The most famous food in the Republic of Korea is kimchi (泡菜).It is the food they eat every day. Also, there are about 190 kinds of kimchi. There are different kinds of kimchi for different seasons of the year. For example, in spring, watery kimchi, which is called mooli kimchi, and Chinese cabbage are popular. In summer, young radish (萝卜) kimchi which is called chonggak kimchi and cucumber (黄瓜) kimchi are common.
The Republic of Korea is a small country. There are not enough fields to grow vegetables. In winter, it often snows and it is very cold. In the old days, people there found pepper was very good for them. They also found salty water could help them keep cabbage longer, so they mixed pepper, salt and cabbage together. They named it kimchi.
Today, lots of things are added to kimchi, such as fish, lettuce, pears, apples and other ingredients. Some scientists say kimchi is very good for health, but others don't agree. What do you think of it?
