Kimchi

Kimchi (김치) is a representative Korean food like bulgogi (불고기, grilled marinated beef). Kimchi is a traditional fermented Korean side dish made of vegetables with a variety of seasonings.

Kimchi is produced through fermentation by lactic acid bacteria. So kimchi is increasingly popular to even foreigners as well-being food. To produce the perfect kimchi taste that makes the tip of eater's nose tingle, it is advisable to keep the seasoning to the minimum.

No Korean table would be complete without some form of kimchi, a traditional fermented Korean dish made of seasoned vegetables. Koreans were not the only people to make kimchi. Most places with cold winters have developed traditional methods of perserving vegetables: Japan's tsukemono, China's pao cai, and Western pickles are all foods based on a similar concept to the process of kimjang. It is just the way of pickling the vegetables that varies depending on the available foodstuffs and the particular natural environment of each region.

Key words
kimchi, kimjang, cabbage, fermentation, well-being food

Varieties based on ingredients
In traditional preparation kimchi was often allowed to ferment underground in jars for months at a time. It is Korea's national dish, and there are hundreds of varieties made with a main vegetable ingredient such as napa cabbage, radish, scallion, or cucumber.

Kimchi varieties are determined by the main vegetable ingredients and the mix of seasonings used to flavor the kimchi. Ingredients can be replaced or added depending on the type of kimchi being made. The most common seasonings include brine, scallions, red peppers, spices, ginger, chopped radish, garlic, saeujeot (새우젓, shrimp sauce), and aekjeot (액젓, fish sauce).

Korean tradition of Kimjang
In the old days, when common Korean people suffered from a scarcity of food, a handful of well-matured kimchi served on rice was enough to provide a real feast. To survive the cold winter, the kimchi had to undergo a well-rehearsed and detailed preparation process, known as kimjang (김장).

Kimjang, the tradition of making and sharing of kimchi, was added to the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity list on December 5, 2013. The Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage made the decision during the UNESCO general assembly at Baku, Azerbaijan in December 2013, upholding a subsidiary body’s recommendation made a few months earlier. According to the committee, kimjang has voluntarily been passed through the generations and represents the communal spirit of Koreans in winter, solidifying their Korean identity.

Traditional Kimjang
Up until the advent of the Joseon Dynasty, the Korean peninsula was an agricultureal land, so people grew their own vegetables. The vegetables used for kimjang were planted in late summer and harvested around the time of the first frost - known as ipdong (입동/立冬 the onset of winter). The period around ipdong was known as the kimjang season. In years when ipdong fell in the ninth lunar month, the custom was to make kimchi after ipdong, and when it fell in the tenth lunar month, the kimchi would be made before ipdong.

Around the cabbage harvesting time, the frost starts to fall and the temperature sometimes drops below freezing. The cabbage then protects itself against freezing by losing some of its moisture and increasing its sugar content. It thus becomes most tasty.

Modern Kimjang
The kimjang customs changed along with the industrialization and breakneck development of Korea, as workers in the cities had to buy the vegetables needed to make kimchi. To meet this demand, farmers started producing vegetables for kimjang on a large scale. Depending on how good a harvest may have bee, the prices of kimchi vegetables would eigher go sky-high or take a steep dive.

In modern times, the kimjang market became one of the common sights of city life in early winters. Cabbage and white radish piled up in sizable mountains made for an impressive spectacle. But in the twenty-first century, these mountains have gradually become smaller. Rather the kimjang traditions have all but disappeared.

Factory-made Kimchi and Kimchi refrigerator
Now that factory-made kimchi is supplied to supermarkets throughout the year, there is less, or no need to make kimchi. The factory-made kimchi can be bought any time, anywhere, and neraly every household is equipped with a kimchi refrigerator to keep it fresh year-round.

Even if people still make kimchi, whole families don't gater to make 100 or 200 bunches, as they may have done in the past. They may just re-create the feeling of making kimchi by preparing half a dozen or so bunches.