The battle for fermented cabbage!
Kimchi made its way into the western food scene a few years ago and has since been labelled as a super food. But did you know that nations are arguing over who invented kimchi?
Korea (and Wikipedia agrees) claim to be the origin of the fermented cabbage dish but China and Japan do too.
In 1996, Japan offered kimuchi as the Japanese version during the Atlanta Olympics – you can bet that Korea wasn’t happy about it. Apparently, kimchi is eaten with almost every meal and an old article I found claims that Koreans eat about 18kg of kimchi per person annually.
I have not yet tried to eat or make kimchi – firstly, I think it’s rather difficult to get authentic kimchi in Ireland but My Goodness in the English Market is famous for her kimchi so I might just get a jar of it.
Health professional promote kimchi due to its high concentration of dietary fibre and low calorie content. There are over 180 varieties of kimchi and every family has their own secret recipe – I might just try my hands on a recipe I found on the Korean Herald website.
Kimchi is not considered a main course but a side dish and is normally served among other side dishes and eaten with rice. It can also be added to soups (kimchi stew is a stand-alone dish).
The World Institute of Kimchi (yes, that really exists) has a mission to “perform overall research and development related to kimchi, in order to lead national technological innovation and nurture and develop the kimchi industry that will boost the national growth”.
When the institute was founded, the Department of Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries was the umbrella government body but in 2013 the Ministry of Science and ICT took over – I think it shows the importance the Korean people put on kimchi as their national treasure.
While researching the origins of kimchi I found out that there are even special fridges for it – yep, kimchi has its own fridge. It is colder and has more humidity than a regular fridge, creating a perfect environment for the fermentation process.
In a 2004 survey, a kimchi fridge was on top of most wanted household items in Korea. I doubt that I will be investing in one so my good old fridge has to do for now.
I don’t know enough about Korean or Asian food yet but I am determent to learn more. Currently I am trying to learn (and trying it is) to use chop sticks. So far, it looks like the two sticks are having a sword duel and my fingers are just not doing what they are supposed to do. I know by now that the lower chop stick is not supposed to move while the upper one is the one that does all the work – yep, not in my hands.
Considering that children in Asian countries are doing it just fine, I feel rather inadequate. I even bought some beautiful chop sticks – metal with a beautiful design but so far, the art of using them has not been mastered by me. Any tips are much appreciated!