Kinja Eats: Kimchi

April 04, 2019

Daily Dish:

Kimchi

Kimchi (/ˈkɪmtʃiː/; Korean: 김치, translit. gimchi, IPA: ), a staple in Korean cuisine, is a famous traditional side dish made from salted and fermented vegetables, most commonly napa cabbage and Korean radishes, with a variety of seasonings, including gochugaru (chili powder), scallions, garlic, ginger, and jeotgal (salted seafood). There are hundreds of varieties of kimchi made with different vegetables as the main ingredients.In the past, kimchi was traditionally stored underground in jars to keep cool during warm months, and remain unfrozen throughout the winter months, during which time it was a vital source of vegetables. With the rise of technology, kimchi refrigerators are more commonly used to store kimchi.

Kimchi (김치) is the accepted word in both North and South Korean standard languages. Earlier forms of the word include timchɑi (팀), a Middle Korean transcription of the Sino-Korean word 沈菜 (literally "submerged vegetable"). Timchɑi appears in Sohak Eonhae,the 16th century Korean rendition of the Chinese book, Xiaoxue (in Korean, Sohak). Sound changes from Middle Korean to Modern Korean regarding the word can be described as:

timchɑi (팀; 沈菜) > dimchɑi (딤) > jimchɑi (짐) > jimchui (짐츼) > gKimchi (김치)

The aspirated first consonant of timchɑi became unaspirated in dimchɑi, then underwent palatalization in jimchɑi. The word then became jimchui with the loss of the vowel ɑ (ㆍ) in Korean language, then Kimchi, with the depalatalized word-initial consonant. In Modern Korean, the hanja characters 沈菜 are pronounced chimchae (침채), and are not used to refer to kimchi, or anything else. The word Kimchi is not considered as a Sino-Korean word. Older forms of the word are retained in many regional dialects: jimchae (Jeolla, Hamgyŏng dialects), jimchi (Chungcheong, Gangwon, Gyeonggi, Gyeongsang, Hamgyŏng, Jeolla dialects), and dimchi (P'yŏngan dialect).

The English word "kimchi" perhaps originated from kimch'i, the McCune–Reischauer transcription of the Korean word Kimchi (김치).

History

The origin of kimchi dates back at least to the early period of the Three Kingdoms (37 BC‒7 AD). Fermented foods were widely available, as the Records of the Three Kingdoms, a Chinese historical text published in 289 AD, mentions that "The Goguryeo people [referring to the Korean people] are skilled in making fermented foods such as wine, soybean paste, and salted and fermented fish" in the section named Dongyi in the Book of Wei. Samguk Sagi, a historical record of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, also mentions the pickle jar used to ferment vegetables, which indicates that fermented vegetables were commonly eaten during this time. During the Silla dynasty (57 BC – AD 935), kimchi became prevalent as Buddhism caught on throughout the nation and fostered a vegetarian lifestyle.

The pickling of vegetables was an ideal method, prior to refrigerators, that helped to preserve the lifespan of foods. In Korea, kimchi was made during the winter by fermenting vegetables, and burying it in the ground in traditional brown ceramic pots called onggi. This labor further allowed a bonding among women within the family. A poem on Korean radish written by Yi Gyubo, a 13th century literatus, shows that radish kimchi was a commonplace in Goryeo (918–1392).

Pickled radish slices make a good summer side-dish,

Radish preserved in salt is a winter side-dish from start to end.

The roots in the earth grow plumper everyday,

Harvesting after the frost, a slice cut by a knife tastes like a pear.

— Yi Gyubo, Dongguk isanggukjip (translated by Michael J. Pettid, in Korean cuisine: An Illustrated History)

Kimchi has been a staple in Korean culture, but historical versions were not a spicy dish. Early records of kimchi do not mention garlic or chili pepper. Chili peppers, now a standard ingredient in kimchi, had been unknown in Korea until the early seventeenth century due to it being a New World crop.[citation needed] Chili peppers, originally native to the Americas, were introduced to East Asia by Portuguese traders. The first mention of chili pepper is found in Jibong yuseol, an encyclopedia published in 1614. Sallim gyeongje, a 17‒18th century book on farm management, wrote on kimchi with chili peppers. However, it was not until the 19th century that the use of chili peppers in kimchi was widespread. The recipes from early 19th century closely resemble today's kimchi.

A 1766 book, Jeungbo sallim gyeongje, reports kimchi varieties made with a myriad of ingredients, including chonggak-kimchi (kimchi made with chonggak raddish), oi-sobagi (with cucumber), seokbak-ji (with jogi-jeot), and dongchimi. However, napa cabbage was only introduced to Korea at the end of 19th century, and whole-cabbage kimchi similar to its current form is described in Siuijeonseo, a cookbook published around that time.

Kimchi is a national dish of both North and South Korea. During South Korea's involvement in the Vietnam War its government requested American help to ensure that South Korean troops, reportedly "desperate" for the food, could obtain it in the field; South Korean president Park Chung-hee told U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson that kimchi was "vitally important to the morale of Korean troops". It was also sent to space on board Soyuz TMA-12 with South-Korean astronaut Yi So-yeon after a multimillion-dollar research effort to kill the bacteria and lessen the odor without affecting taste. On 22 November 2017 a Google Doodle was used to "Celebrate Kimchi".

Ingredients

Kimchi varieties are determined by the main vegetable ingredients and the mix of seasonings used to flavor the kimchi.

Vegetables

There are many different types of Kimchi dishes, and the most famous meal in this category is the cabbage Kimchi. This meal is pungent and largely seasoned, and illustrates the family pride source as well as a taste of a good home. Cabbages (napa cabbages, bomdong, headed cabbages) and radishes (Korean radishes, ponytail radishes, gegeol radishes, yeolmu radishes) are the most commonly used kimchi vegetables. Other kimchi vegetables include: aster, balloon flower roots, burdock roots, celery, chamnamul, cilantro, cress, crown daisy greens, cucumber, eggplant, garlic chives, garlic scapes, ginger, Korean angelica-tree shoots, Korean parsley, Korean wild chive, lotus roots, mustard greens, onions, perilla leaves, potatoes, pumpkins, radish greens, rapeseed leaves, scallions, soybean sprouts, spinach, sugar beets, sweet potato vines, and tomatoes..

Seasonings

Brining salt (with a larger grain size compared to kitchen salt) is used mainly for initial salting of kimchi vegetables. Being minimally processed, it serves to help develop flavours in fermented foods.

Commonly used seasonings include gochugaru (chili powder), scallions, garlic, ginger, and jeotgal (salted seafood) Jeotgal can be replaced with raw seafood in colder Northern parts of the Korean peninsula. If used, milder saeu-jeot (salted shrimp) or jogi-jeot (salted croaker) is preferred and the amount of jeotgal is also reduced in Northern and Central regions. In Southern Korea, on the other hand, generous amount of stronger myeolchi-jeot(salted anchovies) and galchi-jeot (salted hairtail) is commonly used. Raw seafood or daegu-agami-jeot (salted cod gills) are used in the East coast areas.

Varieties

Kimchi is one of the most important dishes in Korean cuisine. "Kimchi" is Korean terminology for fermented vegetables, and encompasses salt and seasoned vegetables. Kimchi is a traditional Korean dish consisting of pickled vegetables, which is mainly served as a side dish with every meal, but also can be served as a main dish. Kimchi is mainly recognized as a spicy fermented cabbage dish globally. Variations are not limited, as Koreans "can make kimchi out of anything edible; a concept which extends toward infinite possibilities..." Variations of kimchi continue to grow, and the taste can vary depending on the region and season. Conventionally, the secret of kimchi preparation was passed down by mothers to their daughters in a bid to make them suitable wives to their husbands. However, with the current technological advancement and increase in social media use, many individuals worldwide can now access the recipe for kimchi preparation. It is highly nutritious and offers deeply-flavored and spicy meals favorable to many classes of people, and illustrates the Korean culture as well.

Kimchi can be categorized by main ingredients, regions or seasons. Korea's northern and southern sections have a considerable temperature difference. There are over 180 recognized varieties of kimchi. The most common kimchi variations are

Baechu-kimchi (배추김치) spicy napa cabbage kimchi, made from whole cabbage leaves
Baechu-geotjeori (배추겉절이) unfermented napa cabbage kimchi
Bossam-kimchi (보쌈김치) wrapped kimchi
Baek-kimchi (백김치) white kimchi, made without chili pepper
Dongchimi (동치미) a non-spicy watery kimchi
Nabak-kimchi (나박김치) a mildly spicy watery kimchi
Chonggak-kimchi (총각김치) cubed chonggak "ponytail" radish, a popular spicy kimchi
Kkakdugi (깍두기) spicy cubed Korean radish strongly-scented kimchi containing fermented shrimp
Oi-sobagi (오이소박이) cucumber kimchi that can be stuffed with seafood and chili paste, and is a popular choice during the spring and summer seasons
Pa-kimchi (파김치) spicy green onion kimchi
Yeolmu-kimchi (열무김치) is also a popular choice during the spring and summer, and is made with yeolmu radishes, and does not necessarily have to be fermented.
Gat-kimchi (갓김치), made with Indian mustard

Kimchi from the northern parts of Korea tends to have less salt and red chili and usually does not include brined seafood for seasoning. Northern kimchi often has a watery consistency. Kimchi made in the southern parts of Korea, such as Jeolla-do and Gyeongsang-do, uses salt, chili peppers and myeolchijeot (멸치젓, brined anchovy allowed to ferment) or saeujeot (새우젓, brined shrimp allowed to ferment), myeolchiaekjeot (멸치액젓), kkanariaekjeot (까나리액젓), liquid anchovy jeot, similar to fish sauce used in Southeast Asia, but thicker.

Saeujeot (새우젓) or myeolchijeot is not added to the kimchi spice-seasoning mixture, but is simmered first to reduce odors, eliminate tannic flavor and fats, and then is mixed with a thickener made of rice or wheat starch (풀). This technique has been falling into disuse in the past 40 years.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kimchi

Come in to Kinja today and try some of our house special kimchi, made from our family recipe. If you like the kimchi as much as we do, you can buy some to take home with you and use in your own daily cooking!

Author: Kinja