Kimchi

Kimchi is a fermented vegetable side dish that accompanies almost every Korean meal. There are many different types of Kimchi such as Baechu Kimchi, Baek Kimchi, Oi Sobagi, and etc.

Kimchi was created as a way to preserve vegetables during the winter, and it was stored in jars buried in the ground in the past. I remember going outside to get kimchi from the jar when I was a child, but Koreans use kimchi fridges now, so you don’t need to bury jars on the ground and go to the freezing outside to get some anymore.

Gimjang Culture

“Did you do the Gimgang?”

“When are you doing the Gimgang?”

“How many cabbages did you use to make kimchi?”

Those are questions that you might use sometime in November, when it becomes harvest season.Gimgang is the process of making large quantities of kimchi before winter. Korean families, relatives or neighbors gather to make kimchi. They usually use from 20 cabbages up to 200 cabbages to make kimchi, then share them for their dinner table for another next year. It is an annual kimchi making event for Koreans.

Kimchi day

November 22 is Kimchi day. It is designated by amending the Kimchi Industry Promotion Act in February 2020 to properly inform kimchi’s excellence. The reason why the day falls on November 22 is that Korean households usually make kimchi around this season and to make kimchi, you need to have various ingredients and all the ingredients combined bring the 22 alleged health benefits of consuming kimchi.

The states of New York, Virginia, the District of Columbia, following that California was the first U.S. state to enact a Kimchi Day in 2021, have designated Nov. 22 as Kimchi Day.