About Mama Kim
Born in Korea and shaped by a life in Australia, Mama Kim’s journey has taken her from science and healthcare to markets, kitchens and food cultures across 29 countries.
Today, those experiences come together in Mama Kim’s Kitchen, where Korean heritage, curiosity and a lifelong love of food inspire everything she creates.
After moving to Australia in 2005, food became a way of connecting with people and creating a sense of home. During those early years, while studying Chemical Engineering and later working in healthcare, she often found herself cooking and sharing meals with friends and students who missed the comfort of home style food. It was during this time that the name “Mama Kim” came naturally. In 2013, while living in Western Australia, she began cooking at a small weekend market. What started as something she simply loved doing gradually became something more. After moving to the South Coast of New South Wales, she continued cooking for her local community while building a life there. Over time, she felt a quiet pull toward the kitchen and eventually made the decision to cook full time. A small food truck followed, then years of markets, catering and hospitality.
After moving to Australia in 2005, food became a way of connecting with people and creating a sense of home. During those early years, while studying Chemical Engineering and later working in healthcare, she often found herself cooking and sharing meals with friends and students who missed the comfort of home style food. It was during this time that the name “Mama Kim” came naturally. In 2013, while living in Western Australia, she began cooking at a small weekend market. What started as something she simply loved doing gradually became something more. After moving to the South Coast of New South Wales, she continued cooking for her local community while building a life there. Over time, she felt a quiet pull toward the kitchen and eventually made the decision to cook full time. A small food truck followed, then years of markets, catering and hospitality.
Her curiosity about food has always reached far beyond one cuisine. Over the years, it took her through 29 countries, experiencing different food cultures, local ingredients and the everyday ways people cook and eat. She travelled with a fishing rod and a notebook, learning from the places she visited and sharing meals wherever she went.
Later, she returned to Korea for a three month backpacking journey, travelling through different regions to reconnect more deeply with the food traditions of her heritage. Along the way, she sought out artisans preserving traditional kimchi and jang making, explored regional food traditions, and spent time learning about Korean temple food and its philosophy of seasonality, simplicity and respect for ingredients.
Looking back, each chapter has played a part in what Mama Kim’s Kitchen is today. Her Korean upbringing, life in Australia, studies, professional career, years of cooking for others, and experiences travelling and learning from food cultures around the world have all shaped the way she cooks and creates.
Today, Mama Kim’s Kitchen brings those experiences together through a growing range of sauces, kimchi and seasonings. Rooted in Korean heritage and made for modern Australian kitchens, the range is about making real flavour easier to bring into everyday cooking.
It is food made with care, shaped by experience and offered with quiet pride.