November 22 is Kimchi Day

 

November 22 is ‘Kimchi Day’ in Korea. Kimchi Day is designated to inform the world how delicious and healthy Korean kimchi can be. Kimchi has many health-related benefits such as stronger immunity, antioxidizing effects, preventing constipation, enteritis and colitis, weight loss, and even preventing high cholesterol and arteriosclerosis. So, if you haven’t tried kimchi yet, give it a shot!

As many of you already know, Kimchi is a food that represents Korea. It is hard to think of an authentic Korean meal without kimchi as a side dish. There is even a famous saying that ‘Koreans cannot eat meals without Kimchi.’ Kimchi is made of spicy seasoning, salted napa cabbage, radish, etc. To enjoy the perfect taste of Kimchi, all ingredients should be well mixed and be stored for fermentation.

Kimchi has various types. Main kimchi ingredients range from napa cabbage to radish, chives, young radish, green onions, etc., and the sauces can also vary depending on regions, taste, and weather.

Moving on to the storing process, before refrigerators were invented, Koreans used to store kimchi in the earthenware pots called jangdokdae and bury them under the ground. As the temperature under the ground is cold in winter, Kimchi was freshly stored. Nowadays, as Koreans eat Kimchi in every meal, Each household has an kimchi refrigerator that keeps Kimchi fresh and tasty.

Historically, Kimchi was mostly made in the winter as it was difficult to harvest vegetables in winter. This custom still remains, so many Koreans still make kimchi in November and December. Normally, they make a lot of Kimchi at once so that they can eat it all year around.

During gimjang(Kimchi-making day), Koreans eat pork wrap called bossam. The freshly made Kimch goes perfectly well with boiled pork so most households boil pork while preparing kimchi.

Kimchi tastes good itself but it can also be a great ingredient for a variety of dishes. After fermentation process, Kimchi gets a bit sour, which becomes especially good for making kimchi-jjigae (stew) or kimchi-jeon (pancake)! It can also be used for many other dishes like kimchi fried rice, kimchi noodles, etc.

If you’re not a fan of spicy food, visit a store that serves non-spicy kimchi like “baek-kimchi (white kimchi)” or “dongchimi (radish water kimchi).” :) Or, you can simply wash off spicy kimchi with water to enjoy less spicy version!