Kimchi is a traditional Korean dish made of seasoned vegetables and salt. It is often described as "spicy" or "sour". It can be fresh, like a salad, or it can be fermented. In traditional preparation kimchi is often allowed to ferment underground in jars for months at a time.
It is Korea's national dish, with hundreds of varieties made from napa cabbage, radish, scallion, or cucumber as a main ingredient. Kimchi also has many different kinds depends on the main ingredients. Kimchi varieties are determined by the main vegetable ingredients and the mix of seasonings used to flavor the kimchi. Ingredients can be replaced or added depending on the type of kimchi being made. The most common seasonings include brine, scallions, spices, ginger, chopped radish, garlic, saeujeot (shrimp sauce) and aekjeot (fish sauce).
Early kimchi was made of cabbage and beef stock only. Red chili, a New World vegetable not found in Korea before European contact with the Americas, was introduced to Korea from Japan after the Japanese invasions (1592–1598) and became a staple ingredient in kimchi, although its use was not documented until the 18th century. Red chili pepper flakes are now used as the main ingredient for spice and source of heat for many varieties of kimchi. In the twelfth century other spices, creating flavors such as sweet and sour, and colors, such as white and orange, were added.
The most common kimchi variations are baechu kimchi (napa cabbage kimchi), baechu geotjeori (unfermented napa cabbage kimchi), bossam kimchi (baek kimchi (white kimchi), dongchimi (water-based kimchi), chonggak kimchi (young radish kimchi), kkakdugi (daikon kimchi), oisobagi (cucumber kimchi), and pa kimchi (green onion kimchi). While the most popular variety is spicy kimchi made of cabbage, there are hundreds of different types of kimchi made of different vegetables, and not all of them spicy.
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