Food

Kimchi, the national dish of Korea, dates back many centuries and basically is fermented vegetables seasoned with various herbs, spices, and other ingredients. This means that Kimchi comes in many more varieties than one might imagine, and that each household would need pots of differing sizes to store each of the types of Kimchi.

Before the days of refrigeration Kimchi was stored in pots, sometimes buried underground or in thatched ‘sheds’ to protect it from freezing during the cold Korea winters. Kimchi was a food that could be kept and used when little in the way of fresh produce was available.

Although many Korean families now use special Kimchi refrigerators to store their Kimchi you can still see Kimchi pots on roof tops and in yards of family homes.

Like most fermented foods Kimchi is remarkably good for you, as well as being a flavorful addition to a meal. It also can also age, like wine, to achieve more depth and complexity of flavor.

Quite a few Folk Villages and Museums have displays set up to explain the history of Kimchi to their visitors. There is even a Kimchi Museum in the center of Seoul that is easily accessible for most tourists.

Kimchi pots are often used for decorative purposes, and on Jeju Island there is even a maze made of them.

Kimchi pots are beautiful, yet functional items that to me convey a certain familial, homey feeling as they can be seen to represent years of family togetherness and love.

Have a great day everyone.

You may also enjoy Hanji: The Paper of Korea,   Korea Without The Chili Pepper!   Ramie: “Wings of a Dragonfly”, and Rice: Feeding Half the World Every Day.

Please do not copy or use without permission and accreditation. Photo credits to me.

It is surprising to realize how many people believe that the chili pepper is native to lands where it was in fact unknown of until about 500 years ago. Korean, Indian, Thai, Hungarian and all other Old World cuisines which are famous nowadays for their spicy food and use of the chili only developed their ‘signature’ dishes relatively recently compared to the span of human history.

The chili pepper was part of something called the Colombian Exchange, (after 1492 AD) which was when early visitors to the New World, (North & South America) took their plants, foods, and diseases with them to the New World, and brought plants, foods, and disease from the New World back to the Old. (Europe, Asia, & Africa). The most famous products from the New World included, potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, corn, turkey, pumpkins, tobacco, and more, while the New World received coffee, sugar, olives, horses, pigs, smallpox, wheat and more. This ‘exchange’ is named after Christopher Columbus although the travel of goods took place over many years and involved sailors and ships of many nations. For the story of the spread of the chili around the world one has the thank the Portuguese and Spanish Empires. These two nations competed to claim land both westward towards the New World and eastwards into the depths of Asia. India was one of the first countries to really accept the chili into their cuisine, and they are still the world’s top producer, consumer and exporter of chili peppers. Chili peppers were native to the area around the highlands of Brazil and were also unknown in N.America until they traveled north with the Spanish. By 1500 AD there are records of the Portuguese regularly exporting chilies from Brazil. The chili spread around the world like wildfire. By 1540 the Portuguese were trading in chilies in Indonesia. One odd fact is that Hungary, another country famous for it’s use of chilies, didn’t originally receive them from Europe, but when they spread backwards from India.

Chilies contain a chemical that is somewhat addictive. This chemical tricks the brain into thinking the ‘heat’ is dangerous and so releases endorphin which is a natural painkiller. This is partially why some people eat chili peppers, because they feel better afterwards. Chilies are eaten by more than a quarter of the world’s population every day, and may be the most used spice.

It is difficult to determine exactly when the chili reached Korea. Some historians claim they spread from China, although most evidence suggests that they were introduced to Korea from Japan. In the 1540’s Portuguese Catholic Missionaries introduced the chili pepper to Japan and Korea probably became acquainted with them soon after through trade and by the Japanese Invasions of Korea, (1592-8). Although Korea was familiar with them at this time under the name of Japanese Mustard they could not get a hold of any seeds with which to grow the plants themselves, as Japan was tightly holding on to their monopoly. King Sonjo (reigned 1567- 1608) repeatedly asked the Japanese and was rejected. Somehow Korea did however get a hold of the seeds, and the pepper plants liked the soil and climate and Koreans everywhere began to grow them and incorporating them into their cuisine.

In 1614 Yi Sugwang, called chili peppers ‘a great poison’ so not everyone took to them immediately, but he goes on to say that they were often served in drinking-houses, so his comment may be a class bias statement. His comment is, however, useful as it shows that by 1614 chili peppers were widely available in Korea. So in just over 400 years chilies have become so tied up in the Korean way of life and it’s cuisine it is hard to comprehend that it wasn’t always so.

Personally I love spicy food, although mostly in the mid range of heat, so eating out in Korea is something of an adventure. I love the flavors, but can’t always take the heat. It was the same for me in Hungary and Mexico, but fortunately someone usually takes pity on me and gives me some yogurt, milk or bread to calm the heat, and I’m back out the next day savoring that addictive food I love so much.

Have a great day everyone.

You might also like Korean Salt, Korean Salt. Rice: Feeding Half the World Everyday, and Open Sesame.

Photo credits to me and/or original owners. Colombian Exchange map  and Early Exploration map found on Pinterest.

Tea is technically made from the leaves of the camellia sinensis tree, but around the world the designation ‘tea’ often emcompasses so much more. In Korea the word for tea, ‘cha’ can mean an infusion of almost anything, including the leaves of the camellia sinensis. There are Korean teas made from roots, fruits, leaves, grains, pollen, tree bark, honey, nuts, and even dried fungus. Korean tea can be served hot or cold, or even somewhere in between.

Green tea has been drunk in Korea for centuries, with the first written record of its use during religious rites being from 661 AD. Most people agree that tea drinking probably originated in China where it was first used, mixed with other ingredients, as a medicinal drink. The drinking of tea in this manner may date back over 3,000 years, although it was a long time before it became a stand alone drink. Han Dynasty emperors were said to have drunk tea and the first definitive written account is from the 3rd century AD. One of the earlier methods of making tea was by steaming the leaves, others ways included roasting the leaves and then crumbling them, pan frying then rolling and drying them, and by letting the leaves ferment over time before pressing the tea into molds. Black, green, and fermented tea could all be pressed into molds to become solid ‘bricks’ which were easier to transport and store than tea leaves. These bricks of tea were sometimes used as currency. By the 14th century loose leaf tea became popular.

With the close geographic proximity and the intertwining of Korea’s history with that of China, it seems probably that the Korean elite had earlier access to tea than the common people. Whether it was a drink that was drunk frequently, or whether it was reserved solely for medicinal use and ancestral rites is open to debate. It seems that the drinking of green tea had periods of popularity followed by times of little usage. This may be because although Korea does have a kind of native tea known as Paeksan-cha, and green tea farms existed on a small scale, most tea was imported up until the 1960’s when the first commercial production of green tea began. Nowadays the three main tea producing areas in Korea are Bosung County, Hadong County, and Jeju Province.

O’sulloc is probably the most famous and popular green tea available in Korea. It is grown on Jeju Island, where conditions are perfect for the growing of tea. Other tea farms on Jeju also welcome visitors and we enjoyed a pleasant visit to Green Tea Maze Park, where we sat out a sudden squall in a tea house overlooking the tea plantation. We not only drank some lovely tea, but also had the most amazing green tea waffles and ice cream.

Numerous companies, and individuals are trying to restore and revive Korea’s traditional tea history and culture, which had almost faded completely away. Korea’s ceremonial tea culture deserves to be preserved, even in the face of most modern Koreans preference for coffee.

Non camellia sinensis teas, which might perhaps be called tisanes and infusions by non Koreans, have always held a special place in Korean culture and many people still drink these forms of tea. They are often said to have health benefits and some are drunk for specific illnesses or just as pick me up tonics to increase energy and wellbeing.

Teas made from roots include Insam cha (ginseng), Saenggang cha (ginger), and Chik cha (kudzu). While fruit teas include Yujacha (citron), and Daechucha (jejubes). Teas such as Taengja cha and Maeshil cha are made from fermented fruit whilst Bori cha (roasted barley), and Hyeonmi cha (roasted rice) are made from seeds or grains. Cha can also be made from leaves, dried fungus, pollen, tree bark and other things that over the centuries the Korean people have discovered to be safe and beneficial to drink. Many of these teas are really unique and are worth trying if you get the opportunity.

Let me know your favorite Korean tea and have a great day everyone.

You may also enjoy Green Tea Waffles.

Photo credits me and Elle Marzec. Please do not copy without permission and accreditation.