Kimchi, one of the five healthiest foods in the world

              

  The rapid spread of K-Pop’s popularity has brought people to love and seek everything about Korea: its culture, its movie and inevitably its cuisine. One of the most popular of Korea’s cuisine is kimchi. Kimchi or kimchee is Korea’s national dish, which is made of fermented vegetables.

                There are many ways of making kimchi, but it is usually contains Chinese cabbage, salt, garlic, red pepper, green onion, fish sauce and ginger. In some kimchies also put cucumber and raddish. Actually early kimchi was made of cabbage and beef stock only, and later use red chili after Japanese invasion to Korea in 15 century. Those ingredients are mixed together, put into a container and allowed to ferment for three or four days. Even in traditional preparation, kimchi is often allowed to ferment underground in jars for months.

                Moreover, nutritionists say that kimchi is very good. In fact, the U.S. Magazine Health says it is one of the five healthiest foods because it has a lot of vitamins and because it helps digestion. It may even prevent cancer. It also contains a high concentration of dietary fiber, while being low in calories. One serving also provides over 50 % of the daily recommended amount vitamin C and carotene. Kimchi is also rich in vitamin A, B1, B2, calcium and iron. The other four healthy foods are yogurt, olive oil, lentils and soy.

                Because of its ingredients like chili and pepper make kimchi very spicy and because it is fermented, it has a very strong taste. Most westerners have to get used to the taste, but Koreans adore it. They eat it with every meal, either alone or mixed with rice and noodles. They also use it in soup, pancakes, and even as a pizza topping.