-
The indispensable national dish - the Korean Kimchi
Over the years, Korea has suffered, losing at times and recovered her land, language, history and culture. But they have never lost their indispensable national dish Kimchi.
Kimchi is the main staple of Koreans all over including Korean Diaspora that stretches as far as north and south Americas, Europe and Middle East, Africa and in all of Asia.
Growing up in the U.S., I didn't always have access to Kimchi on my dining table, but I enjoy it when I can.
When journalists from Korea accompany Korean Presidential visits to the U.S., I've seen Korean journalists sitting down for a meal with Kimchi, when they arrive in Washington, only 15 hours after having departed from Korea.
When I led the 1998 Clinton Lewinsky scandal coverage in Washington at the Associated Press, we had many late night stakeouts which meant getting takeout Korean meals from our favorite restaurant on 21st Street NW in Washington, DC.. We definitely christened the West Wing at the White House with the Kimchi smell from our takeout dinner during those endless nights of President Clinton, who was famous for being late to everything including his return to the White House at the end of the day.
While some Americans have freezer box(es), Koreans have a Kimchi refrigerator (or two) which maintains the optimal temperature of 30.2 degrees Fahrenheit (-1¡É) just below the freezing point.
Times have changed now and one can even find Kimchi at the Costco membership stores.
In one of the most remote locations in Korea, in Yeongyang County, Gyeongsangbuk-do Province, which is not connected by any railroads or freeways, Mrs. Yi Dong-yeong (74) has been making home-made Kimchi for the past 56 years. She used 500 heads of cabbage for her Kimchi this year. Some years, she has made Kimchi using as much as 1,000 heads of cabbage.
Mrs. Yi keeps her Kimchi in her Kimchi refrigerator and in her Kimchi storage, which she regularly ships during the year to her 5 daughters, son, close relatives and one of her daughter's friends. Her oldest Kimchi is two years old.
Mrs. Yi grows almost everything needed to make her Kimchi. Her recipe for 500 heads of Kimchi are as follows: -
¿ì¸® ¹ä»ó¿¡ ºüÁú ¼ö ¾ø´Â ´ëÇ¥ À½½Ä ¡®±èÄ¡¡¯
¿ì¸® ¹ÎÁ·ÀÇ ¿µÅä, ¿ª»ç, ¾ð¾î, ±×¸®°í ¹®È Áß¿¡ Àý´ë »©¾Ñ±æ ¼öµµ, ÀÒ¾î¹ö¸± ¼öµµ ¾ø´Â °ÍÀÌ ÀÖ´Ù¸é ¹Ù·Î ¿ì¸®ÀÇ ´ëÇ¥ À½½ÄÀÎ ±èÄ¡´Ù. ´ëÇѹα¹ ´ëÅë·ÉÀÌ ¹Ì±¹ ¼ø¹æÀ» ¿Ã ¶§ µû¶ó¿À´Â ÃëÀçÁøµéÀÌ 15½Ã°£À» °É·Á ¿ö½ÌÅÏ DC¿¡ µµÂøÇÑ ÈÄ °¡Àå ¸ÕÀú ã´Â À½½Ä¿¡ ±èÄ¡°¡ ºüÁöÁö ¾Ê´Â °ÍÀ» ¸¹ÀÌ º¸¾Ò´Ù.
¹Ì±¹¿¡¼ ÀÚ¶õ ÇÊÀÚ´Â ±èÄ¡¸¦ ÀÚÁÖ Á¢ÇÒ ¼ö´Â ¾øÁö¸¸ ±âȸ°¡ ÀÖÀ¸¸é Áñ±â´Â ÆíÀε¥, 1998³â ºô Ŭ¸°ÅÏ Àü ´ëÅë·ÉÀÇ ¸£À©½ºÅ° ¼º ½ºÄµµé û¹®È¸¿Í źÇÙ ÃëÀ縦 ÁöÈÖÇÒ ´ç½Ã ¹é¾Ç°ü ±âÀڽǿ¡¼ ÀÌ·± ÀÏÀÌ ÀÖ¾ú´Ù. ±×¾ß¸»·Î ³¡¾øÀÌ ¿¬¼ÓÀ¸·Î À̾îÁö´Â ÃëÀç Áß Àú³á½Ä»ç¸¦ Ưº°½ÄÀ¸·Î Æò¼Ò ¿ö½ÌÅÏ DC¿¡¼ ¾ð·Ð»ç Ä£±¸µéÀ» ÀÚÁÖ µ¥¸®°í °¡´ø ÇѽĴ翡¼ ÇÑ½Ä Åõ°í ÁÖ¹®À» ÀÚÁÖ Çß¾ú´Ù.
9.11 Å×·¯ ÀÌÀüÀÎ 1998³â ¸¸ Çصµ ¿µ¼¼ÇÑ ÇÑÀÎ ½Ä´ç¿¡¼´Â ¹è´Þ ¼ºñ½º°¡ ¾ø¾ú°í ƯÈ÷ ¹é¾Ç°ü °æ³»·Î´Â ¾î¶°ÇÑ À½½ÄÀ̳ª ¹°°Çµµ ¿ÜºÎÀÎÀÌ °¡Áö°í µé¾î¿ÀÁö ¸øÇß´Ù. ÇÏÁö¸¸ ±âÀÚÁõ ¼ÒÁöÀÚµéÀº ±èÄ¡¸¦ Æ÷ÇÔÇؼ °ÅÀÇ ¹«¾ùÀÌµç ¹ÝÀÔÇÒ ¼ö ÀÖ¾ú´Ù.
ÇÑ½Ä Àú³á½Ä»ç¸¦ ÁÖ¹®ÇÒ ¶§´Â Ÿ ¾ð·Ð»ç ±âÀڵ鵵 Æò¼Ò ¸Þ´º¸¦ ¸ô¶ó¼ ¸ø ¸Ô´ø Çѱ¹ À½½ÄÀ» ¸Ô±â À§ÇØ ÇÊÀÚ¸¦ ÅëÇؼ ³Êµµ³ªµµ ÁÖ¹®À» ºÎŹÇß¾ú´Âµ¥, ³»°¡ »ý°¢Çصµ ¹Ì¾ÈÇÒ Á¤µµ·Î ±èÄ¡³¿»õ°¡ ¹é¾Ç°ü ¿þ½ºÆ®À®ÀÇ ±âÀڽǿ¡ °¡µæ Â÷°ï Çß¾ú´Ù.Ÿ¹ÎÁ·µéµµ Çѹø ¸ÀÀÌ µé¸®¸é ÀÚÁÖ Ã£À» ¼ö¹Û¿¡ ¾ø´Â ¿ì¸® À½½Ä ÁßÀÇ ´ëÇ¥ÀÎ ±èÄ¡°¡ ¹ÌÁÖ ÇÑÀÎ Àα¸°¡ ´Ã°í À¯´ÉÇÑ »ç¾÷°¡µéÀÌ ¸¹¾ÆÁö¸é¼ ¿äÁò¿¡´Â ȸ¿øÁ¦ ´ëÇü¸ÅÀåÀÎ ÄÚ½ºÄÚ¿¡¼µµ ¸ÀÀÖ´Â ±èÄ¡°¡ Æȸ± Á¤µµ·Î È®»êµÆ´Ù.
¹Ì±¹ °¡Á¤¿¡´Â ³ÃÀå°í¿Í ³Ãµ¿°í°¡ ÀÖ¾î °í±â µî ³Ãµ¿ À½½ÄÀ» ¸¹ÀÌ º¸°üÇÑ´Ù¸é, ¸¹Àº Çѱ¹ °¡Á¤¿¡¼´Â Â÷´Â ¾ø¾îµµ ±èÄ¡³ÃÀå°í°¡ ÀÖ´Â ÁýÀÌ ¸¹´Ù. ±èÄ¡³ÃÀå°í°¡ 2´ë¾¿ ÀÖ´Â Áýµµ ÀÖ´Ù.
´ëÇѹα¹ÀÇ ¡®3´ë ¿ÀÁö¡¯¶ó°í ºÒ¸®´Â °æ»óºÏµµ ºÀȱº, ¿µ¾ç±º, û¼Û±ºÀ» ÈçÈ÷ ¡®BYC¡¯¶ó°í ºÎ¸£´Âµ¥, ÀÌ 3´ë ¿ÀÁö Áß ¾ÆÁ÷µµ °í¼Óµµ·Î³ª öµµ°¡ ¿¬°áÀÌ ¾È µÈ °÷ÀÌ ¿µ¾ç±º û±â¸é ¹«Áø¸® (¸ÍÃÌ)´Ù. ÀÌ°÷¿¡¼ ¸Å³â ´Ù¼¸ µþ, ¾Æµé, Ä£Á¤µ¿»ý, È¥ÀÚ »ç´Â µþ Ä£±¸ µî ÁÖº¯ ģôµé Áý¿¡ °Ü¿ï ±èÀå±èÄ¡¸¦ Åùè·Î ÁÖ±âÀûÀ¸·Î º¸³»ÁÖ´Â À̵¿¿µ(74) ÇÒ¸Ó´ÏÀÇ Áý¿¡¼´Â ¸Å³â ´Ê°¡À»¿¡ °¡±î¿î ģô, ¾Æµéµþ ½Ä±¸ µî 3´ë°¡ ¸ð¿©¼ ±èÄ¡¸¦ ´ã±×´Â dz½ÀÀÌ ÀÖ´Ù.
À̵¿¿µ ÇÒ¸Ó´Ï´Â 1964³â 3¿ù, 18¼¼ ³ªÀÌ¿¡ ±èÄ¡ ´ã±×´Â °ÍÀº ¹°·Ð, ¾Æ±ÃÀÌ¿¡ ºÒ ¶§¼ ¹äÀ» ÇÒ ÁÙµµ ¸ð¸¦ ¶§ ½ÃºÎ¸ðµéÀÌ ¾È °è¼Å¼ ¡°½ÃÁý»ìÀÌ °ÆÁ¤ ¾ø´Ù¡±´Â Áß¿äÇÑ ÀÌÀ¯¸¦ ³»¼¼¿î Ä£Á¤ °í¸ðÀÇ Á߸ŷΠ6»ì ¿¬»ó ÃÑ°¢¿¡°Ô ½ÃÁýÀ» ¿Ô´Ù°í ÇÑ´Ù. ±×ÈÄ Áö³ 56³â µ¿¾È À̵¿¿µ ÇÒ¸Ó´Ï´Â ÇÑ Çصµ ½¬Áö ¾Ê°í Çظ¶´Ù ±èÀåÀ» ÇؿԴµ¥, ¿ÃÇصµ ¹èÃß 500Æ÷±â ±èÀåÀ» ´ã°¬´Ù. ±èÀåÀ» ¸¹ÀÌ ÇÏ´Â ÇØ¿¡´Â 1,000Æ÷±â¸¦ ´ã±Ù Àûµµ ÀÖ´Ù°í ÇÑ´Ù.
¹èÃß, °íÃß, ¹«, °«, ¸¶´Ã, ÂÊÆÄ, Âý½Ò, ¾çÆÄ, ¸Å½Çû µî °ÅÀÇ ¸ðµç ±èÀå Àç·á¸¦ ¼Õ¼ö Àç¹èÇÏ´Â À̵¿¿µ ÇÒ¸Ó´Ï Áý¿¡¼´Â ±èÀå±èÄ¡¸¦ ±èÄ¡³ÃÀå°í¿Í ¼´ÃÇÑ ±èġâ°í¿¡ ÀÖ´Â Ç׾Ƹ®¿¡ ³Ö¾î¼ 1³â ³»³» µÎ°í ¸Ô´Â´Ù. À̵¿¿µ ÇÒ¸Ó´Ï ±èġâ°í¿¡´Â 2³â ¹¬Àº ±èÄ¡µµ ÀÖ´Ù.
*ǽ¸®Ã³»ó ¼ö»óÀÚ °Çü¿ø ±âÀÚÀÇ ¿ì¸®¡¤¹®È¡¤¿ª»ç Visual History &;;;; Culture of Korea Àüü ÇÁ·ÎÁ§Æ® ¸ðÀ½Àº ´ÙÀ½ÀÇ ¸µÅ©¿¡¼ º¸½Ç ¼ö ÀÖ½À´Ï´Ù:
www.kang.org/korea