Under the guidance of Lee's traditional Korean cuisine, this book brings out King Sejong, the tyrant Yeonsan, Gwanghae-kun, Empress Myeongseong, and Jang Hee-concubine...... A theatrical story of history is a feast of food and history. Although it is a short historical story, it not only focuses on fun, but also vividly introduces a wealth of knowledge related to the political history, life history, appearance of the times, and local history of the Lee family.
Fire red cabbage kimchi born with chili peppers
When did Koreans start making kimchi? In ancient texts, the Chinese character for kimchi is "菹", which has appeared in Chinese literature 3,000 years ago, and Korea has been using it since the Goryeo period. The Chinese word "菹" refers to food made with salt, hence the name "pickled", which is still used today to refer to pickles, pickled cucumbers and radish pickles. The representative document about kimchi in the Goryeo period is the "Collection of Yi Sangguo of Dongguk" by Yi Kyu-pao. He used the six kinds of vegetables he grew at home as materials and wrote a poem called "Six Songs of the Family Garden", which mentioned: "The sauce is especially suitable for three summer foods, and the salt-soaked salt can be prepared for nine winters." Gherkins, eggplants, turnips, green onions, sunflowers, gourds and other vegetables have all appeared in his poems. Through this poem, we can learn that vegetables were pickled in sauce in the summer and salted in the winter. However, as far as we know, until the Goryeo period, kimchi was made with salt, just like the form of radish kimchi or cabbage kimchi today, and this tradition continued until the early Joseon Dynasty. As you can see from the "Actual Picture of the Dishes of Sheji" in the "Sejong Records", various kinds of salted "stalks" such as bamboo shoots (bamboo shoot kimchi), green spurs (radish slices and water kimchi), and leeks (leek kimchi) appeared on the table.
The book that officially introduces the method of making kimchi is the first Korean cookbook "Boudoir Pot is a Recipe" written by Jeongjeong's wife Andong Jang Jang Gye-hyang in the 11th year of Hyeonjong (1670). The kimchi method introduced here is not pickled with salt, but by soaking and maturing in hot water, in which vegetables such as mustard are placed in a small jar, hot water is poured in, and then cooked on a hot ondol. In addition, the book also introduces a "raw pheasant Shen vegetable method", which is to cut the cucumber kimchi finely and soak it in water, then cook the pheasant chicken and cut it into long strips, put the two together in hot water, and then add salt to ferment and mature. It can be seen that the method of mixing animal ingredients such as kimchi with various fish paste, mentae, and squid has been around since the middle of the Joseon Dynasty. Around 1680 (during the reign of Sujong), an unknown account of 11 different types of kimchi appeared, including the cooking methods and types of food that were used by the ancients. However, it is worth noting that as of now, there has been no mention of the red kimchi we eat today, although there has been a record of the use of spice Sichuan pepper instead of chili pepper. The Sichuan pepper mentioned here is the fruit of the Sichuan pepper tree, and this Korean kimchi also spread to China.
When we think of kimchi, we usually think of spicy and red kimchi, but we know that chili peppers were introduced to Korea after the Korean War (1592-1598) in Wanli, but there were no cases of chili peppers being used in pickling kimchi until the early 18th century. Revered as a "pioneer of practical scholars," Lee Kyung-kwang wrote an encyclopedic book, "The Tales of Zhifeng" (1614), which tells the story of chili peppers that spread to Korea. It is recorded in the book: "Nanban pepper has great poison, which originated from the Wa country, so it is commonly known as 'Wa mustard seed'." Nowadays, it is often planted in a restaurant. It is violent, or it is marketed with soju, and many drinkers die. It can be seen that in the early 17th century, when he lived, chili peppers were already being cultivated in Korea. However, even if chili peppers have appeared, they are still not used in kimchi.
So, when did chili peppers begin to be added to the process of making kimchi? Among the documents that have been circulated today, the earliest book that introduces the use of chili peppers to pickle kimchi is "Supplementing the Economy of Mountains and Forests" published by Liu Chonglin in the 42nd year of Yeongjo (1766). The book was written to supplement Hong Wanxuan's book "The Economy of Mountains and Forests", which mentions the addition of chili peppers to the preparation of kimchi, a method called the "Shen Luo Dip Method". The recipe is to mix white radish with radish leaves with vegetables such as staghorn, pumpkin, and eggplant, and then add spices such as garlic juice, chili pepper, Sichuan pepper, and mustard. At that time, the taste was very similar to that of today's baby radish kimchi. It is believed that it was only in the 19th century that kimchi like the present day, which was made with a mixture of sauces and red pepper seasonings, appeared.