Exotic Eats: Kimchi (gimchi or kimchee)
By: Stepfanie Romine,
SparkPeople Blogger
9/7/2008 12:26 PM
: 62 comments
It's Korea's most popular side dish
What is it?
Vegetables—usually Napa cabbage, but also daikon radish, cucumber, scallions, or perilla leaves--mixed with garlic, ginger, onions, dried shrimp (sometimes), and hot pepper paste. (It's the food in the upper right in the picture.)
Kimchi is spicy and pungent, like a fiery sauerkraut. (The heat level is usually comparable to a medium salsa.) In Korea, it's served at every meal: For breakfast, it's eaten alongside white rice and maybe an egg over easy. For lunch and dinner, it's served in stews, soups, stir fries and alongside barbecued meats. It tops pizzas, burgers and pastas. There are 187 varieties of kimchi, according to the Kimchi Field Museum in Seoul (I visited when I was living in South Korea back in '05.). The most popular is made of Napa cabbage.
Where do you get it?
I buy it in half-gallon jars at my local Korean grocery. Don't have a Korean grocery? No problem!
My local supermarket carries small jars of kimchi in hot and mild flavors. Look for it in the produce section, near the wonton wrappers and fresh herbs. Whole Foods and health-food stores sell it near the soy products. (You can make your own, too. I sometimes do! Ask, and I'll give you the recipe!)
Nutrition data
Fermented foods, like sauerkraut, kimchi, yogurt and natto, are full of probiotics. Those helpful bacteria help fight off germs in the gut, and they help keep you regular, too.
The vegetables in kimchi provide plenty of nutrients and minerals. Cabbage is loaded with nutrients like sulforaphane, a chemical said to boost cancer-fighting enzymes. Kimchi is low in calories and sugar, contains plenty of fiber, Vitamins A and C, calcium and iron. Dr. Jonny Bowden even included kimchi in his "150 Healthiest Foods on Earth."
Meanwhile, the garlic helps lower cholesterol and aid in blood clotting, and the spicy red pepper has pain-reducing and cardiovascular effects. (An added bonus: Eat kimchi to clear your sinuses!)
Kimchi trivia:
Recipes:
Broiled kimchi
Kimchi fried rice
Find more kimchi recipes at SparkRecipes.com
Do you like kimchi? What exotic eat is a staple in your house? Vegemite? Sauerkraut? Pickled herring? Harissa? Email editor@dailyspark.com, and we might write about your favorite exotic eat.
Photo: side dishes to accompany a Korean barbecue meal in Seoul, 2005
What is it?
Vegetables—usually Napa cabbage, but also daikon radish, cucumber, scallions, or perilla leaves--mixed with garlic, ginger, onions, dried shrimp (sometimes), and hot pepper paste. (It's the food in the upper right in the picture.)
Kimchi is spicy and pungent, like a fiery sauerkraut. (The heat level is usually comparable to a medium salsa.) In Korea, it's served at every meal: For breakfast, it's eaten alongside white rice and maybe an egg over easy. For lunch and dinner, it's served in stews, soups, stir fries and alongside barbecued meats. It tops pizzas, burgers and pastas. There are 187 varieties of kimchi, according to the Kimchi Field Museum in Seoul (I visited when I was living in South Korea back in '05.). The most popular is made of Napa cabbage.
Where do you get it?
I buy it in half-gallon jars at my local Korean grocery. Don't have a Korean grocery? No problem!
My local supermarket carries small jars of kimchi in hot and mild flavors. Look for it in the produce section, near the wonton wrappers and fresh herbs. Whole Foods and health-food stores sell it near the soy products. (You can make your own, too. I sometimes do! Ask, and I'll give you the recipe!)
Nutrition data
Fermented foods, like sauerkraut, kimchi, yogurt and natto, are full of probiotics. Those helpful bacteria help fight off germs in the gut, and they help keep you regular, too.
The vegetables in kimchi provide plenty of nutrients and minerals. Cabbage is loaded with nutrients like sulforaphane, a chemical said to boost cancer-fighting enzymes. Kimchi is low in calories and sugar, contains plenty of fiber, Vitamins A and C, calcium and iron. Dr. Jonny Bowden even included kimchi in his "150 Healthiest Foods on Earth."
Meanwhile, the garlic helps lower cholesterol and aid in blood clotting, and the spicy red pepper has pain-reducing and cardiovascular effects. (An added bonus: Eat kimchi to clear your sinuses!)
Kimchi trivia:
- Koreans say "kimchi" instead of "cheese" when taking photos.
- Kimchi is so popular that Korean airlines serve it in tiny pouches on every flight. Travel pouches of kimchi can be found in any Korean supermarket—they're popular with Koreans who are traveling to milieus that might be lacking in kimchi.
- Many Koreans have special kimchi refrigerators in their homes.
- The first Korean astronaut, Ko San, blasted off to space this year with kimchi. The bacteria was removed—after plenty of research by the Korean Atomic Energy Research Institute.
Recipes:
Broiled kimchi
Kimchi fried rice
Find more kimchi recipes at SparkRecipes.com
Do you like kimchi? What exotic eat is a staple in your house? Vegemite? Sauerkraut? Pickled herring? Harissa? Email editor@dailyspark.com, and we might write about your favorite exotic eat.
Photo: side dishes to accompany a Korean barbecue meal in Seoul, 2005
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Comments
If you're vegetarian/vegan, you need to find the uber sized asian grocery store, which is where I found mine. - 1/4/2011 1:57:02 PM
- 3/4/2010 6:24:49 PM
Evidently, Brian buys his kimchi by the gallon at a nearby Korean deli. The next time I visited, he was having some, and offered it to me, and I said, sure, I'd try it. I sniffed it, and said to my sister, "You're right--it does smell like feet!"
But it was very tasty. - 9/14/2009 5:27:11 PM
If you are a lover of 'hot' foods you will love Kimchi. Its very unique and tasty.
At an early age I was introduced to it and always enjoy it as a treat.
:o) - 3/10/2009 8:40:42 PM
and yes, harissa is a staple in our home; we live in tunisia which is where harissa is originated from :) - 2/16/2009 10:07:20 AM
What's hilarious is that my dh loves kimchi and Korean cuisine in general, but he normally despises anything spicy, garlicky, onion-y and with peppers... and that's pretty much Korean food summed up in a nutshell, LOL. - 11/23/2008 2:25:49 PM
when was a Marine stationed on okinawa in the 1980s, my artillery unit went to Korea for training exercises several times a year.without fail, we always had an older couple that followed us everywhere in theismall hyundai panel truck. at mealtimes they would set up a cooker and make big pots of ramen noodles. we could goover and buy a bowl of noodles & kimchi and a coke for $2.00. even better for those of us who hated our GI rations, they'd take an MRE in trade. if you see MREs for sale in a surplus store or elsewhere, that's probably where they came from,Korea. i got addicted to kimchee over there.Korea is a gastronomic wonderland for those who are not scared to eat "unusual" food. one year after our training was completed,some buddies and I went into town (pohang) to go to a bath-house and get something to eat. we were strolling down a street and came across a guy with a food cart. he was grilling chicken livers and hearts on little yaitori like sticks on a charcoal brazier. we all bought a cup full of the sticks and kept on walking, eating chicken hearts and swilling our OBs until we found a bat-house. ( a Korean mens only bath- house is another great thing alltogether). after we were all clean and happy, we wandered off, found a bar and piled inside for some beers.the bar maids were eating kimchee and rice for their lunch.they were also eating something that looked like some kind of nuts from plastic cups. one gal offered me some and I said sure I'll take some.i took the cup and poured the things into my mouth and started chewing.... crunch crunch crunch! they weren't nuts they were tiny little steamed snails!!!they were great, not gross at all. i loved them and asked for more. when our beer thirst was quenched, the girls told us where to find a little cafe where we could get dinner, and we went. one of the things we got there was fried potatoes.they were thin slices of potato coated in what I think was a rice four batter and deep fried! amazing! i've asked for them at ever korean restaurant I've ever been to in the states, but no one has them or even knows what I'm talking about, guess I'm going to have to make em myself. i've got to scoot off to bed, I'll post my recipe here after I make them.
peace~
scott
"I was once arrested for walking in someone elses sleep"
steven wright+++++++++++++++++ - 11/19/2008 10:19:01 PM
- 9/9/2008 7:29:18 AM
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