How to Make a Kimchi - Korean's appetizer

That pickled veggie is KIMCHI!!!

This is the reaction of my second engineer as he tasted my own innovation about this very popular pickled appetizer in Korean cuisine.

In 2001, when I was just a cook trainee, I was introduced to this Kimchi-thing or Gimchi as others call it at Daesan port. Stevedores shared with me their specialty in the kitchen and taught me the procedure of how to make one.

The hunt for a Chinese cabbage is on.

We call it here as pechay Baguio as this city at the northern part of the Philippines and its neighboring provinces are the main sources of vegetable produce in Luzon.

The abundance of the vegetable paves the way to local growers to market the popular appetizer of Korea into the Filipino households.

Not only that. Many South Koreans adopted the country's climate at the north (Baguio, Benguet, etc.) to be their second home.

The influence of their cuisine is not to be ignored at the local setting.

Filipino chefs easily took heed the continuous clamor of local gourmets to adopt it as one of the BIG thing in Filipino cuisine.

Tourists also dig this appetizer and they will never forget the succulent 'hotness' of the mixture as they dabble it with fried fish (most probably galunggong) freshly cooked white rice.

Now, my mouth is craving for the appetizer and I can't wait to impart with you my personal 'adventure' in making my own version of kimchi on board my recent vessel.

Take a ride and see me cramming inside the galley (lol) just because of this.

Welcome aboard!!!

Note: The spelling can be Kimchi, gimchi or kimchee.

Ingredients:

• 1 pc. Chinese cabbage (Baguio pechay), medium-size
• 1 bulb of onion
• 1 clove of garlic
• 1 root of ginger
• 1/2 cup curry powder
• 1/2 cup chilli powder
• 1 tablespoon ground black pepper
• salt

Procedure:

1. Wash the cabbage thoroughly on tap water. be sure to clean its leaf or leaflet/floweret in order to remove dirt or any impurities.Drain

2. Wipe the whole cabbage with salt. Drain.

3. Start the pasting process with curry mixture at the enter of the cabbage until the last outer leaves.

Store in the refrigerator for 5 days or more before serving it as appetizer or side dish.

There are several varieties of cabbages that are grown by farmers around the world.

I have known the most popular round-type kind of it, but the one that I used in making kimchi is the oval-shaped one. I've also seen the red, white and savoy varieties.

It's history of cultivation began in the United Kingdom (UK) way back the 16th century due to its suitable, cool temperature.

Its scientific name is Brassica oleracea, whatever the variants are. It is related to broccoli, brussels sprouts (smaller ones) and cauliflower.

From the grapevine: I had an information (if its true) that from its wild variety sprung its variants, like the broccoli, cauliflower among others. I had also received an instant message from the Broccoli clan of James Bond fame, that they own the copyright of the name (lol), but it's true (no pun intended).

Cabbage is rich in beta-carotene, vitamin C and fiber.It is an ideal veggie for dieters as they always make it a point to gulp in cabbage soup.

When I was in China, I've seen how ideal the climate is for cabbage plantation. It's a proof that half of the world's supply is grown at the vast farmland that I've seen.

Anyway, you can do a lot of dishes, just by using cabbage. It can be cabbage roll, coleslaw, sauteed cabbage, and a lot more (that more will be coming from your suggestion, lol).

After pinpointing my mouse on the publish button of this hub, I momentarily forgot that FOOD Festival is also a way to advertise or promote certain delicacy or food dishes.

People around the world are used to celebrate harvest fests, like the awesomeness of KIMCHI.

So now, I did a screenshot of the official site of Korea Tourism Organization on the web and I found out that they are also promoting this very popular pickle or appetizer.

They call it GWANGJU KIMCHI FESTIVAL.

If you want to partake at this occasion every third week of October, you can go to the site or read what they prepared on the screenshot that I collated.

It consists on how the festivity began, how to locate the town where it originated and how you can enjoy the activities listed for international audience.

Or maybe, you can also dance along with the partygoers to the tune of all-time YouTube's most popular ditty, PSY's GANGNAM STYLE.