Li Ziqi’s video of making kimchi has been besieged by Korean netizens. They call themselves the “Kimchi Suzerain State” and believe that Li Ziqi’s pickling of radish and kimchi infringes on their kimchi culture. So why are Koreans so excited? Let's discuss it together.
They believe that kimchi is unique to Korea, and Li Ziqi is not Chinese and should not make Korean kimchi in the video.
1. Most Korean kimchi is imported
In Korean film and television works, basically every family pickles kimchi and dips Chinese cabbage in spicy sauce as a homely delicacy, but they are proud of it. Kimchi is popular all over the world, but it is difficult to compete with any of the world's three most recognized pickles (Chinese Fuling mustard, French pickled cucumber, and German sweet and sour cabbage).
South Korea basically does not produce cabbage locally. 99% of South Korea’s kimchi comes from China and Japan. Most of the edible Chinese cabbage is produced in Shandong, China, and the finished kimchi products are exported from the Northeast. In the past four years, the average annual export of Chinese kimchi to South Korea The output is as high as 280,000 tons.
In Korean supermarkets or wet markets, Chinese cabbage is labeled "Chinese leaf" in English!
2. Chinese kimchi endorsed by Li Ziqi
Everyone knows that Li Ziqi is an ancient food blogger from Mianyang, Sichuan. It is no exaggeration to say that the soul of Sichuan cuisine is It’s Sichuan kimchi.
As an ordinary Sichuanese, it is a common daily behavior to make a jar of kimchi in a kimchi jar. Sichuan kimchi advocates using local materials, and selects Sichuan local high-quality Erjingtiao, millet pepper, cowpea, ginger, A variety of fresh seasonal vegetables such as carrots, carrots, greens, cabbage, and lotus root are pickled in spiced kimchi water.
When guests come to visit, Sichuan people often cook fish and meat with kimchi. The kimchi cooked at high temperature is more conducive to removing the fishy smell and stimulating the delicious flavor of the meat. In Sichuan, Sichuan dishes such as pickled fish, beef in sour soup, spicy and sour potato shreds, stir-fried kidneys with pickled peppers, and pickled radish and duck soup are very popular.
After making kimchi, Li Ziqi chose different kimchi cooking ingredients and had a meal with her mother-in-law around the stove. It was warm and beautiful, quietly showing the rich Sichuan kimchi culture!
Su Dongpo’s hometown, Meishan, Sichuan, is known as the hometown of pickles in China. The ISO24220 "Kimchi (Salted Fermented Vegetables) Specifications and Test Methods" international standard led by the Meishan Municipal Market Supervision Bureau was released on November 24, 2020. The official birth on the same day is a direct reflection of China’s substantial participation in international standardization work by the kimchi industry.
More importantly, we Chinese only use kimchi as appetizers and cooking seasonings, and we do not only eat spicy cabbage every day.