This gimchi is about the Korean dish. For people with this surname, see Kimhi.

Korean side dish of salted and fermented vegetables, such as napa cabbage and Korean radish. There are hundreds of different types of kimchi made with different vegetables as the main ingredients. Traditionally, winter kimchi, called kimjang, was stored in large earthenware fermentation vessels, called onggi, in the ground to prevent freezing during the winter months and to keep it cool enough to slow down the fermentation process during summer months. North and South Korean standard languages.

Timchɑi appears in Sohak Eonhae, the 16th century Korean rendition of the Chinese book, Xiaoxue. The aspirated first consonant of timchae became unaspirated in dimchɑe, then underwent palatalization in jimchɑe. Korean language, then Kimchi, with the depalatalized word-initial consonant. The word Kimchi is not considered as a Sino-Korean word. Samguk Sagi, a historical record of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, mentions the pickle jar used to ferment vegetables, which indicates that fermented vegetables were commonly eaten during this time. The pickling of vegetables was an ideal method, prior to refrigerators, that helped to preserve the lifespan of foods. In Korea, kimchi was made during the winter by fermenting vegetables, and burying it in the ground in traditional brown ceramic pots called onggi.

This labor further allowed a bonding among women within the family. Radish preserved in salt is a winter side-dish from start to end. Harvesting after the frost, a slice cut by a knife tastes like a pear. Kimchi has been a staple in Korean culture, but historical versions were not a spicy dish.

Early records of kimchi do not mention garlic or chili pepper. During South Korea’s involvement in the Vietnam War the industrialization and commercialization of kimchi production became increasingly important because the Korean government wanted to provide rations for its troops. The Korean government requested American help to ensure that South Korean troops, reportedly “desperate” for the food, could obtain it in the field. In 2008, South Korean scientists created a special low-calorie, vitamin-rich “space kimchi” for Yi So-yeon, the first Korean astronaut, to take to space.