I love kimchi!
I love kimchi! Just thinking about it makes me salivate!
The one thing I love about Korean meals are the “banchan” or side dishes they serve on little plates to accompany your meals. There are always so many varieties, and I enjoy being surprised by new discoveries. From fresh vegetables to cooked seafood and meats and of course, the essential banchan, kimchi!
I love kimchi, all sorts, especially those made from radish (kkakdugi 깍두기), ponytail radish (chonggak총각김치) and the traditional napa cabbage (tongbaechu통배추김치). Every time I think of that fermented, vinegarish, spicy taste, my mouth waters! Yums!
Do you know that kimchi is like Korea’s national dish, eaten at every meal? The Koreans claim that it keeps them in the pink of health. It wards off diseases such as cancer and SARS and keep them slim! That’s why they eat so much of these super-spicy, vitamin loaded stuff! Forty pounds per person per year according to some statistics I saw somewhere!
This spicy hot deliciousness is used in everything from soups kimchijjigae (김치찌개) to pancakes kimchijeon 김치전 and even as toppings on western pizzas and in burgers.
Kimchi can be made throughout the year with different seasons calling for different main ingredients. More are made in November and December to cater to the winter months when fresh foods are short in supply in the olden days. Now, with modern refrigeration, including specialised kimchi fridges and hot houses, life’s a little different.
In the past, the ladies of the family will be responsible for making kimchi and usually it is a neighbourly activity. All the neighborhood housewives will gather to make them together – kind of like a social gathering. And everyone has their own home recipe! Once made, they will be stored in huge earthen pots and kept either underground or in a cool, shaded place for the fermentation to take place. The fermentation is what gives this delicious side dish its vinergary taste even though no vinegar is added.
I have seen these huge earthen pots in Park Sihoo-ssi’s ancestral home – quite a number of them sitting in his garden by the pond. Maybe in the olden days, his grandmother and their neighbors gathered to make kimchi together and gossiped about the latest happenings in their country side? Their pots appear old. I wonder if they are still being used to this day and if the family still practices the tradition of making their very own style of kimchi. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have a taste of Buyeo kimchi, and if we can be so very lucky, that of the Park family’s own unique recipe 🙂
Kimchi while being a woman’s domain in the past, might no longer be. Remember our very handy houseman, Kang Injun in Park Sihoo-ssi’s movie “Scent”? He makes a mean kimchi! So handy to have in the kitchen! He believes strongly how good kimchi would ferment and cement a loving relationship. And advised Julie to mend her relationship with her boyfriend and share that kimchi of love.
Hmmm…kimchi of love! A good concept! Park Sihoo-ssi, how about sharing some? And with your special someone?
泡菜是我的菜!
我爱泡菜!只要想到它,我就会流口水!
在韩国的美食当中,我非常喜欢他们的“班禅banchan”或小菜,会用一小盘,一小盘的端着给妳伴饭。总是有很多种类的新鲜蔬菜,烹制过的海鲜和肉类,当然,最重要的就是泡菜!
泡菜是我的菜!非常喜欢品尝各种泡菜,特别是那些萝卜(kkakdugi깍두기),马尾辫萝卜(chonggak총각김치)和传统的大白菜(tongbaechu통배추김치)制成的。每当想到那发酵,醋溜溜,辛辣辣的口味,我的口水都快流出来了! 好吃!
妳知道吗,泡菜就像韩国的国菜,每顿饭的必需品!韩国人声称,它对身体健康有益,可以辟疾病,如癌症和传染性非典型肺炎,也可以减肥!这就是为什么他们大量的吃这超级辣,维生素高的泡菜!每人每年平均吃40磅的泡菜量!
辣泡菜可以用于一切烹饪料理,从辣泡菜汤kimchijjigae(김치찌개),泡菜煎饼kimchijeon김치전,甚至作为西式比萨饼的材料和夹入汉堡包。
泡菜可以一年四季在不同的季节制作,用不同的主要材料成分,虽然十一月和十二月的月份较普便,为了迎合冬季,新鲜的食物供不应求的时候。现在,随着现代冷藏技术(甚至有泡菜冰箱)和热房的发展,日子过得有点不一样了。
在过去,家里的妇女们会负责制作泡菜,通常是一个睦邻活动,所有的邻居主妇们聚集在一起,像一个社交聚会。泡菜一旦做出,就储存在巨大的陶罐,保持在地下储藏或在阴凉的地方让它发酵。发酵会产生酸溜溜的美味,即使没有添加醋。
看到施厚君的祖籍有好几个巨大的陶罐在花园里的池塘边坐着。我相信,在昔日,他的祖母和他们的邻居会聚集,一起做泡菜,一起聊天八卦在他们的邻里最新发生的事情。他们的陶罐看起来好旧,不知道现在是否仍在使用,家里是否还有自己制做泡菜的传统。如果有,希望有机会可以品尝到扶余朴家独特家传的泡菜秘方 🙂
在过去,泡菜虽然是女性的领域,可能现在不再是了。 记得施厚君在电影“香气”里的康仁俊吗?那位顾家的暖男,厨房高手? 泡菜可是他的拿手好菜哦! 他相信酿着的泡菜可以把爱拉得更密切, 并建议朱莉与她的男朋友和好,分享爱的泡菜。
嗯…爱的泡菜! 一个好的概念! 施厚君,分享一些爱的泡菜呗? 和你特别的那位走得更密切一些!
Photo Credits – Many thanks! imbc.co.kr, Weibo, Twitter, maangchi.com, namu.mirror.wiki/w/백김치, Sihoo note, onegreenplanet