National symbol of Korea - kimchi

Just as the hallmark of state gastronomy in Russia is caviar, in France it is wine and cheeses, in Korea it is pickled vegetables kimchi. This is one of the more appropriate signs that represents Korea and its culture better than others. So, in any case, the inhabitants of Korea themselves think. This spicy snack is an integral part of any Korean menu.

Kimchi is salted and pickled cabbage, radish or other vegetables that are cooked with spices. They differ from each other in the set of ingredients and salting methods; moreover, at different times of the year, Korean kimchi is prepared using different methods.

According to professionals, there are more than 100 types of kimchi. In Korea, it is served even in Western or Chinese restaurants, and even in pizzerias. You may be taken aback, but now kimchi is even added to pizza and hamburgers. And children begin to be given kimchi from about 3 years of age, by washing pieces of cabbage in water, which somewhat softens the spiciness of this dish, although after this procedure it still remains very spicy.

In Korea itself, there is a huge kimchi industry, festivals of this dish are held, museums are built, and a real cult of this truly national dish reigns. The Jeonju Institute has opened the only faculty in the world to teach the technology of producing this dish. While still studying, graduates are recruited by companies that specialize in creating government products. Every fall, Seoul housewives compete in the art of kimchi fermentation.

It is believed that an excellent Korean wife must be able to cook up to 30 (!) varieties of kimchi. And as the Koreans themselves say, the skill of a cook is often determined by his ability to prepare this dish.

In ancient times, once a year in the autumn, several ladies gathered together to prepare kimchi for future use, so that it would last several families throughout the winter. In classical Korea, kimchi supplies served as the main source of vitamins in the family's daily diet in winter. But in our time, small families have become common, and city dwellers living in apartments do not have the ability to gather together. Previously, kimchi was stored underground in clay vats or in pots that were buried in the courtyard of the house up to the neck in the ground, but at the moment there are special vats for storing it and refrigerators. Thanks to them, almost all Koreans can make small batches of kimchi throughout the year.

Why did kimchi originate in Korea?

Kimchi originated in Korea around the 7th century. At its earliest stages, kimchi was just pickled vegetables, but during the 12th century a new type of kimchi emerged that included some spices and seasonings. In the 18th century, hot reddish peppers eventually became one of the main spices used to make kimchi. In the 19th century, thanks to the importation of Chinese cabbage into Korea, we can experience the kimchi we know today.

Vegetable pickles can be found in all countries. But here are some probable reasons why kimchi as a pickle arose specifically in Korea: (1) vegetables were loved by old Koreans, whose main occupation was feeding vegetables and fruits; (2) the Koreans had an amazing technology for processing fish, which was often used as a seasoning; (3) Chinese cabbage was grown in huge quantities.

During the Goryeo kingdom, cabbage was mentioned in a book on oriental medicine called “Hanyakgugyupban.” At this time, there were two types of kimchi: jangati (chopped radish preserved in soy sauce) and sunmu segeumjori (salted radish). Kimchi has begun to attract attention not only as a comfort food during the winter, but also as a food that can be enjoyed with pleasure regardless of the time of year. It is assumed that it was at this time that various seasonings began to be added to kimchi.

Kings of the Joseon period were served three types of kimchi: cabbage kimchi (jeotgukji), sliced radish kimchi (kkaktugi), and water kimchi (dongchimi). To make “jeotgukji,” a huge amount of salted fish was added to kimchi. A recipe book from the Joseon period indicates the following method for making "jeotgukji".

Firstly, cut the carefully washed cabbage and radish into small pieces and salt them. Secondly, add ground reddish pepper, garlic, minari (“minari”), mustard leaves (“gat”) and a few sea aquatic plants to the prepared mass. Thirdly, boil the marinated fish and cool it. Fourthly, add it to the above mass. Fifthly, put the mixture in a pot and bring to fermentation.

To add flavor to “donchimi”, the main products of which were radish and water, a huge amount of seasonings were used. The radish used for this type of kimchi had to have a specially established shape and size. In addition, it had to be washed and salted a day before pickling and burying in jugs underground. There is a legend that Lord Gojong, the penultimate ruler of Joseon, enjoyed cool noodles in donchimi juice with beef broth as a winter evening snack. The royal chefs prepared a special kimchi for the king in water with pears, which was used only for cool noodles.

What are the benefits of kimchi?

Well-fermented kimchi has antibiotic properties, because lactic acid bacteria that appear during the fermentation process suppress rho

st harmful microbes. These bacteria not only make sourdough, but also protect against excess fermentation by keeping other microbes from growing in the intestinal tract. Lactobacilli formed as a result of fermentation will block the increase of harmful microbes in the internal organs, stimulate the secretion of pepsin, an enzyme that analyzes protein in the stomach and intestinal tract, helping digestion to restore the distribution of microbes in the internal organs. Thus, kimchi suppresses the effects of harmful microbes by lowering the acid level in the intestinal tract, similar to yogurt, and when kimchi ripens, the content of lactic acid microbes increases.

Kimchi

Kimchi is a Korean recipe. This recipe and dish has several spellings: kimchi, kim chi, kimchi. This does not change the essence; kimchi is vegetables fermented according to a special recipe. More details about kimchi .

A Korean dish consisting of hotly seasoned pickled vegetables, firstly Chinese cabbage. In Korea, kimchi is considered the main dish, without which no meal is complete. Koreans believe that moderate consumption of kimchi promotes the resorption of fat deposits; in other words, they consider this dish to be dietary. It is also believed that spicy kimchi is not a bad cold remedy.

Kimchi or kimchi, everyone spells it differently. Spicy Korean cabbage. There are a lot of kimchi recipes; everyone can add various ingredients to their own taste. I add carrots, onions and green onions.

Kimchi is a recipe for a very popular vegetable dish in Korean cuisine, mainly cabbage. The kimchi appetizer, whose recipe is similar to sauerkraut, has its own personality. The spiciness of the dish distinguishes kimchi. The recipe also contains fragrant spices and seasonings.

Kimchi is a famous Korean dish. Kimchi is prepared from vegetables with various additives from fish or meat, but the traditional recipe is considered to be kimchi made from Chinese cabbage. Kimchi is easy to prepare and has a long shelf life. Our recipe will help you prepare this famous dish.

Those who believe that kimchi is made only from Chinese cabbage are mistaken. White cabbage kimchi is no less common in Korean cuisine. This is a quick-to-make salad, which in addition to cabbage includes carrots, daikon radish, green onions and onions.

Kimchi is a delicious Korean snack recipe.

Kimchi (김치) recipe. How to cook kimchi in Russia

I don't like kimchi.

Wow, I admitted it! And it seems the world has not fallen. Among my Koreanphile friends, I am the only one, which does not make my life any easier. I don’t like the taste of kimchi, I don’t like its pungency, its persistent smell, its structure. With all this, I managed to cook it even in South Korea.

Koreans not only eat kimchi for breakfast, lunch and dinner, but they are also extremely proud of their state dish. Last year, kimchi was included in the UNECSO list of intangible heritage of the world's population. Koreans even sent kimchi into space. The oldest mentions of a dish similar to kimchi date back to the 1st millennium BC, the origin of the word dates back to the era of the 3 kingdoms, but reddish pepper became an important component quite recently - in the 16th century thanks to the Portuguese.

If you suddenly don’t understand what kimchi is, then in a nutshell it’s pickled vegetables. The most common type of kimchi is kimchi made from pickled Chinese cabbage, the making of which I’ll tell you about now.

My teacher from South Korea, who has been living in St. Petersburg for some time, shared the recipe and production secrets, so this kimchi is very similar to Korean, taking into account the specificity of Russian goods.

For a test portion you will need:

1 head of Chinese cabbage

1 head of garlic

3 small onions

1 bunch of green onions

1 greenish apple (or Chinese pear)

salt

sugar

reddish pepper for kimchi “Kochukaru” (고춧가루)

anchovy fish sauce (멸치액젓)

We got together one Saturday afternoon to make kimchi. The process takes a little time, so during production you need to be patient, good company and a small amount of alcohol

First you need to quarter the cabbage and rub it well between the leaves with salt. A lot of salt goes into this, so keep that in mind. Cabbage must be in the saline solution for 4 or more hours. The state of readiness is the flabbiness of the cabbage, i.e. When you press on the leaves they should feel soft.

We peel the onion, garlic, apple (previously skinned), cut everything into pieces, and cut the green onion as in the picture.

Place the apple, onions and garlic in a mixer and grind until porridge is achieved. Carefully wash the cabbage in running water. If you don't rinse it well, the kimchi will turn out to be very salty and will end up in the trash. We cut the quartered cabbage as in the picture.

Add 1/2 tablespoon of sugar, 3 tablespoons of fish sauce, 5 tablespoons of kochukaru to the “porridge.” Here we come to the most important thing: pepper is needed specifically for kimchi. So it’s better not to save money and buy specifically kochukaru in some Korean store (1 kg costs about 300 rubles in some places). But you can buy fish sauce from Thailand's Fish Sauce from Blue Dragon (take a look in large stores like Auchan, it costs about 100 rubles per bottle). And in the photo, so that you are not deceived, there is Korean fish sauce in a bottle of Jechudon water

Kimchi is a staple dish in Korean cuisine.

Kimchi (also called "kimchi") is a common Korean dish that consists of fermented vegetables with a huge amount of seasoning. There are more than 100 eighty types of kimchi on the peninsula, but the most popular dish is fermented Chinese cabbage with reddish pepper. Koreans consider kimchi one of the main symbols of the country.

History of the dish

The first mention of kimchi dates back to the first millennium BC. They were left by travelers from China in the poetic treatise “Shi Jing”. Researchers imply that the dish itself came to the peninsula from an adjacent Western country, but over time it acquired features that are specific to Korean cuisine. At first, the dish had a different name and was translated from Chinese as “soggy vegetables.” The modern name arose in the era of 3 countries.

The main spice in kimchi is hot reddish pepper. But they began to add it to the dish no earlier than the 16th century, when traders from Portugal arrived on the peninsula.

In Korea, winter is quite severe, so vegetables were prepared in advance for this time of year. But even perfectly salted cabbage was not stored for long. Red pepper served as a natural preservative and helped extend the shelf life of the dish.

What is kimchi made from?

Recipes vary in all parts of the peninsula. This is due to the fact that its land stretches from north to south, therefore the climate and, accordingly, vegetation in different points is not the same. Distance from the sea coast is also important.

With all this, kimchi could be prepared differently depending on the season, and the Korean housewives themselves certainly had some kind of family trick that gave the dish its specificity.

A more widespread option (including abroad) is considered to be pyachu-kimchi, a dish made from Chinese cabbage. It consists of a whole fork or cut into large pieces, filled with brine. Its leaves are coated with a spicy paste of garlic, ginger, reddish pepper and other spices. Depending on the region, radishes, green onions, fish sauce or seafood are added to dishes.

In second place in popularity is kkatugi-kimchi, which is prepared from diced snow-white radish (in our country it is known under the Japanese name daikon).

The brine and marinade recipe is the same as for cabbage kimchi, but the main ingredient is different. Koreans also love cheonggak-kimchi - pickled cucumbers. Unlike our usual version, they are cut lengthwise and filled with a spicy dressing, and later they are all placed in the same marinade of pepper and garlic.

In Korea, seafood is most often added to the dish - oysters, shrimp, anchovies, and also oyster or fish sauce.

Koreans living in post-Soviet countries, due to the cost of such ingredients, have stopped adding them to kimchi. The amount of hot spices in their dishes has also decreased. Most often, Koryo-saram kimchi is accompanied by various Korean salads - vegetables with the addition of hot spices and herbs.

Is kimchi healthy?

In Korea, there is, without exaggeration, a cult of kimchi, which is considered the main asset of state cuisine. The inhabitants of the peninsula believe that eating spicy fermented vegetables improves blood circulation (blood circulation throughout the body) and the functioning of the digestive tract, and reduces the risk of developing cancer. Also, the brine in which kimchi was prepared is considered the most effective hangover cure.

Scientists, including Western ones, have concluded that belief in the medicinal properties of kimchi is supported by medical facts. Fiber, which vegetables are rich in, as well as lactic acid bacteria, which are activated during fermentation, improve the functioning of the intestinal tract. Red pepper, garlic and ginger help remove toxins from the body and kill pathogenic bacteria.

The famous South American publication Health included kimchi in the top five most nutritious dishes in the world.

But kimchi has characteristics that are bad for your health. According to Western nutritionists, on the Korean Peninsula they eat almost three times more salt than a person needs - and a huge part of it comes specifically from kimchi, which is eaten during every meal. Also in Korea there is a very high level of development of oncological diseases of the digestive organs - in particular, the stomach. This is associated with a very high content of hot spices in food.

National wealth

According to surveys conducted among the inhabitants of South Korea, kimchi took second place as a sign of the country for foreigners, losing the position only to the national flag.

Subsequent steps were devoted to the official writing system Hangeul, taekwondo and classical clothing Hanbok. UNESCO has listed the method of making kimchi as an intangible cultural heritage.

In Seoul, in the 80s, a museum dedicated to this dish was opened - the exhibition presents almost 200 of its variants, installations with production methods and exhibitions dedicated to history. Also, the South Korean authorities have achieved that only kimchi prepared according to a traditional Korean recipe with the introduction of all the necessary ingredients can be considered a standard of quality.

The country hosts kimchi festivals, and the first Korean female astronaut took a portion of the dish with her to the ISS.