No kimchi no Korea

This year I visited South Korea. Country full of contrasts and surprises. Asia is great in many ways, but a it's long time to write. Now I can say: I will always associate Korea with a few things. Kimchi, pale pale and great mountains. Traveling in Korea is quite easy and safe. I think that this country is so underestimated, entirely groundlessly. Maybe or rather definitely because of the proximity of North Korea. But this small oblivion has got some advantages! Despite the fact that tourism is very well developed (although I know that this state of affairs is quite fresh, previously, before Korea has taken steps to develop this sector of the economy, it wasn't so hospitable) tourists from Europe we've met can be counted on the fingers. During almost three weeks it was maybe 35? Maybe...We felt very strange but also exotic. Korea has plenty to show and everyone will find something for everyone. For me it was: mountains, ancient civilizations, temples, and of course food. But if someone dreams of modern architecture diamonds, seeing the best players in matches of StarCraft or ... taekwondo also ll be happy. 

But returning to kimchi,what is that?Kimchi originally existed in ancient Korea--nearly 3,000 years ago. It's a dish and without it Korean cannot imagine a meal. It's not a korean meal unless there's kimchi and banchan on the table. Banchan is meant to create balance in the meal in terms of saltiness, spiceness etc. It's sade dish. The number of banchan varies greatly, from minimum 3 to... .Kimchi is the most important, basic banchan. It's a fermented dish typically  (like our cucumbers :) )consisting of vegetables, red chili peppers, and a seafood-based sauce, which is then put in a stoneware pot to ferment in the sun. The most frequent ingredient is cabbage. I liked very much these little side dishes, which complement incredibly the flavors.