Kimchee - Dangerously Healthy Food :-)

In Korea do as the Koreans do. Well, being a vegetarian, the best I could do to emulate the Korean lifestyle was to try out their dish, Kimchee. Kimchee, also spelled gimchi or kimchi is a traditional Korean dish of fermented vegetables seasoned with chili peppers and salt.

So famous has this dish become over the years that

• English has borrowed the word 'KimChi' from this dish. The phrase "in deep kimchi" is sometimes used to describe a person in a perilous situation.
  
• It is served as a mandatory dish in Korean Airlines and Asiana airways, the two official international airways of the Republic of Korea.

The basic ingredient is usually a variety of Chinese cabbage called napa cabbage and/or white radish, seasoned with chili pepper, garlic, scallion, ginger, salt, and sugar. Though there are hundreds of variations, most types of kimchi tend to have a strong, spicy, tangy flavour and odour.

Kimchi was profiled by Health Magazine as one of the world's five "healthiest foods" for being rich in vitamins,

• aiding in digestion, and
• even possibly preventing cancer.

The health properties of kimchi are due to a variety of factors.

• Most types of kimchi contain common ingredients like onions, garlic and peppers all of which have well-known health benefits.
• The main vegetable being made into kimchi also contributes to the overall nutritional value. Kimchi is rich in vitamin A, thiamine (B1), riboflavin (B2), calcium and iron and
• also beneficial bacterial cultures of Lactobacilli which results in a higher lactic acid content in the final product than in yoghurt.

So remember, when in Korea, don't miss on giving your health a much needed boost by savouring Kimchee. Three cheers to to Kimchee !!!
For more info read: WikiPedia, KimcheeDepot