Affected by the Siberian air pressure, the winter in Korea is long, cold and very dry, so it is difficult for plants to grow in this climate. In order to solve the problem of lack of vegetables in winter and to store vegetables with more water, Koreans came up with a method of pickling vegetables with salt and mixing various seasonings to eat, which developed into today's kimchi. In winter without vegetables, kimchi is the most precious dish. In the old Korean era when life was hard and materials were scarce, kimchi was a precious food for the poor people at the bottom of Korea.
② Good nutrition and even resistance to SARS.
From the detailed explanation of kimchi, it can be seen that kimchi is a fermented food with vegetables as the main raw material and various fruits, seafood and meat as ingredients. It is low in calories, rich in cellulose, vitamins A, B and C, and contains a kind of lactobacillus beneficial to human body. It has been rated as one of the five healthiest foods in the world by Health Magazine in time warner Inc., USA. Even, the Korea Tourism Board introduced kimchi as follows: Especially from the end of 2002 to 2003, "SARS" occurred all over the world, but there was no case in Korea, so it was inferred that it was because Koreans often ate kimchi.
③ Kimchi can beautify.
Sung hoon Kim, chairman of Gwangju Kimchi Festival in 2009 and former Minister of Agriculture and Forestry of South Korea, said, "Do you know why there are so many beautiful women in South Korea? Why are their skin so good? Because they grew up eating kimchi. " He said, "If you want to grow old gracefully and have beautiful skin, go and eat kimchi."
Song Rongyu, a professor at the Kimchi Institute of Busan University, said that scientific research shows that lactic acid bacteria and other substances in kimchi can delay skin aging and lower cholesterol levels. "I want to tell foreign friends to eat more kimchi. Kimchi is low in calories and rich in fiber and vitamins. "
Koreans are also convinced of the beauty effect of kimchi, which may be one of the reasons why they love kimchi?
④ Perhaps more importantly, kimchi has a long history and brought cultural identity to Koreans.
Korean kimchi has a history of more than 3,000 years, and Korean kimchi has gone through several important stages:
During the Three Kingdoms Period of Korea, it was introduced from China, and it was mainly pickled with bracken, bamboo shoots, Adenophora adenophora, eggplant, cucumber and radish with salt, rice porridge, vinegar, distiller's grains and sauce.
In the Korean era, more fresh vegetables were added, and the planting technology of vegetables was improved. Fresh vegetables such as vegetables, celery and bamboo shoots were added to kimchi, and kimchi soup was eaten with soup after being salted with salt water.
At the end of the Korean era, cabbage became the main raw material, and pepper revolutionized kimchi. By the end of the Korean era, cabbage became the main raw material more commonly used than radish, cucumber and eggplant due to a large number of planting. At this time, the pepper introduced revolutionized the production of kimchi. Pepper is considered as an excellent condiment for kimchi because it can remove the fishy smell produced when fish make kimchi, and make it colorful, which makes people look appetizing, thus replacing the traditional method of pickling with salt from China.
Based on Koreans' love for tradition and tradition of "active protection", the long history of kimchi may also be one of the reasons why they have deep feelings for it.
This can be seen from the ubiquitous cultural propaganda and attention of Koreans to kimchi: Kimchi Festival, Kimchi Museum, Kimchi Cultural Heritage Application, and huge investment in kimchi research ...