Supermarkets, Kimchi and tea (part 2)

The speciality of Korea, which I had expected to find everywhere and which was everywhere, is ‘Kimchi’. Kimchi may be mentioned many times in this book and it is unavoidable. It is like writing a book about England without mentioning football, pubs and London; or writing about America and not mentioning the ‘B’ word - Bush or baseball; or writing about the French and not mentioning how much they hate visitors speaking English rather than French in their country.

The importance of Kimchi became clear almost as soon as I arrived in Korea. Not only did the subject of this phenomenon in Korea come up in conversations in classes, but there are also dozens of variations of Kimchi on display in the many supermarkets. It was clear early on from my students, that Kimchi is more than just a food. It is a necessity. A passion. An essential ingredient of Korean culture! Many students told me of how when they go abroad, they miss Kimchi more than anything else. One student said that he missed Kimchi even more than his own family and friends, when abroad.

I learned after a few months in Korea that there thought to be over 100 different types of Kimchi and different types of Kimchi according to the area of Korea. Cheju island for example, have Haemul (seafood) Kimchi and Nabak (square cut radish). Kangwon Province has Chanran (fish paste and sliced radish) Kimchi and Ojingeo Mu-u (squid radish) Kimchi. Ch'ungch'ong Provinces have Gul Ggaktugi (oyster and sliced radishes) and Hobak (pumpkin) Kimchi.

I actually like Kimchi quite a lot and I never hesitated to eat Kimchi when this cabbage, garlic and chilli based food was on the table in front of me. My own favourite is Myeolchi Kimchi – made with a dried fish base and strong seafood taste. Many English teachers in Korea love it as well. I could never eat it for breakfast though. Many people from Anglo countries dislike Myeolchi Kimchi, but they do often like other types of Kimchi. The fact that many Koreans eat Kimchi at every meal including breakfast shows the depth of passion for what is considered a National treasure.

In addition to an amazing colourful display of different varieties of Kimchi, ready-made Korean specialities such as Korean pancakes, cold glass noodles, cooked vegetables and sautéed mushrooms can be found. A warning though! Be careful of Korean bread, as things are not always as they seem. What looks like a normal Western loaf of bread, can when you bite into it, leave you with a mouthful of cream. The centre of the bread is often full of cream and it can be quite a surprise the first time: not because there is anything wrong with cream, but just because you are not expecting it, and you are caught off guard. I do not know why there is cream inside the bread, but there is. It could be because Koreans usually eat rice at every meal, rather than bread, hence bread for Koreans is more like a dessert. Maybe it is a new thing in Korea just to keep the Westerners on their toes!

As an Englishman, the tea section in a supermarket can be very important. Green tea and barley tea are common in many Korean supermarkets and the quality is always good. The problem for an English person though, is that black tea is the most common type of tea drank and in Korea, the only black tea you can normally find is Twinings. Twinings and all other black teas I found in Seoul, were less than half the strength of black teas on sale in England. When I visited the U.S., I always had the same problem finding a good quality cup of black tea so these days when travelling, I usually take some good tea bags (a good brand of Indian tea on sale in England) and a travel kettle. I even have to send it to my English, Australian and South African friends who work in Korea. Tea is probably as important to many British as Kimchi is to Koreans. In the English language there are even expressions which use tea in the expression; such is the importance of tea in British culture. A typical expression is:

“I wouldn’t visit the South Pole for all the tea in China”
Not '(To do something) for all the tea in China’ is a common expression in British English to express when there is no way you would do something. Maybe there is a proverb or expression in Korean involving Kimchi.

For more photos of South Korea visit Living in Seoul - The book.