80
Young Green Leafy Summer Cabbage Kimchee, 81
Perilla Kimchee, 83
Swiss Chard Kimchee, 83
Hot and Spicy Cucumber Chunks, 84
Lotus Roots Pickle, 84
Cucumber Juicy Kimchee, 86
Wrapped Cucumber Kimchee, 87
Whole Cucumber in Brine, 89
Green Chili Pickle, 89
Young Grape Leaf Pickle, 89
Fresh Oysters Kimchee, 92
Freshly Harvested Autumn Cabbage Kimchee, 92
Mixed Vegetable Instant Kimchee, 92
Ponytail Radish Watery Kimchee, 94
Hot Fish-Flavored Kimchee, 95
Light and Refreshing Festive Autumn Whole Cabbage Kimchee, 96
Shredded Radish with Fresh Oysters Kimchee, 97
Scale-Cut Radish Kimchee, 99
Stuffed Ponytail Radish Kimchee, 99
Refreshing Cubed Radish Kimchee, 99
Autumn Pumpkin Kimchee, 100
Sweet Potato Vine Pickle, 101
King Scallions Kimchee, 102
Stuffed Whole Squid Kimchee, 103
Whole Radish in Rice Bran Kimchee, 105
Autumn Soy Bean Leaves Kimchee, 105
Radish Stems with Anchovy Paste Kimchee, 105
Whole Cucumber in Rice Bran Kimchee, 106
Fillet of Flounder Kimchee, 106
Whole Radish in Brine, 107
Garlic Cloves Pickle, 107
108 YEAR-ROUND KIMCHEE RECIPES
Pearl Onion Kimchee, 110
Firm-Headed Cabbage Juicy Kimchee, 110
Stuffed Firm-Headed Cabbage Kimchee, 110
Cool and Juicy White Kimchee, 112
Fresh Young Spinach Kimchee, 113
Cut and Jumbled Cabbage Kimchee, 114
Young Green Summer Cabbage Kimchee, 114
Whole Carrot in Rice Bran Pickle, 115
Fresh Ginger Pickle, 115
Stuffed Carrot Kimchee, 116
Hot and Spicy Carrot Chunks, 116
Cubed Radish Kimchee with Oyster, 117
Firm-Headed Cabbage Kimchee, 119
Wrapped Firm-Headed Cabbage Kimchee, 119
THE ORIGINS, HISTORY AND CULTURE OF KIMCHEE
From ancient times to the present day, the fiery flavors of kimchee have dominated the Korean cultural landscape. Here we trace the development of the various types of kimchee, its references in Korean literature, past and present, and place it in its historical context. Both as a symbol of Korean cosmology and as an ordinary item in every household, kimchee is a unique dish found nowhere else in the world.
This ceramic jar, from the Kaya Confederation (c. 1st century AD), measures 89 cm in height, 55 cm across the mouth, 117 cm around the neck and 227 cm around the belly. Made of baked clay, it was used to store or move foodstuffs. The big clay jars commonly unearthed at sites that date to the period of the Three Kingdoms often show signs of having been used to store kimchee.
The character for pickle - pronounced ju in Chinese and cho in Korean.
It is generally acknowledged in the West that there are four cardinal tastes: sweet sour, bitter, and salty. Koreans, however, have an additional one, which they regard above those, namely, pungency. Pungency is one of the indispensable tastes in every Korean meal, necessary for stimulating the flow of saliva and the appetite.
The unique pungency of Korean food is the fermented flavor that is found in pickles (kimchee) and basic Korean condiments such as soybean sauce, soybean paste and chili paste. This flavor is the result of a kind of 'controlled spoilage' and is a distinctive characteristic of Korean cuisine,
Preserving Food
Drying was the very first method humans used to preserve foods. Later, they discovered that foods could also be preserved by salting, and later still, by fermentation. Although it was possible to store grains and nuts for long periods without using any of these methods, foods with high moisture content such as fish, meats, and vegetables could not be kept for any reasonable length of time without some special method of preservation. With vegetables, drying was not only difficult to carry out successfully, but also caused the vegetables to lose their nutritional value and flavor. Once salt was discovered, it was found that foodstuffs stored in salt both kept well and were good to eat Salting softened fibers, making the vegetables easier to chew, and induced amino and lactic acid fermentation. The earliest salt was found in seawater, rock-salt deposits or salt flats. Later, commercial salt was used.
Since ancient times, Korean people preserved wild vegetables by pickling. They also developed and mastered the techniques of salting, brining and fermenting. Once cultivation of vegetables began and herbs and spices were introduced from abroad, these new ingredients were mixed with existing ones to create new forms of foods. Such newly introduced vegetables were adapted to the Korean land and climate, and further developed.
The development of the kinds of kimchee Koreans eat today started when vegetables were brought in from abroad; especially revolutionary was the introduction of cabbages that formed a dense head. New concoctions made use of wild vegetables to create new kinds of kimchees, such as the honhap kimchee, sokpakchi, and pyolmi kimchee. The cultivation of head cabbages also led to the development of lactic-acid fermentation. As people experienced
