A Kimchi affair!
A traditional Korean side dish, on Kimchi Day today, we look at this fermented masterpiece that is brimming with flavour
Thanks to social media that has made is possible to learn about new cultures and foods from around the world, the South Asian cuisine, especially South Korean culture, has gained a lot of popularity in recent items. One of the most popular South Korean dishes is kimchi that has several food influencers trying their hand at making and eating it. A type of banchan (side dish in Korean), kimchi is a term used for vegetable dishes that have been salted, seasoned and fermented.
While it is an age-old dish, a recent survey ranked kimchi as the most confusing dish that people have come across, with almost a million searches looking to find out and understand more about it.
In an attempt to create more awareness about South Korean food and kimchi, in particular, November 22 has been designated as Kimchi Day. The rise in popularity of kimchi is evident as South Korea’s export of kimchi has increased by 10% through October this year and is anticipated to hit a record level for all of 2023, reported Yonhap.
One of the most popular traditional ways of making Baechu Kimchi aka nappa cabbage kimchi can be time consuming. The cabbage is salted to draw out all the moisture and then rinsed with water and chopped. Some varieties of these kimchi also use wedges of the cabbage. A mixture of puréed apples or Chinese pears is made with gochugaru (hot pepper), gochujang (red chilli paste), fish sauce and spread to each cabbage leaf. Placed in an air-tight container, the cabbage is allowed to ferment and is then refrigerated.