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Kimchi

Introduction

Kimchi is a fermented Korean dish which is known throughout the world, especially because of its nutritional quality. There are about two hundred varieties in Korea. Chinese Cabbage Kimchi is one of the most famous among them, however, many other vegetables can replace cabbage, for instance; radishes, eggplant, cucumber, mustard greens etc. It is mostly very spicy, pungent power to vary several degrees to the absence of pepper, the latter which is called Kimchi White. The Kimchi is considered as the Winter Special in Korea (Seung-Min Lee, pp. 315-321). With the cultivation of land people can take in food rich in vitamins and minerals, vegetables. However, due to the cold winter, during which the cultivation was difficult, naturally began to develop a method of storing products by over salting. As a result of this process, in Korea around the 17th century, there was a kind of pickled vegetables dish which is known as Kimchi.

Discussion

History of Kimchi

It is difficult to accurately determine the time and origin of Kimchi as historical records of ancient times little saved up to now. It can only be assumed that it was just the vegetables, salt, in order to keep them as long as possible. Kimchi was created since people began to grow and produce vegetables. When they were placed in brine or mixed with soy sauce, new tastes and flavors appeared, and conservation became possible Kimchi was born. During the Goryeo Dynasty, pickled fish and meat broth were probably not used; red pepper is not yet available (often used pickled fish or meat broth in combination with pepper in the preparation of Kimchi). Although the term "Kimchi" was used, but it needs to be different from Kimchi today: probably vegetables sprinkled with salt, mixed with spices such as garlic and preserved. It could take the form of dehydrated vegetables or pickled in salt water or bathing in salt water as Dongchimi (Radish based Kimchi). These preparations took the unique name "chimchae" ("Chem" means "immerse" and "Chae", "vegetable"), which later on became Timchae, Dimchae, Kimchae, and finally "Kimchi" which is very well known now a days (Gannon & Martin, pp. 146-153).

Kinds of Kimchi

There are many types of Kimchi. Its preparation is quite easy and does not require a long period of fermentation, such as Nabak Kimchi (Kimchi in water), Oi sobagi (cucumbers), the yeolmu Kimchi (young radish) the gat Kimchi (leaf mustard), the pa Kimchi (leek), the yangbaechu Kimchi (cabbage Western), gul ggakdugi (radish cut into cubes with oysters), etc..

Most of the types of Kimchi's are prepared in winter from vegetables, some of the other types of Kimchi are: the Tonbaechu Kimchi (cabbage integer), the Bossam Kimchi (Kimchi wrapped in a package in a large cabbage leaf), the Dongchimi (radish in water), the Godeulbbagi Kimchi (Korean lettuce) and Seokbakji, which can be kept for longer period of time. In addition, ingredients, spices, recipes and preparation time vary greatly depending on the region, customs, preferences and seasons. The taste varies ...