Kimchi
(History of Kimchi)
As human beings started agriculture for a living, they also began to
take in vegetables with plenty of vitamin and mineral to keep nutritional
balance with grains.
Accordingly, a preserving way of yumjang; preserve with salt, had been
developed to have vegetables even in cold winter when vegetables could
hardly be produced.The salt preserved (yumjang) vegetables are assumed
to have very long history according to literature, which says that Korean
people had pickled vegetables as early as in the 7th century.
(Origin of Kimchi)
Kimchi is derived from chimchae,which
means preserved vegetables with salt, and as time went by, the word had
been changed@dimchae-kimchae- kimchi. And now itfs called kimchi.
(Birth of Kimchi with red pepper)
Kimchi in early days was simply pickled vegetables,
however, from about 12th century various flavors were used to make special
taste of Kimchi, and in 18th century, red pepper started to be used.
Red pepper contains capsaicin, which makes hot taste and helps the function
of salt.It is assumed that the reason why red pepper was used a lot more
than others was to save salt since it was so rare in old days.
Also, in 19th century, cultivating of Korean cabbage for kimjang: kimchi
for winter came to be pervasive, consequently, the traditional kimchi as
same as today had been holding its shape.
(Why Kimchi developed in Korea?)
There are three major
reasons that kimchi had been developed as fermented food especially in
Korea, while there are also many kinds of fermented food using vegetables
as major ingredient all over the world.
First, Koreans, whose main industry was agriculture, enjoyed vegetables.Second,
high technology enabled to preserve different fish with salt could play
a role in using fishes as main ingredient widely, and especially cabbages
for kimch were produced and provided widely from coast to coast.
(Recipe)
[Ingredients]
2 loafs of cabbage, radish (medium) 1 piece, big green onion 4 roots,
young green onion 50g,parsley 50g, garlic 1 piece, ginger 30g, salted shrimps
1/2 cup, powdered red pepper 1/2 cup, rough salt 3cups, finely processed
salt, sugar, salt (some), threaded red pepper some, powdered sesame with
salt (some).
[Salt down cabbage]
Cut the trimmed cabbage heads into 3 sections, sticking knife at the
1/3
point of cabbage head.Soak them in the brine made from 4?and 3cups of
salt for 3 or 4 hours
(the soaking time is limited to when the cabbage leafs remain a little
bit crispy).Get them out of the brine and wash them. Dry them (at the sometime,
put the outer leaf aside).
[Arrange ingredients]
Mix red pepper with water.Put sliced radishes into the thick red pepper
and compound it until peppery red color is set.
And mix altogether finely chopped garlic and ginger, threaded red pepper,
sesame, and every kind of 5cm-cut vegetables.
Season them in good taste you are favorable of, adding some salted shrimps,
salt, and sugar.
