Art Ed 367.01
Cultural Identity Narrative
09-18-2012
< Fried Kim-chi>
There are some images associated with Korean food, but the most well- known Korean food is absolutely Kim-chi. Kim-chi is a traditional fermented Korean food. According to the Health Magazine, Kim-chi is one of the top 5 healthiest foods in the world. It has full of Vitamins A, B and C. But since it is a fermented food, its biggest benefit is their healthy bacteria which are called lactobacilli.(health.com) So, Kim-chi by itself is just a pack of lots of good stuff and we can see our ancestor’s wisdom of keeping their body healthy from food. From the early stage that Korea has been settled down, Kim-chi has been served on Koreans’ tables every single day at their every single meal. So, for these reasons, almost every Korean would say that Kim-chi is the dish that represents their Korean ethnical identity the most. Furthermore, it also represents my other aspects of Identity for personal reasons, which is my mom’s caring for me, especially when it comes to fried Kim-chi more specifically. Frankly speaking, when I was young, I hated Kim-chi. I was just not a really big fan of vegetables. So my mom tried to make me eat Kim-chi really hard, and one of the ways that she tried was making it in different ways. She tried Kim-chi fried rice, Kim-chi gimbap which is Korean style sushi or Kim-chi pancake. But one of my favorites was fried Kim-chi since it is a sweet way to eat spicy Kim-chi. When my mom made that, she put honey since sugar or corn syrup is not good for your health. And the other ingredients she used to put were Tuna and corn, or Tofu or Spam which are all I loved when I was young, so she put them to make me eat. Also, to make it savory, she used to put butter or cheese in it sometimes. So, the recipe is quite easy if you have Kim-chi. But, The Kim-chi is the most important ingredient since the taste of Kim-chi itself actually determines the whole