Hidden Gems: Meet Crystal An of Komo’s Kimchi Paste

Today we’d like to introduce you to Crystal An.

Hi Crystal, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
When I was in college, I regularly craved my aunt’s homemade kimchi. One night, I decided to host a Korean BBQ potluck, and the store-bought kimchi we ate let me down. The soggy, bland cabbage was not the kimchi I knew at all!

As I was about to share my thoughts, my friend exclaimed how much she loved this “real” kimchi. At that moment, I realized that whether people love it or hate it, this watery, one-note creation is what most people in the Western world know as “kimchi.” I couldn’t help but think—if only they knew what homemade kimchi tastes like—a buttery bite of umami, sweetness, and spice mixed with fresh garlic and ginger. It would blow their minds (and their taste buds!).

This was the spark that ignited Komo’s Kimchi Paste. In the Korean language, “Komo” means “aunt from your dad’s side of the family”, and my brand is an ode to my beloved aunt.

In creating Komo’s Kimchi Paste, I used my aunt’s recipe as inspiration, playing with the formula to develop a paste that works with all types of produce. It took two years of smelling funky and having red stains all over my clothes to create a perfect paste—one that ferments beautifully and can be used as a dressing, from bok choy and napa cabbage to tomatoes and snap peas.

Just like I’ve had the pleasure of enjoying a variety of kimchi, I hope that Komo’s Kimchi Paste will enable more people to experience the umami, tang, and spice of homemade kimchi in their own kitchens.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
The road is the Autobahn, and I’m driving a Prius. Everything is moving fast – other drivers, their cars, the scenery – it’s easy to look at the Porsche and wonder why I can’t accelerate at 100 mph in 5 seconds. I catch myself questioning what my business should look like, what ‘success’ really means, and how quickly I should be growing.

That being said, I have been working on turning inwards, and, going back to the car and road analogy, a Prius is a versatile and dependable vehicle. It’s not a Porsche and that’s okay – it’s a memorable ride listening to Stevie Wonder with my best friend Amy and my three brothers in the back.

As you know, we’re big fans of Komo’s Kimchi Paste. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
Komo’s Kimchi Paste’s mission is to nourish and inspire people to have fun creating fresh and fermented kimchis while connecting with themselves and their community.

We’re the only kimchi paste in the market used to make fresh kimchi, like salads and fermented kimchi. Our focus is on education and we made sure to create a cookbook to make it simple and easy for anyone to make kimchi at home whether they’re spending time with themselves or others.

We use high-quality ingredients like Organic Garlic and Organic Ginger because they create deeper flavors for your ferments, unlike cheaply made, mass-produced versions at grocery stores. Additionally, we preserve our paste using Lactic Acid since it naturally occurs in fermentation and is a probiotic, whereas other brands use chemicals that ironically harm gut health.

We’re currently in the works of creating a Vegan version of the paste and are excited to launch that soon this Summer. Any support – even as small as a like or follow on our Instagram would help immensely! We plan on launching a Kickstarter early next year and all types of support are much needed.

Do you have any advice for those just starting out?
You don’t need a title to justify your wants. You don’t need to be a chef to make delicious food, a photographer to take meaningful snapshots, or a musician to produce songs. What do these artificial boundaries even mean? You can always learn, and humans are adaptable.

I had a hard time being bad at something I love, like cooking, and it still takes me 15 minutes to unevenly julienne one carrot. But I think that’s the whole point of my brand and product. Someone like me, who loves food and is a mess in the kitchen, can still easily make flavorful kimchi. I hope others that are starting out realize they can do it if they want to, regardless of the background noise coming from ourselves or others.

Pricing:

• $12 for Komo’s Kimchi Paste
• $12 for Vegan Komo’s Kimchi Paste
• $7 for Our Little Kimchi Cookbook
• $34 DIY Kit

Contact Info:

• Website: komoskimchipaste.com
• Instagram: komoskimchipaste

Image Credits
Vickii Ma and Allen An