Korean Culture - Kimchi

How serious are people about the food they eat? My wife once told me that had I been a person that could not appreciate Korean food, we would have never become a couple. If there's one thing I learned in my travels abroad, it is to eat whatever is set before me (with a thankful heart). This may seem small, but sharing and enjoying each other's food is often the first step toward friendship in many cultures.

The big obstacle to learning to liking Korean food was the fact that a lot of it is spicy, and I wasn't accustomed to spicy food. Fact is, most Koreans eat spicy pickled vegetables called kimchi with nearly every meal. In fact, when smiling for a camera, they say "kimchi" instead of "cheeze".

Kimchi is very delicious once you train your taste buds to get used to it, and it's also very nutritious. But if it takes you a long time to get used to it, you're not alone. I lived in Korean for a year in the army, and all I accomplished was learning to like spicy ramen. I still couldn't take kimchi. It was too spicy for me. Little did I know, I had been exposed only to restaurant kimchi, which tends to be spicier, and it wasn't until after I was married and tried homemade kimchi that I finally learned to like it.

Once you begin to like it, you'll appreciate it for a lifetime. After all, God made many many kinds of foods that are good to eat that we've yet to try. We met a man in Japan who was about 50. He found out that Duk-Sun was Korean and started talking about kimchi. He said all his life he wondered how anyone could eat that nasty stuff until he finally tried it. Now, he said he wondered how he had been able to do so long without eating it. It reminds me of Dr. Seuss's "Green Eggs and Ham" story.

Here's a video of Hannah enjoying kimchi. People usually eat it with rice, but Hannah likes it straight. The way to get kids (or yourself) used to it is to first rinse it in cold water, the way Duk-Sun does for Hannah. In a few years, Hannah will be able to eat it without rinsing it first.

Importance of Kimchi


How to Make Kimchi (in English)


How to Make Kimchi (in Korean)