To us, a meal without kimchi would be incomplete, even unthinkable. But what exactly is kimchi?
Kimchi is part of of the international family of pickled vegetables. It maybe be similar to the paocai of China. But just only say similar, not same. In all its variations, kimchi provides Koreans with essential vitamins as well as a distinctive flavor, which invariably draws a strong reaction from the first-time flavor. Distractors protest that their nostrils and taste buds are overwhelmed by the garlic and hot red pepper. Yet aficionados find the assault on their sense sheer delight, and they keep coming back for more
As people seek to lend spice to their meals, kimchi is becoming known worldwide. Servicemen from West, immigrant workers, and thousands who came for the Seoul Olympics in 1988 got to taste it. As a result. in some countries kimchi now stands on the threshold of acceptance in the realm of fast food beside such multinational fare as hamburgers, tacos, chow mein, sushi, and hot dogs. Some non-Korean airlines serve it with their meals.
So, How is kimchi prepared?
As vegetables are preserved in salt, they become crisper. Salt suppresses the growth of most of the harmful microorganisms and facilitates the production of useful ones. Such fermentation produces amino acids and lactic acid. so kimchi comes to have a unique taste very different from the original taste of the vegetables.
Then,
the ingredients are mixed with seasonings. It is no longer just garlic and red pepper that find their way into kimchi pots. A host of other ingredients, ranging from the mundane to the exotic, are also used-green onions, carrots, leeks, ginger, sesame seeds, pears, oysters, salted baby shrimps, chestnuts, abalone, pine nuts, seaweed and such as other not mundane sub materials, raw sea-fish, raw beef, not same as different regions.
My family prepares winter kimchi at the end of November every year.
In the past when refrigerators were unknown, long Korean winters - with temperatures near the freezing point-necessitated the preparation of food that could last a long time. Kimchi was the answer. The making of large quantities of kimchi is called "kimjang". The season for this was from the end of November to the middle of December.
When extended families lived together, 'kimjang" could involve some 100 heads of cabbage. My family usually has made about 300 heads of cabbage. We first would make enormous other ingredients. Sometimes friends and neighbors would gather to help with "kimjang" . Absolutely, this is a big event every year we have to go thorough it.
