The Kimchi Plushie You Never Knew You Needed Was Made in Austin

When Irene Kang’s two-year-old son was gifted a stuffed boba toy for his first birthday, she was intrigued. The toy was a fun way to celebrate their Chinese culture, and it got her thinking: Was there another food-related plushie that could celebrate her son and husband’s Korean heritage, too?

The bilingual children’s book author quickly did a Google search for a kimchi plush toy modeled after the iconic Korean fermented food staple, but her search was unsuccessful. “I was shocked that one didn’t exist,” she said. “I really felt the need to create it.” Despite her husband’s protests — “He told me it was a terrible idea. He said, ‘Nobody wants a kimchi plush. Are you sure?’” — Kang decided to create her own kimchi doll, one that would become a source of pride and representation for kimchi enthusiasts and Korean kids around the world.

Kang says while knee-deep in finishing children’s books in 2023, she casually drew drafts of her doll Mr. Kimchi, teetering between models of a jar of fermented cabbage and a personified bundle of fermented napa cabbage with fiery red leaves. Eventually, she linked up with an illustrator to collaborate. “I didn’t know anything about the toy plushie industry, so it was a new journey,” she says. Looking for manufacturers and transforming Mr. Kimchi from a drawing on paper into a 4D doll was much harder than she thought. She created eight different prototypes before finally running a Kickstarter campaign last summer to help with the costs.

Kelly Zhu Photo

Each doll would be a little different. Some puffier and longer, but all with the same red-fringed leaves imprinted with diamond stitches to represent the savory, sour, spicy flavor. This 16-inch, soft kimchi plush, which Kang describes as “the size of a newborn baby,” would also have some human-like features, including two little feet, which Kang says plays off the term for the “Asian squat,” which is conveniently called the “kimchi squat” in Korean.

Kang’s Kickstarter campaign was fully funded within 12 hours, raising over $10,000 and garnering 350 pre-orders. Kang says she was shocked to see orders from Australia, Canada, France, and Germany, where people were willing to drop $50 alone on shipping. That Thanksgiving, Kang says she spent the week hand-packing hundreds of plushies and even did local pickup events, where some people were driving in from all over Texas to get their hands on Mr. Kimchi. By Christmas, she had sold out of 500 Mr. Kimchi dolls. Even the Japanese bookstore Kinokuniya USA was requesting more Mr. Kimchis.

Cathy Sunu

Flash forward to 2025, and Mr. Kimchi now has a growing following of kimchi enthusiasts and children around the world. In some ways, Mr. Kimchi has taken on a life of his own (Kang says a high school student photographed Mr. Kimchi on adventures around Austin — venturing to the Texas capital, to cafes for hot chocolate, and to her final exam). Last November, the doll inspired Austin’s first kimchi-making workshop, where Mr. Kimchi and Kang were special guests, and Austin’s mayor Kirk Watson delivered a proclamation naming November 22, 2024, Kimchi Day (Kang says the day, which is recognized by many cities around the world, holds extra significance because kimchi typically has 11 ingredients and is is said to have 22 health benefits).

Today, Mr. Kimchi goes for $32 online and is currently sold out, but Kang says the little spicy cabbage will be back in stock in February 2025. Until then, Kang is also traveling around Austin delivering the pop-up at various events and establishments around the city.

“It’s so important to be the change that you want to see and create something in the world that you want to see exist,” Kang says. “It’s so powerful to see your culture and language represented out there.”

Catch Kang and Mr. Kimchi at the following Austin-area events and pop-ups:

• Austin Beerworks’s Lunar New Year Celebration in Sprinkle Valley (10300 Springdale Road) on Saturday, February 1, from noon to 5 p.m.
• Domain’s Lunar New Year Market from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Wednesday, January 29.
• East Austin’s Lunar New Year Festival at the Paper + Craft Pantry on Sunday, February 2, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• OMG Squee (4607 Bolm Road, A) on Saturday, February 8, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
• Meanwhile Brewing (3901 Promontory Point Drive) on Saturday, February 15. from noon to 5 p.m.

Mr. Kimchi is also available for pre-order online for $32 plus shipping.