Kimchi

Kimchi, the national dish of Korea, is a traditional dish of fermented chilli pepper and vegetables, usually based on Chinese cabbage. In Korea, kimchi is served with nearly every meal, and is also used as an ingredient in cooking, including kimchi soup, kimchi stew and kimchi pancakes.

Originally kimchi consisted mainly of salted vegetables, as chilli peppers were not available in Korea until they were introduced by Portuguese traders coming from Japan in the 16th century. Traditionally, it was fermented in pots buried in the ground, to serve as a winter supply when fresh vegetables were not available.

Kimchi has been praised by Health Magazine as being one of the world's five 'healthiest foods', claiming that it is rich in vitamins, contains healthy bacteria (lactobacilli) that aids digestion, and may even prevent cancer.

In East Asia, the low number of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) cases in Korea is sometimes attributed to the Korean habit of eating large quantities of kimchi, although no definitive link between kimchi consumption and SARS resistance has been scientifically proven.

Most people in Korea have a separate refrigerator to store kimchi. Kimchi is well-known for its pungent smell, which may spoil the flavour of other foods if stored in the fridge.

chinese translation | japanese translation | korean translation