Tangy and hot, it’s the accent and counterpoint to a traditional meal of rice
and soup, but nowadays, kimchi is turning up in pizzas and burgers, making it a
most versatile ingredient, not to mention the test of a good cook. Even
bachelors who can hardly cook to survive know how to transform leftover kimchi
and rice into sizzling fried rice or bubbling kimchi stew.
The process of making kimchi is an excellent example of how Korean women
approach cooking. (Most men never enter the kitchen, and most women learn how to
cook only after marrying and under the tutelage of their mothers-in-law.)
Measurements? A handful of this, a pinch of that. Food processors? Bare hands
rigorously pound, mash or rub. Fingers are dipped into the sauce for a taste.
Seasonings are adjusted drop by drop. The best makers of kimchi are “old hands,”
literally, because Korean cooking is very much a manual-intensive labor and the
best cooks are said to have a magic touch.
No recipe book can substitute for the year of trial and error necessary to
develop tastebuds to detect subtle variations of flavor and the intuition to
season accordingly. in the past, all the women who married into one family
learned to make kimchi in the same kitchen with their mothers-in-law. The
family’s distinctive flavor of kimchi has been handed down through
generations.
These days, fewer women have the time or space to make kimchi in the
traditional way. With nuclear families now the rule, urban households living in
apartments are unable to join together for Gimjang, the annual winter kimchi
making during which enough batches are made to last several households all
winter. Kimchi used to be stored underground in earthenware jars that aided the
fermentation process, but nowadays, special containers and even refrigerators
are being developed to allow modern women to make smaller batches all year
round.
The easiest and quickest kimchi to make is mul kimchi, or water-kimchi.
Slightly sweet and very refreshing, it’s the perfect comlement to heavy, rich
dishes. Unlike most other forms of kimchi, this one does not require fermented
salt shrimp paste (jeotgal), and is fermented within days.
Becoming an International
Favorite
Kimchi is a “great cultural myth from the old
dynasty era of ancient Korea…” There is a superbly palate-pleasing kimchi to
delight every taste. A global favorite, kimchi is a food that adds zest to all
kinds of meals and its appeal cuts across all social, economic, ethnic and
geographical boundaries. Kimchi is an exotic, super spicy side dish. While no
one is quite sure whether kimchi is a pickle or a salad, its wide range of
flavors, types and styles make it a palatable part of an irresistible side-dish,
a great appetizer, and a naturally cultured healthy raw vegetable. Kimchi has
been served daily with every meal throughout generations of Korea for thousands
of years. Kimchi sparkles with the flavor of garlic, ginger, scallions and
chilies. Kimchi adds zest to all goods. Kimchi is an excellent contributor to
the human body. Unlike other similar foods, kimchi has its own unique
nutritional value of promoting health and preventing disease, there is “none
better” and it is “well worth” to the human diet.
A study of kimchi history reveals that people were enjoying kimchi’s unique
goodness more than 4,000 years ago. In about 2030 B.C. the inhabitants of
northern India brought seeds of this vegetable to Mongolia, and the preservation
of greens with other vegetables soon became common as cultured raw vegetables.
Kimchi is the most versatile food. In Japan and Korea it is served as a side
dish. An impressive range of all kinds of kimchi is becoming very popular in
America, Hawaii, Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and way down under in Australia.
Indeed, it is found and enjoyed almost everywhere nowadays. Kimchi is never
fickle where flavor is concerned. Its tantalizing taste attracts particular
eaters.
In Japan, Korea, and both northwest and southeast Asia, each person munches
an average of ten to fifteen kilograms of kimchi a year. In South Korea alone,
that is about four hundred tons per year or more of kimchi consumed than any
other vegetable.
Currently, kimchi has become a popular health food in the “New World” ever
since the first immigrant settled in the Hawaiian Islands and North America from
many Asian countries. The kimchi patch provided great emotional comfort to those
under exiled conditions far away from their homeland. Kimchi touched and
appealed to many ethnic settlers who started making kimchi and spoke
enthusiastically its zesty flavors.
Believe in Beauty
In both Eastern and Western history, the most famous femme fatales, Cleopatra
and Yang Gyuibee, were devoted eaters of cultured raw vegetables, and believed
that cultured raw vegetables had made them more beautiful. Queen Elizabeth was
another royal cultured raw vegetable fancier. The Emperor of the Han Dynasty
enjoyed this vegetable everyday, and fighting men from the days of Julius
Caesar’s troops through the time of Napoleon on up until today have found them a
delicious addition to drab soldiers’ meals. During both the Korean and Vietnam
wars, the Korean government drafted kimchi into the Korean armed forces diet and
earmarked almost 90% of shelf-stable (canned) kimchi production for the Army,
Navy and Marines. Going even further back, there is a reference to a sailor’s
salted and cultured raw vegetables in the eleventh book of the “Odyssey.”
Kimchi is popular and is becoming more popular. For thousands of years in
various forms “the famous and the not-so-famous” have enjoyed its unique ability
to please the palate for cultured raw vegetables. Whether or not Cleopatra and
Yang Gyuibee were right and this type of vegetable actually made them more
beautiful, millions of cultured raw vegetable eaters for countless centuries
agree that it has limitless appetite appeal. Everybody’s favorite, it adds
sparkle and zest to any food: a sandwich, a salad, a banquet, a snack…. or is
delicious when accompanied with rice, noodles and eaten with every main dish as
a great functional appetizer or a perfect side dish.
The Humor in Kimchi
Kimchi is a happy and cheerful food and more than a hundred different types
of kimchi offer something to appeal to every personality and taste. The Koreans
build kimchi awareness with humor, for example, they say “smile with
kimchiiiii’s sound!”, instead of “cheese!” when they are taking photographs.
The fine autumnal harvest season is the right time for kimchi making for the
long winter months. Every household is customarily and consistently serious in
their efforts to preserve the best possible product for the family and other
kimchi-fanciers, eaters or adorers in every neighborhood. At the same time, they
recognize the nearly unlimited opportunities in keeping people’s awareness of
the role of the cheerful kimchi in brightening a meal or a day. Koreans say that
the surest way to get an honest laugh is to talk about kimchi. Throughout the
nation, many cities, counties, and villages traditionally have their customary
events like new-kimchi-festivals, kimchi-fairs and or kimchi making contests,
mostly in autumn, when new crops are harvested to celebrate the abundant
blessings from God in their happy and healthy lives.
It is believed that a woman’s housekeeping skill or quality is mainly
evaluated by “how to make and preserve kimchi best” in their home throughout all
generations from ancestors until now. Kimchi is also used as a raw material or
an ingredient for a variety of other delicious dishes. Thus, making, preserving,
and eating kimchi is a naturally healthy, wealthy food pattern Koreans have
cherished and inherited. ‘How to make Kimchi’ for the Korean diet is not merely
a proud, but an unavoidable mission to the people and the nation.
Now, kimchi makers are planning to organize an international event, “the
World Kimchi Fair” with cooperation between the North & South Korean
Ministries of Culture to explore their ancestors’ mythic wisdom of unique food
culture in the year 2002 in Seoul, Korea.
Beyond an Exotic Dish
Kimchi is naturally cultured raw vegetable that originated in ancient Korea.
Kimchi has been served daily in every household at every meal throughout
generations of the nation for thousands of years. Kimchi sparkles with the
flavors of garlic, ginger, scallions and chilies. Kimchi adds zest to all foods.
Kimchi is an excellent contributor to the human body. Unlike other similar
foods, kimchi has its own unique nutritional value of promoting health and
preventing disease; there is “none better” and it is “well worth” for the human
diet. It adds spice, flavor, and an appetite to meals and joy to living.
Cheerful and bright, the flavor-packed kimchi is a friendly favorite that
enlivens a meal and lifts the spirits.
The power of kimchi is the power of peaceful, prosperous people who smile
while working, instead of laughing at work. Because theirs is an ancient wisdom,
Koreans have had an immense opportunity to note what is sound and what is likely
to be of enduring value. In addition, since their is the food that has
historically brought mankind a chuckle as well as refreshment, they are perhaps
a little closer to the well springs of honesty and good cheer. They know that
the ability to smile at oneself is a compliment to one’s accomplishments, the
reward of reasonable men, and the sign the humanity is in a happy condition.
Kimchi’s Potential
Although kimchi is similar to sauerkraut and other pickled products in its
method of fermentation, it differs from them because of the mixed spices and
salt concentration that are used. In Korea, kimchi is served as a staple food
and many “cooking with kimchi” recipes have appeared during recent years. Kimchi
is served in Japan as a “health food.” Thousands of professional scientists are
working in kimchi research teams with an industry team functioning along side
them.
There is the Kimchi museum, the Kimchi Foundation, the Kimchi Research
Institute as well as Kimchi science departments in colleges in Korea. All of
these institutions and programs’ approach to research means that overlapping
disciplines develop a comprehensive method of coping with research problems.
As many as 500 or more agricultural co-operations, academic institutions,
science and technical programs, and big or small private industrial firms
throughout the nation co-operate in devising ways to improve the product.
Working through state institutions, the research program co-ordinates activities
concerned with such aspects as horticultural breeding for better raw materials,
quality controls, improving ideal flavor, ensuring shelf stability, culturing
and preservation studies, packaging required, postproduction handling, and
controls. Changing food patterns created the need for conveniently packed kimchi
products. This in turn, required new types of products and completely different
packing techniques.
Cabbage Agriculture
One ancient record shows that types of cabbage were introduced into China in
the second century B.C. Another record shows more than 40 centuries ago the
peripatetic cabbage began a journey that carried the cured raw vegetables from
India to every section of the globe except for the Arctic and Antarctic.
A study of the history of kimchi reveals that people have been enjoying some
form of cured (fermented by natural process) vegetables, usually cabbage, for
more than four thousand years. At about 2030 B.C., the inhabitants of northern
India brought cabbage seeds to a valley region in the southern part of China.
The preservation of this vegetable in brine became the common throughout China,
Mongolia, and the Korean peninsula. However, the particular form of seasoned,
then cured, begetable product that is now known as kimchi was developed only in
the Korean peninsula.
Long before man began to write a record of history, cured raw vegetables were
excited palates and creating tastier meals. Kimchi, a well seasoned traveler,
makes friends and sparks appetites wherever it goes. In the beginning, kimchi
was introduced overseas only by its own people. During the Korean war however,
the UN troops who were stationed in both North and South Korea became kimchi
eaters. Then the troops eventually became proponents of kimchi in their own home
countries. Kimchi is no longer a mere side dish or condiment for the Korean diet
alone.
It has now become a favored super spicy pickle in many countries throughout
Asia, Europe, North America and Latin America, as well as in Australia in recent
years. Kimchi deserves its popularity because of its unique component of natural
flavors: hot, sour, sweet, salty, and spicy aromas. All of these flavors are
recognized as basic food tastes, and their inclusion in a single dish is both
distinctive and wholesome.
During the war in Vietnam, the South Korean government commissioned
scientists to create kimchi for soldiers in a plant near Seoul. In the summer of
1966, “kimchi-in-tin” products were finally shipped and served to the Korean
troops in Vietnam. This was the first mass production of kimchi on a modern
industrial scale, and was based on scientific research on its long history of
kimchi in Korea. The first academic research paper about the science of kimchi,
exploration on the phenomenon of kimchi fermentation, the food value of kimchi,
and its function to human diet and so forth, was presented to the 2nd.
International Conference of Food Science and Technology in Warsaw, Poland, in
August 1966. It was also acknowledged as the first original research paper about
kimchi in English. Thus, kimchi has been a part of the global cuisine for almost
four decades. At present, there are more than 400 industrial kimchi
manufacturers in South Korea alone. Although, the exact volume of kimchi
production is not known in North Korea, it is probably no less than that of
South Korea. Many Koreans acknowledge that the best palatable kimchi has
traditionally been produced in certain regions of northern Korea. Pyongyang and
Kaesung kimchies were historically graded as the “Gourmet kimchi” of the Korean
peninsula from old dynasty era. Although kimchi is is similar to sauerkraut and
other cured vegetables in its method of pickling, it differs from them because
of the spices and many aromatic vegetables that are used. In Japan, kimchi has
been served as a “health food” for more than two decades. In Korea, kimchi is
served as ‘the staple’ for centuries and many ‘cooking with kimchi’ recipes have
introduced appealing new cuisine in recent years. Coordinated and comprehensive,
kimchi industry research consistently improves cultural, pickling, preservation,
packing and shipping methods. The result is a superior, mouth watering product
of the consumer globally.
An untiring effort to develop the method of modernizing kimchi production
from that cottage-industrial scale to a systematically improved manufacturing
process in Korea. It has finally achieved a delicacy that is cherished for its
pleasantly appetizing super spicy side dish, an exotic pickle of a global
palate. While skillfully managing to maintain the original humble purpose of
preserving vegetables, kimchi makers have now accomplished an authentic
preference of fancy global taste.
Kimchi Packing
The modern kimchi manufacturers use varieties of cabbages and radishes far
superior to those used for kimchi is years past. Each species has its own
characteristic flavors. Soil, moisture, the climate (mainly surrounding
temperature of the growing field), and the location all have crucial effects on
developing the right kind of tender, crisp and pungent flavor-packed cabbages
for kimchi. With careful precision, they are selected and picked at precisely
the time that will provide the tastiest kimchies.
Traditionally, kimchi is prepared and processed in autumn for long term
preservation for the winter months when fresh greens are not accessible. It is
packed into earthenware pots after the cabbage is marinated with mixed
seasonings, then buried underground in the shady backyard of the house.
Therefore, the kimchi pots re kept in constantly cool ambient temperatures
during the whole period of a winter while kimchi is consumed.
Kimchi researchers and packers have improved conventional kimchi
manufacturing practices and ultimately achieved their long cherished desire for
delivering ‘a global kimchi’ to the world markets: accordingly, kimchi makers
have developed new varieties of super savory flavors and created aesthetic packs
of high quality kimchi that have become ‘a global preference’.
However, there are currently three basic packs of kimchi products in modern
super markets: 1) Freshly-packed items of salad type kimchi 2) refrigerated
items of pickled kimchi 3) Pasteurized items of shelf stable kimchi. These
kimchi products are produced on an industrial scale in modern facilities in
response to increasing consumer demand in both domestic and foreign markets.
After the wilting period in brine, the cabbages are carefully washed,
drained, sorted, and trimmed then marinated with the spicy seasonings selected
to impart authentic flavor. This kimchi is firm, crisp, chili-red in color and
refreshingly appetizing. Authentic, original kimchi is the major exception. This
is wilted and marinated at the industrial facility by a pickling method using
mild seasonings and packed in specially selected container for pasteurization.
Throughout the entire process of wilting in brine and marinating for freshly
packed and for pasteurized kimchi, meticulous quality control procedures assure
atop quality product for the consumer. The kimchi has had a long, long journey
for the past 4,000 years.
Today, modern methods produce a superb selection of perfect kimchi for people
around the world.
Kimchi Potpourri
There are more a hundred different kinds of kimchies prepared to appeal to
every taste and fit in with every serving need. Also, there are many different
varieties within the four seasonal groups, as well as the three major processing
groups: pasteurized, refrigerated and fresh pack.
Pasteurized can be either fermented or pickled. Fermented kimchi preserved
and cured by natural fermentation. Genuine kimchi made from cabbages wilted in
special sea salt brine, seasoned with typical kimchi ingredient and mixed
spices. Current kimchi is made the same as genuine kimchi except for the long
term maturation period. Refrigerated may be made in several ways, including
placing wilted cabbages in a pickling solution of spice-mixture and keeping them
cool, or using partial fermentation followed by refrigeration to slow the
process. Fresh pack kimchi packed in spiced-ingredients plus sour vinegar
mixture. This sour-cured type tastes like fresh salad kimchi.
The four seasonally different types vary with its different materials and
spice stuffing of each season – spring, summer, autumn and winter. The whole
cabbage kichi is packed in conventional spice-mixture stuffing for a long term
preservation throughout whole winter months. The autumn kimchi is usually
seasoned lighter than that of the winter’s.
The summer kimchi is mainly fresh pack or sour-cured type. The spring kimchi
is usually combined with other spring vegetables and stocked fall winter
vegetables. Often, they are prepared together as fresh spring pack. In spring,
there is also some well stored winter kimchi to be found together with newly
processed one. It is not only possible to have kimchi year round as a side dish,
condiment or an appetizer, but also a wide range of “cook-with-kimchi” recipes
is picking up momentum.
Facts About Kimchi
Kimchi is ready to eat right from its container all year round. Its firm,
tender, crisp texture and its zesy, fully refreshing taste makes an exotic
popularity. For kimchi eaters, there is not other food that can attain the same
appeal as kimchi.
Kimchi satisfies the appetite and is also a perfect relish which enhances the
taste of other food: it has 42 mg of vitamin C per 10g, which is more than half
of the US government’s recommended daily allowance. It is fascinating to note
that when captain James Cook set sail in the 1770′s, he served his seamen a
daily portion of fermented, cured cabbage to prevent scurvy, which is now known
to be the result of vitamin C deficiency.
Kimchi is high in fiber, a food component usually too low in the average
American diet. Fiber also add the bulk necessary for proper digestion.
Kimchi is rich in minerals and vitamins and is an essential source of
thiamine (B1), riboflavin (B2), calcium and iron, all of which are essential
components for human health.
Kimchi is surprisingly low in calories for a food of such nutritional value,
with only 33 calories per cup (less than 15 cal/100g). Hence, it provides a
great way to lose weight or just keep it off. Kimchi is versatile, and its low
cost and east of serving are among the reasons for its popularity.
Kimchi has finally achieved its long-cherished desire of meeting global
demand in handy safe containers.
The Versatile Kimchi
Kimchi is versatile, and its natural, healthy, low cost, and ease of serving
are among the reasons for its popularity. Kimchi is ready to eat right from the
container all year round. Firm, crisp texture and its exotic, refreshing taste
make it particularly savory. For many people, there is no other food that can
attain the same nutritional value as kimchi. It provides a great way to lose
weight or just keep it off.
Kimchi has finally achieved its
long-cherished desire of meeting global demand in handy, safe, shelf-stable
containers. Kimchi adds zest to all food. Enjoy kimchi with meat, fish, soup,
stew, hot-pot, rice and noodles. For all cuisine, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and
or all Asian and Western cuisine add kimchi as a super savory side dish.
Information provided by the Korean
Embassy.
Kimchi information taken from booklet “Hello from Korea” from the
Korean Overseas Information Service and from “New Facts About an Old Myth” from
Cheil Jedang Corporation.
kimch - food styling (made by. food stylist 정신우)
