Keeyoung Kim knows there’s not a huge demand for soju in the Midwest. Luckily, as a second-generation Korean, he’s in the business of educating us Midwesterners on Korean culture, most notably through his restaurant Chingu in Westport. Now, alongside Chingu co-founder David Son, Kim is making the first ever Midwest-distilled soju right here in KC. For him, it’s exciting to bring a bit of Korea to KC, even if it takes a while to catch on.
Made in collaboration with Crossroads agave distiller Mean Mule Distilling Co., Chingu’s craft soju is traditionally made with three ingredients: sweet glutinous rice, nuruk (a fermentation starter) and water. If you’ve tried soju before, it was most likely in a green bottle and made from ingredients other than rice.
“If you look at the history of soju, the distillation process that most green bottle sojus often use is a result of the Japanese occupation that led to Korea being a third-world country with rice shortages,” says Kim. “Instead of rice, they started fermenting soju with tapioca, potato and sugar.”
Although soju brands didn’t start using green bottles until the ’90s, almost a century after the Japanese occupation, the packaging quickly became associated with the modern day and less potent version of soju, where rice and nuruk is rarely used. What most people know soju to be—the watered down equivalent to vodka—is created using the diluted distillation methods that began during Japan’s reign.
Kim acknowledges there’s a time and place for the beloved green bottle sojus. Fermenting with starches other than rice makes them fairly cheap and gives them a lower alcohol content, averaging around 17 percent. But the original soju recipe, made with rice, was much different. With his soju, Kim aims to bring the spirit back to its roots.
Chingu soju is earthy, floral and, of course, rice-y. Because it uses the traditional distilling process with rice, Kim believes his soju’s flavor profile most likely resembles the taste before the Japanese occupation.
Kim hopes Chingu soju will add a little bit of Korean culture to classic cocktail recipes, maybe replacing vodka, gin or even tequila. He recommends trying it for the first time neat or on the rocks. To show how approachable soju can be, Chingu has an entire menu dedicated to the new spirit. Indulge in the Party O’ Clock cocktail, simply made with Chingu soju and Sprite and finished with a strawberry or melon popsicle bar.
