Developed during the 2020 lockdowns in Tāmaki Makaurau for the Korean Consulate, Gaja Gwaja 가자 과자 was designed to raise the profile (and increase understanding) of Korean culture in Aotearoa during a period when we were unable to gather in person. 

We designed this experience around Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving) and the sharing of a meal with friends and whānau. Building on the concept of a meal kit, we named our project Gaja Gwaja 가자 과자 (a playful pairing of the words ‘let’s go!’ and ‘snacks’). These vegetarian meal kits included the ingredients to make three contemporary Korean dishes: kimchi fried rice, Korean fried cauliflower (KFC) and shiitake and tofu mandu — accompanied by a classic Korean treat, choco pie.

On this menu, Yutak Son (head chef, Te Motu) says, “At the age of 27, I miss my mum’s cooking the most. She wasn’t the best, but it was the food I grew up with. Most importantly, I believe anything cooked with love and intention has a big impact on how we appreciate a meal.⁣⁣ The dishes I’ve chosen to share have moments of nostalgia, sentiment, love, practicality and simplicity — all of which represent Korean food for me.”⁣

Serving four, the aims of this project were three-fold: to create an intimate experience that could be delivered at all lockdown levels, to introduce people to new culinary approaches, and to use kai as the vehicle to foster a deeper appreciation of Korean culture. In addition to the ingredients, we included a tea towel — a longer-lasting memento complementing the more ephemeral meal — and a guide that featured an expanded range of recipes, information about Chuseok, an introduction to Korean etiquette and simple Korean phrases.

We gifted 40 of these kits through a multi-platform competition (spanning online, print and TV), as a way to make them as accessible as possible, and delivered them to each recipient’s door on the eve of Chuseok. As evidenced by the social media posts we saw, meals were prepared, shared and cherished — with, we hope, a deeper appreciation of one of the communities we share our city with.

We were commissioned to run this project again in 2021, as we were still in lockdown. While we continued to centre this around Chuseok for the second year, we focused on introducing people to different types of banchan. We gifted 60 of these kits in pairs (winners would receive one along with a nominated friend, so they could share a meal while in their lockdown bubbles). 

The banchan were designed with variety in mind and included ojingeo-jeot (오징어젓, salted squid), kong jorim (콩조림, braised soybeans), gamja jorim (감자조림, braised potatoes), kongnamul muchim (콩나물 무침, marinated soybean sprouts), mumallengi muchim (무말랭이 무침, marinated spicy dried radish) and myeolchi bokkeum (멸치볶음, stir-fried dried anchovies).⁣ 

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