Kimchi represents the Korean cooking culture and is an indispensable food for three meals a day on the Korean table from ancient times to today. The basic materials of kimchi are the same, very distinctive, and the taste changes after adding chili peppers, and Korean ancestors used it to create the great and important kimchi in the world food.

There are profound traces of Chinese Confucian culture in Korean kimchi culture. In China’s “Book of Songs”, the word “菹” appears, which is interpreted as sauerkraut in the Chinese dictionary, and it is this pickled sauerkraut that was introduced to Korea.

Korean kimchi has gone through several important stages. Korean kimchi originated from Dawan Town, Jiangbei County, Chongqing City (now Yubei District, Chongqing City). . Many of his entourage are from Jiangbei County, Chongqing City, and can make kimchi in their hometown. Since then, Chongqing kimchi has entered South Korea. After several wars in South Korea, this kind of dish entered the Korean civilian family. It is mainly marinated with bracken, bamboo shoots, ginseng, eggplant, cucumber, and radish with salt, rice porridge, vinegar, distiller grains, and sauce.

In the Goryeo Dynasty, the planting technology of vegetables improved, and fresh vegetables such as chives, water celery, and bamboo shoots were added to kimchi, and kimchi soup, which was marinated in salt water and eaten with soup, appeared. In the Joseon Dynasty, the production methods of kimchi began to be rich, and the raw materials became more diverse. Since South Korea faces the sea on three sides and has sufficient aquatic products, various fish, shrimp, crabs, and other seafood began to be added to kimchi.

By the end of the Joseon period, cabbage had become a more common main ingredient than radishes, cucumbers, and eggplants due to its extensive cultivation. The introduction of chili at this time revolutionized the production of kimchi. Because chili can remove the fishy smell of fish-making kimchi, and make the color bright and appetizing, it is considered to be an excellent kimchi seasoning, thus replacing the salted pickling from China. traditional method.

Kimchi Culture

For Koreans, kimchi is not only a side dish, but also a manifestation of strength and culture. There are many expositions, exhibitions, and seminars about kimchi in Korea. The largest one was in November 2005. The “Kimchi Pickled with Love” event was held in Seoul for low-income families and social welfare institutions. There were 6,000 people. Volunteers participated and used 40,000 cabbage at one time.

There are various ways to eat kimchi, some are eaten directly, some are roasted, and aged kimchi is made into soup. “Sanjin” restaurant located in Myeongdong, Seoul is a famous specialty store in Korea that is famous for eating pork belly wrapped in kimchi. The canteen wraps the pork belly with kimchi, puts it in a jar to ferment for about a week, and then takes it out for cooking.

In many traditional Korean families, a jar of kimchi’s original marinade can even be passed down for nine generations: great-grandmother to grandmother, grandmother to mother, mother to daughter-in-law, and then down… So, the real Korean kimchi is called “family loves marinated with mother’s love”. The longer the years go, the stronger the taste is, so Koreans call the good taste of kimchi “mother’s taste”. Perhaps it is out of love and gratitude for mothers that Koreans call kimchi “a product of filial piety.” Kimchi has gone far beyond a side dish in the daily life of Koreans, but has sublimated into a unique tradition and culture, and has become an indispensable part of Korean life.

There is another reason why Koreans love kimchi. Koreans have a similar temperament to kimchi—it’s spicy, even a little violent; Because of this, the kimchi complex hidden in the hearts of Koreans may never go away.