Kimchi

You can’t really imagine Korea without kimchi. For thousands of years, their fermented vegetables have been absolutely essential at meals. In Korea, kimchi is so much more than food – it is a national cultural treasure, a universal health food, and a part of the Korean identity.

Koreans are obsessed with good food, and the Lim family is no exception. For two generations, they have retained the proud tradition of kimchi at the Arirang Restaurant in Stockholm. Kimchi contains the family’s most popular recipes – common, as well as rarer, kimchi recipes, Korean everyday food, and the ever-recurring bi-bim-bap (which literally means ‘mixed rice’).

The Lim family presents their version of a classic with lettuce, cabbage, chilli, and ginger, but also the popular radish kimchi, kattugi, as well as the more unusual varieties with pumpkin, oysters, mushrooms, roots, and other vegetables. Sourish, hot, and tasty, kimchi is a wonderful accessory for most meals, not only Asian-style dishes but every imaginable Western dish.

Here are ‘insider’ tips on how to go about fermenting vegetables at home. Considering it is so incredibly simple, the result is amazing, beautiful, tasty, and healthy, thanks to the built-in riches of good bacteria cultures found in vegetables.