Kimchi, the fundermental Korean food

In Korea, there is a saying "Kimjang(Kimchi for winter use) is half of one's winter provisions." No matter how sumptuous a banquet may be, a banquet spread without kimchi is unimaginable. Just like rice, another staple, Kimchi is an indispensible food to all Koreans, rich and poor alike.
Since Joseon dynasty, preparing Kimchi for the winter was an enormous domestic event. As many as 100-150 cabbages were prepared at once. As kimjang season approached, relatives and neighbors consult with each other to avoid the overlapping the kimjang days among different families. In kimjang season, it was customary to help each other out by lending a hand to one another. However, over time, and in recent decades in particular, buying ready-made Kimchi ceased to be unusual or odd. There is a book from the old days that mentions that depending on others for kimchi and jang(soy sauce and bean paste)was embarrassing. In Korean cook book, "To koreans, Kimchi is next to rice. No matter how sumptuous a feast may be, it cannot be complete without kimchi. Our palate is also accustumed to kimchi; it cannot go without it. It is indeed precious. Among things we ask of others, asking for jang and kimchi is a huge embarrassment."


History of kimchi
Kimchi is created after people began farming and producing grains as a staple of their diets. When vegetables which couldn't preserved were pickled in salt or mixed with soy sauce, bean paste or spices, new tastes and aroma were created and storage became possible. This is none other than Kimchi.
The kimchi of Goryeo Dynasty probably did not contain salted fish, or meat because chilli is not available yet. Although the term Kimchi was used, it must have been different from today's Kimchi: vegetables sprinkled with salt, mixed with spices such as garlic and preseved. It would be in the form of dehydrated vegetables soaked in salty water or placed in ample salty water like dongchimi(watery radish kimchi). This was given the unique name of chimchae which later evolved to become timchae, dimchae, and kimchae and then finally KIMCHI as we know it today.



Ingredients of Kimchi (Fish in the KIMCHI??)
Geographically, Korea streches from south to north, and there is great variation between the foods of the southern and northern regions.
In the northern region, because of the lower temperatures, less salt was used, and the spices were light and mild, which allowed the preservation of the freshness of vegetables. On the other hand, the food of the southern region is saltier. Simply adding a great deal of salt would not be palatable so salty fish was often used or meat stock was added. In particular, since salted fish was often used, sufficient garlic, ginger, and chili powder were added to offset the smell of the salted fish and to prevent the kimchi from becoming overly fermented by the salty fish.