About us
A Jeonju kitchen on rue Jean-Pierre-Timbaud
Our story
An onggi is the earthenware jar Koreans have used for centuries to ferment kimchi and jang.
Seo Min-ji grew up in Jeonju, the home of bibimbap, in a house where the courtyard belonged to the jars. She came to Paris in 2014 to study design and ended up in kitchens: six years working for others, including three at a Korean restaurant in the 15th, from dishwasher to the hot line.
In 2021 she took over a former garment workshop on rue Jean-Pierre-Timbaud, with an inner courtyard nobody else wanted. For her it was the best room in the building: fourteen jars now stand there, shipped from Korea wrapped in rice straw.
Onggi is still a canteen: everyday dishes, served quickly at lunch and shared in the evening. The difference is that almost everything fermented here is made here, and the menu follows what is ready in the jars.
The jangdokdae in the courtyard
A jangdokdae is the terrace where jars of jang are lined up. Ours is in the courtyard: three large jars are never emptied; we draw from them and top them up every year.
- 된장doenjangSoybean pasteStarted on 20 March 202518 of 24 months
The meju blocks left in the brine, mashed in May and returned to the jar. Used in doenjang jjigae and to braise the bossam.
- 간장ganjangJar-aged soy sauceStarted on 20 March 202518 of 24 months
The liquid drawn off the same brine, strained and boiled. Saltier and lighter than factory soy sauce: we use it for soups and namul.
- 고추장gochujangChilli pasteStarted on 20 February 20267 of 12 months
Glutinous rice, meju powder, Yeongyang gochugaru and salt, stirred weekly at first. Its first spoonful goes into December's bibimbap.
The meju, blocks of cooked and pounded soybeans, is shaped in November and hangs in the cellar all winter. In March it goes into a Guérande salt brine with charcoal and dried chillies. Two months later the liquid, which becomes ganjang, is separated from the blocks, which become doenjang.
Who cooks
Fictional team: these people do not exist.
Seo Min-ji
Chef and founder
Tastes every jar on Tuesday morning and sets the week's menu by what she finds.
Park Ha-eun
Fermentation
Salts sixty cabbages a week and keeps the jar log: date, salt, courtyard temperature.
Julien Arnaud
Front of house and drinks
Learned Korean at the counter and will steer you to makgeolli rather than wine with the fried chicken.
Where our food comes from
- Napa cabbage and radish
- a market gardener in Brie-Comte-Robert (77), delivered on Mondays
- Gochugaru
- Yeongyang, Korea, sun-dried chillies, imported once a year
- Salt
- coarse grey Guérande salt, for brines and meju
- Soybeans for meju and tofu
- organic yellow soybeans from the Gers
- Rice
- short-grain Camargue japonica, close to Korean rice
- Chicken and pork
- Label Rouge free-range Landes chicken, farm-raised pork from the south-west
The dining room
34 seats, including an 8-seat counter facing the kitchen. One high chair and two booster seats for children. The courtyard is closed to guests: the jars need peace and quiet.