Kimchi has been a staple of Korean cuisine for generations, with mentions of the dish dating back centuries.
This fermented side dish of vegetables and spices is served alongside nearly every meal in Korean households at home and in other parts of the world.
If you’ve seen kimchi in a jar, it might be hard to pinpoint the individual ingredients as it’s packed tight with vegetables immersed in a vibrant red briny paste.
But the soul of the dish is the humble cabbage. In fact, it is a fermented vegetable dish traditionally made with napa cabbage, Korean radish, garlic, ginger and chilli peppers.
The vegetables are salted and brined, then fermented with a lactic acid bacteria culture. The fermentation process gives kimchi its unique flavour.
Kimchi has a sour, salty, savoury, and often fiery taste. It can also feel slightly fizzy on your tongue due to fermentation by live probiotic bacteria.
Packed with vegetables, there are many health benefits attributed to kimchi. The main ones are due to the probiotics, or healthy bacteria, grown during the natural fermentation process.
These are known to help boost immunity, energise the body, and aid digestion as well as help lower cholesterol and regulate blood sugar. Kimchi is also nutrient-dense, low in calories, gluten-free, and can be made vegan too.
If you are wondering how you can enjoy this staple, below are a few options.
Fried rice
Kimchi fried rice is one of the most popular ways to eat kimchi in Korea. Different meat and vegetables can be added to the rice and the kimchi gives the dish an added texture and spicy, umami flavour.
The dish only takes a few minutes to rustle up and is a great way of using up some leftover rice and aged kimchi. Make sure that you include all the spicy kimchi juice.
Eat it as it
Sometimes, you actually don't have to do anything to kimchi to enjoy it. It's great straight out of the jar as a little snack.
It's fun to fish out a single piece with a fork whenever the craving hits, but you can also pull a whole bunch of it out of the liquid, arrange it in a bowl and serve it with toothpicks alongside.
Topping a burger
Much like cucumber pickles, kimchi is a perfectly respectable and delicious burger topping.
You could slap it on a plain cheeseburger and call it a day, or you could go a step further by brushing your patties with a slightly sweet soy glaze, in order to better complement kimchi's spicy, acidic punch.
Eat it with eggs
You already love scrambled eggs with cheese folded in - now it's time to start loving scrambled eggs with kimchi folded in. Slice it up a bit, then fold it in just before your scrambled eggs are set.
This is especially delicious tucked into a tortilla with some avocado slices for a breakfast taco. An extra topping of kimchi in that taco doesn't hurt either.
Korean BBQ
Another dish to eat kimchi with: BBQ lettuce wraps! Koreans love juicy, rich pork belly. In fact, they love it so much that there’s even a pork belly day in Korea.
Simply BBQ the pork belly, wrap it in lettuce and serve it with a dipping sauce called ssamjang with kimchi on the side.