’t be a Gomo Kimchi without them.
My Glasgow family help out a lot, they’re always offering encouragement and support and helping in any way that they can.
For me, it feels like a family venture. I might be the point person, but I feel like there’s no way that this happens without any of them and without the support of my partner and their family and so it’s really a community thing.