History of Kimchi and Food Variations

I will discuss about the history of Kimchi, one of the most famous traditional food in South Korea, and many foods using Kimchi

This is where South Korea located

Various types of Kimchi

Ingredients

Definition

Kimchi is a staple food in Korean cuisine, is a traditional side dish of salted and fermented vegetables, such as napa cabbage and Korean radish, made with a widely varying selection of seasonings, including gochugaru (Korean chili powder), spring onions, garlic, ginger, and jeotgal (salted seafood), etc. It is also used in a variety of soups and stews. It is eaten as a side dish with almost every Korean meal.

There are hundreds of varieties of kimchi made with different vegetables as the main ingredients. Traditionally, winter kimchi, called kimjang, was stored in large earthenware fermentation vessels, called onggi, in the ground to prevent freezing during the winter months and to keep it cool enough to slow down the fermentation process during summer months. The vessels are also kept outdoors in special terraces called jangdokdae. In contemporary times, household kimchi refrigerators are more commonly used.

History

Samguk Sagi, a historical record of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, also mentions the pickle jar used to ferment vegetables, which indicates that fermented vegetables were commonly eaten during this time.[19][20] During the Silla dynasty (57 BC – AD 935), kimchi became prevalent as Buddhism caught on throughout the nation and fostered a vegetarian lifestyle.[21]

The pickling of vegetables was an ideal method, prior to refrigerators, that helped to preserve the lifespan of foods. In Korea, kimchi was made during the winter by fermenting vegetables, and burying it in the ground in traditional brown ceramic pots called onggi. This labor further allowed a bonding among women within the family. A poem on Korean radish written by Yi Gyubo, a 13th-century literatus, shows that radish kimchi was a commonplace in Goryeo (918–1392).

Pickled radish slices make a good summer side-dish,

Radish preserved in salt is a winter side-dish from start to end.

The roots in the earth grow plumper every day,

Harvesting after the frost, a slice cut by a knife tastes like a pear.

— Yi Gyubo

Benefits

Kimchi is a typical slow food in Korea, and it has very varied benefits. On average, Korean people eat 62.9 gram of Kimchi every day. It contains vitamin B1, vitamin B2, vitamin C, Calcium, Potassium, etc. According to a study conducted by JeonBuk University in South Korea, there are seven benefits that people can expect when they are eating Kimchi constantly.

First, it can prevent cancer. This is because Kimchi is made up of Napa Cabbage, Asian radish, leaf mustard, garlic, and red pepper, which are good ingredients preventing cancer.

Second, it helps people to digest well. During the fermentation process, Lactic Acid Bacteria is made and it is the ingredient that helps digestion. It cleanses intestine and gets rid of harmful bacteria living in the stomach.

Third, people often eat it as a way to lose weight. It contains very little fat and calorie, and its spicy flavor helps to burn calorie as well. Also, dietary fiber makes people to feel full even though they didn't eat a lot, and hasten excretion; which are all good to lose weight.

Fourth, it is anti bacterial. The Lactic Acid Bacteria that Kimchi has kills harmful bacteria and prevent lots of diseases like food poisoning.

Fifth, Kimchi contains enough iron, so it prompts more hemoglobin to be generated. This is particularly good for people with anemia.

Sixth, the possibility of a person to have blood vessel disease can be significantly reduced if one keeps eating Kimchi because it dissolves cholesterol.

Lastly, the skin disorders such as allergy atopy can be relieved by Kimchi. There is no direct causal relation here, but compared to the people who eat more than 40g of Kimchi a day, the risk of skin disease is lower by 0.81%.

1

Seoul / Gyeong-gi

Ingredients and types are very varied. Generally, it is not too spicy or salty. Major ingredients are nappa cabbage and asian radish.

2

Gangwon-do

Use fresh fish as ingredients. They add squid to the original Kimchi. It is less saltier than the typical Kimchi and it is common to use leaf mustard instead of napa cabbage.

3

Chung-Cheong-Do

It contains not much of fish, and uses more varied ingredients such as Korean Parsley, eggplant, and green chilli.

4

Jeolla-do

There is many types of Kimchi in this region because generally, people in this region likes to do something like experiment with food. They constantly add things until it gets tasty, and this is why the types are very varied. The most famous ones contain many fish and pickled fish. Might be hard for kimchi beginners.

5

GyeongSang-Do

The weather in this region is generally hot, so kimchi has to be resistant to going bad. Thus, the kimchi here is salty because they put more salt and pickled fish to prevent it from going bad. Sometimes people in GyeongSang-Do use chives to make kimchi.

6

Jeju Island

Since the island is isolated from other region, people are used to make kimchi with limited ingredients. Thus, rather than a spicy and strong flavored Kimchi, you can feel ingredient itself more easily than when you're eating normal kimchi. Usually, the ingredients contain carrots, abalone, and marine plants.

Fun Fact about Kimchi

Like this, people use nearly every food ingredient to make Kimchi. In Korea, there is a game that you can play with several people while you're drinking alcohol, or just for fun. People take turn to speak out any food ingredient and a person googles it to find whether there is a type of Kimchi that is made of that ingredient. It should not be the one that is used for Kimchi; if not, he or she has to drink. For example, if you say watermelon and if there is Kimchi made of watermelon, then you lose the game. This shows how Koreans love Kimchi.

Various food using Kimchi

Rather than eating kimchi by itself, people like to make another food using kimchi.

    1) Kimchi stew

    ingredients: pork, green onion, chili, water, garlic, soy sauce, onion, and kimchi

    2) Kimchi Pancake

ingredients: tuna, kimchi, flour, cooking oil

3) Kimchi fried rice

ingredients: cooked rice, green onion, onion, bacon, soy sauce, egg

Various types of Kimchi

Ingredients