Kim Chi - Why is it an indispensable "panacea" for Koreans?

When it comes to Korea, the first thing people will definitely think of is kimchi. You can find kimchi everywhere when you come to Korea. Even in the moment of capturing beautiful photos, people shout "kimchi" before taking pictures. Kimchi is known as the "national dish" of Korea just like pho in Vietnam.

Kimchi is both healthy and suitable for all ages. Do you know why kimchi has become a national dish and is known by many people today? And why is this dish never lacking in every Korean meal? First, let's learn a little bit about kimchi.

What is Kimchi?

Kimchi is a functional food that is salted from different vegetables, but cabbage and radish are the most popular choices. In addition, it is also necessary to add spices such as chili powder, onions, garlic, and ginger to create the most delicious kimchi dish. Kimchi is not only made from cabbage and radish, now in Korea there are more than 200 types of kimchi made from many different vegetables. In Korea, every house has its own recipe for making kimchi. It can also be said that kimchi is a dish that is both healthy and when you salt kimchi you can also create new things to bring into this dish to suit your taste better.

When did Koreans start eating kimchi?

Winter in Korea is very harsh with a long series of days with low temperatures, that's why it is difficult for people here to grow any vegetables in the winter, but have to find a way to store vegetables to use in the next few days. cold month. The history of Korean kimchi began with such a simple reason, but with constant innovation, kimchi has now become the art of fermented vegetables.

Many believe that the method of fermenting food originated around the 7th century, and the first type of kimchi was also born at this time.

Kimchi is mentioned as a very suitable dish to eat in the summer and as a fermented food with salt in reserve for the winter. Thus, it can be seen that kimchi has been used by Koreans for a long time. But at that stage kimchi still didn't have an official name.

Currently, the most popular type of kimchi is cabbage kimchi, but before 1900, the main ingredient of kimchi was radish. Kimchi's bright red color today is all thanks to a special type of chili powder from Korea. But before the 17th century in Korea, people couldn't grow chili, so when kimchi salted, people didn't add chili. It can also be said that the kimchi of the past did not have the distinctive red color of today's kimchi. It wasn't until the end of the century that the chili from Shanghai - China began to be introduced to Korea and people started using it. When adding chili powder, the amount of salt used also decreases.

In every Korean meal, there must be kimchi

Kimchi today is so familiar in every Korean meal, holding an important position in people's hearts. Kimchi can't be eaten forever, even if they have to eat every day, even if a meal lacks kimchi, Koreans can't stand having to immediately find food. In a meal, people always substitute side dishes but kimchi is the king of side dishes that no other dish can replace. Kimchi is the perfect accompaniment to everything as Koreans eat grilled meat, spicy rice cakes, instant noodles, even kimchi is considered a "bait" when drinking.

For Koreans, no matter how many delicious dishes are on the table, without kimchi, it is not considered a complete meal. That's why when going on a business trip abroad, people always bring some kimchi with them. For Korean students abroad, their family members will send them kimchi boxes to eat, partly to make the meal more complete and partly to relieve their homesickness. The first Koreans living abroad also used to pick up kimchi at home to eat.

Koreans also believe that kimchi has great effects on each person's health:

Reduces acidity in the body to slow down the aging process

Good for health and helps to strengthen the body

Clean blood vessels, good for circulation, prolong life

Helps to cure diabetes, fatty liver, blood clotting disorders

Kimchi is not only a food but also a culture of Korean people. The red color in kimchi represents Korean affection - sharing love by giving each other precious boxes of kimchi. There is also kimchi season in Korea to bring people together. Although it is a Korean dish, kimchi is becoming more and more widely known and beyond the borders. Now you can find and eat this dish anywhere you go. With the popularity of kimchi, there has been a bond between foreigners and Koreans. Kimchi is the 'pride' of the Korean people.

Kimchi is cooked with a full range of main ingredients including: kohlrabi, cucumber, ginger, cabbage, paprika, garlic, scallions... and some other spices such as fruit juice, vinegar , paprika,...

Kimchi is one of the hottest dishes

Koreans have always been famous for their ability to eat spicy food very well and Kimchi is one of the hottest Korean dishes because it is marinated with super spicy paprika. But if they serve foreigners, they will reduce the spicy taste. So if you can't eat spicy food, when you go to a local restaurant during your trip to Korea, you should tell the owner so that they don't cook too spicy food.

When traveling to Korea, tasting local dishes is an indispensable thing. Visitors will find that many dishes have the appearance of Kimchi: Bibimbap mixed rice, Tteokbokki rice cakes, Kimchi cakes, Kimchi soup,... Especially, Kimchi is also served as a side dish before the main meal. . This is also the reason why this country has another nickname, the land of Kimchi.

In fact, there are more than 200 different types of kimchi, these types of kimchi have their own characteristics of different regions, but in which the most popular and popular type of kimchi is cabbage kimchi. In the past, kimchi was actually a dish for the poor in Korea more than 5000 years ago, in feudal times people often faced food shortages, so when it was time to harvest vegetables, people Koreans will reprocess vegetables to keep them longer, gradually kimchi has become the soul of Korean cuisine and an indispensable dish in Korean meals, from family meals to family meals. from simple families to 5-star Korean restaurants.

There was a time when making kimchi was used as a measure to evaluate the virtues of Korean women, according to Korean custom, women after getting married will be taught by their mother-in-law how to make kimchi and how to make kimchi. Kimchi is the secret of each family and will be passed down from generation to generation through generations of brides. Processing Kimchi always requires a woman's virtues such as perseverance, hard work, thriftiness... Because when making Kimchi, a woman often has to directly touch the objects. materials with strong heat such as garlic, onions, chili... (now the woman has used rubber gloves to protect) but for nose or eyes... there is no way to protect. Besides, while making Kimchi, a woman has trained herself to be creative, thereby revealing her own personality or personality.

Although Kimchi has long become a popular dish that can be found anywhere such as convenience stores, supermarkets, but the best standard Kimchi dish is still kimchi from the hands of the owner. Made by a woman in the family, Koreans only make it with all their love and dedication to get the most delicious and flavorful kimchi.

Chili powder is the main ingredient in Kimchi, including many vitamins A & C, which stimulates the digestive organs to excrete gastric juice and has anti-acid effects, but if too much chili powder is used, it will be harmful. for your digestive tract. Skorizinin in garlic has the effect of increasing resistance; Allicin helps promote metabolism, stimulates the absorption of vitamin B1. Besides, ginger has the effect of helping to stimulate appetite and blood circulation. It seems that kimchi is just a simple traditional Korean dish, but behind that dish is a "panacea" for human health!

However, not simply a traditional Korean dish, kimchi can be mixed in many different ways. What if kimchi is combined with noodles, pizza, snacks, tofu... so what? Let's find out the unique ways of eating Korean kimchi from this famous dish.

Kimchi Pancakes

Not only is it a simple kimchi pancake, but it also has the flavor of a rich, spicy curry. If you are a fan of spicy dishes, you definitely cannot ignore this kimchi pancake combined with curry and fresh squid. The great thing is that thanks to the curry, this cake will have a unique and different taste than many other common kimchi pancakes.

Kimchi pork roll

With this way of eating kimchi, we will wrap the pork in the cabbage leaves of the kimchi. This dish is quite popular in Korea and is also known as kimchi jjim. The taste of these kimchi pork rolls is a bit sour, spicy, so we can eat it with hot rice.

Kimchi potato snack

The sliced potato chips that we often snack on turn out to have an extremely unique combination with kimchi. With the recipe of kimchi cheese sauce mixed in potato chips, it's enough to make you sip a whole bowl of snacks without getting bored. This dish will be both suitable for eating with pleasure and suitable for fighting hunger when there is nothing to eat in the house.

Kimchi corn balls

Another unique combination is the crispy, sweet, and rich kimchi popcorn. People making this dish will finely chop kimchi and mix it with flour, corn, and baking powder. From the outside, these kimchi corn balls look quite similar to takoyaki, but if you take a bite, you will clearly see the delicious and fragrant kimchi and corn inside.

Tofu kimchi soup

On chilly days like this, having a bowl of hot tofu kimchi soup to slurp next to would be great. This dish is a combination of chicken, onion, kimchi, tofu... seasoned to taste, so when eaten with white rice, it will be quite delicious. The way to make is not too difficult, but the dish is full of nutrients, so why not try it at home with available kimchi.