Kimchi Fermented Side Dish In Korean Restaurants
When you are at a Korean restaurant, you will most likely be having Kimchi as a side dish. Kimchi is a little more than just a side dish.
Kimchi is a spicy Korean fermented dish with different healthy ingredients. It is known for the source of nutrients and to help digestion and restraining the growth of harmful bacteria in the intestines. It is an excellent functional food with many physiological functions such as having an anti-oxidation and anti-aging role, and anti-cancer effect. Basic ingredient such as Baechoo (Chinese cabbage) is excellent for colorectal cancer and garlic is good for prevention of stomach cancer. On top of that, Kimchi can prevent lung cancer because of its high content of beta-carotene. Also spicy ingredient like pepper removes nicotine from the surface of the lungs, This is why the US magazine Health named Kimchi in its list of top five “World’s Healthiest Foods” for being rich in vitamins, aiding digestion, and even possibly slowing down cancer growth. Its nutritional value and effects have been proved through experimentation.
The word “Kimchi” is from the Korean word “Chimchae” which means fermented vegetables. So in the broad point of view, all fermented food by pickled can be seen as Kimchi. Nutritionally Kimchi is a food that has low calories and high fibers. Especially vitamin C, beta carotene, B vitamins, calcium, iron, phosphorus, etc. are ample.
Red pepper and garlic in Kimchi inhibit the activities of bad microorganisms and help to ferment the lactic acid effectively and help to make the different functional materials. Kimchi has lactic acid four times more than any dairy product in the market. Specially lactic acid synthesized from vitamin Band amino acids is good for preventing constipation and cancer.
Kimchi also stimulate appetite and is effective for diet and reduce cholesterol in the blood vessels. Also, Kimchi improve the immune system because of its anti-oxidant effect.
Kimchi’s composition can be divided into the main vegetable ingredient and the mix of seasonings used to flavor the Kimchi. While the most well-known type of Kimchi is the Baechoo, many different types exist including regional and seasonal varieties. Popular variants include Oisobaegi which is a cucumber Kimchi stuffed with hot and spicy seasonings, Pa Kimchi (made with scallions), and Ggakddugi which is a Kimchi made with cubed radishes.
The Kimchi Field Museum in Seoul has documented 187 historic and current varieties of Kimchi. As a result of continuous efforts by academy, government and industry for the industrialization of Kimchi, our traditional fermented food, Kimchi market has rapidly grown to form over 500 billion won worth domestic market. Furthermore, as nearby countries like China and Japan have aggressively advanced into the world’s Kimchi market, the Kimchi market has been expanding its boundaries. Despite of the multi-dimensional changes in environment of Kimchi market, uniformity of quality, standardization and long-term preservation which are the most vitale factors in merchandising Kimchi, have always remained the same as the old method.
John Lee is a freelance writer and developer of a Korean restaurants listing.
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