Kimchi

Kimchi

The single most important side dish in Korean food is Kimchi. It is an essential part of every meal and infact. rice and Kimchi with no other side is considered a meal in itself. Traditionally, Kimchi was made in large quantities in late autumn , an this activity was called Kimjang. The Kimchi was stored in brown ceramic crocks called onggi and buried in the ground , with just the lid showing , to ferment and mature.

Origin of Kimchi .

Kimchi refers to a wide variety of femented pickled vegetables. It was developed around the seventh century as a mean of preserving vegetables for the long winter months when no fresh food could be obtained . It was roughly the same funtion in the diet as western pickles.
Early on Koreans rubbed salt into vegetables and preserved them in brine, thus releasing their natural juices. Around the 12th century other spices and seasonings werw added to Kimchi and by the end of the 17th century there were about eleven types of Kimchi made with various vegetables. In the 18th century , red pepper powder was added to Kimchi for the first time in the early 19th century Koream cabbages were widely cultivated resulting in the Kimchi that we know today.

Kinds of Kimchi

The word Kimchi used without any qualifying comment is understood to mean cabbage kimchi made with red pepper powder. According to the recent theory , red pepper powder is said to have the effect of reducing the need for salt in Kimchi, and old records show that the use of red pepper powder was actively encouraged.
* Baech kimchi/ cabbage ; cabbage kimchi is the representative kimchi made wide cabbage.

* Bossam Kimchi / wrapped -up Kimchi
Wrapped -up kimchi is a kind of cabbage Kimchi cut and wrapped into small parcels before fermenting . A wide range of ingredients , including seafood , fruits, mushroom, and dabts and nuts , it is wrapped in the softened outer levels of cabbage and served as bundle .

* Kkakttugi / cubed radish Kimchi
cubbed radish Kimchi is made with radish cut into cubes. It is a type of wither Kimchi as radish are sweeter and firmer in the winter.

* Chonggak Kimchi/ ponytail radish Kimchi
ponytail radish Kimchi is made with whole small ponytail radishes, "chonggak kimchi means " " bachelor Kimchi " since radish has lang hair , which looks like the long hair of a bachelor in Korea long time ago

* Yeolmu Kimchi/ radish leaf kimchi
radish leaf kimchi is made with the flesh levels of young radishes of spring or summer.