Introducing Kimchi

By Jacob Lotinga

A Previous version of this artcle appeared in the October 2011 edition of Gwangju News.

Kimchi – a fermented vegetable side dish steeped in fifteen centuries’ history – is a national symbol and an essential component in any Korean meal. Prepared by adept chefs, kimchi sports an appetizing blend of seasonings, Korea’s national side-dish – though it may seem simple – is a history-rich enigma.

As the fan-shaped leaves of ornamental gingkos turn yellow, brightening Gwangju’s boulevards, and maples on Mount Mudeung blush maroon, residents of this South Korean metropolis prepare to become connoisseurs of kimchi at the annual dedicated festival.

Koreans don’t say “cheese” when the camera clicks – they say “kimchi,” thus paying homage to a salted vegetable side dish that completes every meal. What’s more, kimchi has been a fixture of the Korean banquet for centuries, traced back 1,500 years to the Three Kingdoms Period – though in those days it wasn’t yet endowed with its modern characteristics or complexity.

Kimchi seems simple enough: cabbage and spice, right? Far from it. Like neighboring Japan’s miso soup, Korea’s kimchi comes in seemingly infinite varieties: every restaurant has distinctively flavored kimchi. If at first it is unappealing, this may simply mean that it is being sampled from the wrong establishment.

Those who define kimchi as a spicy cabbage dish, or the Korean answer to German sauerkraut, simplify. Over 200 varieties of kimchi have been counted, ranging from diced or sliced radish to entire-cabbage kimchi. Those obsessed with or intrigued by kimchi can discover 48 of its manifestations in Kimchi: A Korean Health, or see 100 varieties on display at Gwangju’s annual kimchi festival.

Nor is kimchi always limited to the cameo role of a side dish or appetizer. It steals the show as the star of kimchi jjigae (kimchi stew) and other dishes, reminding film buffs of those endless shrimp dishes listed inForrest Gump.

Live in the Land of Morning Calm long enough, talk to enough people, and you may just meet a Korean who doesn’t care for kimchi, but such people are rare. Before this happens, it is far more likely that you will see earthenware ‘kimchi pots’ (technically storage pots for fermented foods that include soy bean paste and soy sauce) immortalised for posterity in an oil painting, or kimchi in all its varied splendour celebrated at a festival.

Kimchi affects Korea’s landscape. Some 26 million South Koreans inhabit high-rise apartment blocks built by such chaebol conglomerates as Hyundai and Samsung, but others still live in traditional houses. Take the time to stroll through a quaint old neighborhood, and you’ll easily spot large storage containers – ‘kimchi pots’ – perching on the rooftops or above gateways.

Kimchi, in short, is the quintessential Korean dish, as Korean as the taekwondo martial art, hiking in the mountains or picking up instant coffee from a Samsung vending machine.  No wonder so many Koreans have been worried about the skyrocketing price of cabbage during the past year! Head along to this year’s kimchi festival to find out more.