Oriental Pantry - Telling Their Story
Ms. Kim, owner of Oriental Pantry, the oldest Asian market in New Haven, CT. She's been running this neighborhood institution with her personal touch for cooking and community since 1985. The full transcript of the interview is below. Listen by podcast or at the link above or check out this synched audio and photo slideshow.
This story is one in a six part series of BIPOC food business owners sponsored by The Yale School of the Environment. We hope these stories inspire you to check out these delicious family run businesses (if you are lucky enough to live near by), and to spend more time getting to know the people in your community who make and sell food. Stories produced by our host Tagan Engel, edited by Jon Oliver Music, photographed by Maza Rey Photography.
Transcript of Ms. KIm of Oriental Pantry
(background speaking) So we do rice and egg, sometimes we can add beef, or tofu, whatever you like)
My name is Yoon-ock Kim and the business is Oriental Pantry. I opened 1985 with my friend. Right now, this is the oldest oriental grocery in New Haven. There's many scholars and student come all over the country and I'd like to introduce them Korean food, and they're missing their home country's food. I'm trying to carry many Asian food like Korean, Japanese, and Chinese, and Thai, and Indian. So I'd like to introduce their food also, to them. My special is actually Bi bim bap. That is a kind of Korean national food, national dish, and that is my signature dish. Everybody loves bi bim bap and I'm making the sauce, homemade sauce, spicy sauce, we call it gochujang, it takes about 40 days for fermentation, so everybody loves my sauce.
I'm a gardener actually, I love to take care of my garden. I love flowers, but the vegetables I'm growing many things tomato, lettuce, and some Asian things like Chinese chives, and sesame leaves, and shiso ,and many many other things. I use those things for my recipes. That's all organic actually. Also, I'm making japchae and kimbap. Japchae is I'm using glass noodle and sauté some vegetables and mix my sauce. And kimbap is one of the most popular thing in Korea too. When you travel, you can eat it easily with your finger, kind of finger food. Kimbap is kind of rice roll with seaweed.
It is really difficult for me, actually, at the beginning, when I came here, I had just had two babies and also I was a student and my husband was a student and I support my family. It's really, really difficult. But I decided that I invite my mother, my own mother to help me and when she come over, that's kind of easy, because my mother can take care of my babies. That's why I can keep my business this long time. I'm looking for actually I'm getting old. I don't want to retire but at a certain point I have to retire. So, if there's somebody like this business who can do this business like me and continue for 100 years (laughter), this is already 36 years old. Yeah, so this business is my baby. When I retired, I would like to just stay home and take care of my gardens and play with flowers and I’m traveler, so I'm going to travel all around the world (laughter).
Recently, one guy broke in my store in the middle of the night and they tried to grab my cash register and those things, but I think they couldn't take none much. But after that many my customers and so many people, some of my students, they want to fundraise. First time, I don't want it but they said oh, we can do it. And then we did fundraise and so many people just the one day, they gave me a lot of money (laughter). And I was surprised that they are so generous. And I thought my store is just a little grocery store in the New Haven, but my neighborhood and my customer they don't think like that. They think this is the kind of a social area and they love my business, I just noticed Yeah. Yeah, I can pay off some rent and I can pay off my merchandise, the balance and also, I can get rid of old refrigerator and I bought a new refrigerator. They helped a lot, the money helped a lot because COVID I was almost to close. Yeah. I was about thinking about close but I can’t, this is a kind of historical place in New Haven. The 36 year old oriental groceries in New Haven, that’s kind of historic place, don't you think so? (laughter)
Oriental Pantry, 486 Orange St, New Haven, CT
