▶ Watch the 1-minute version: Kimchi wasn't red for most of its history
Kimchi before chili
One of the earliest written mentions of kimchi in Korea is a Goryeo-era poem by the scholar Yi Gyu-bo (1168 to 1241), which describes turnips pickled for winter. Kimchi then was made by soaking vegetables in salt water, or by seasoning them with spices such as cheoncho (Sichuan pepper) and hoehyang (fennel). None of it was red.
White kimchi styles that still exist today, such as baek-kimchi and the radish water kimchi dongchimi, give a taste of that older tradition.
Chili arrives, but waits
Chili peppers were in Korea by the early 1600s. They did not go straight into kimchi. A popular household guide from the early 1700s, Sallim gyeongje (산림경제), still lists its kimchi recipes without chili. How chili reached Korea in the first place is debated by historians, so we leave the route out here.
1766: chili shows up in the recipes
An expanded edition of that guide, Jeungbo sallim gyeongje (증보산림경제), published in 1766, is where chili first appears in kimchi. One recipe slits cucumbers and fills them with chili powder and sliced garlic, close to the stuffed cucumber kimchi people still make. From the mid-1700s chili became a regular kimchi ingredient.
Even the cabbage is new
The kimchi most people picture today is made from napa cabbage with a tight, dense head. That kind of cabbage reached Korean tables only about a hundred years ago. Earlier cabbages were looser and leafier.
So the two things that make kimchi look like kimchi to most of the world, the red color and the round cabbage, are the newest parts of the dish.
FAQ
When did kimchi become red?
Chili first appears in kimchi recipes in Jeungbo sallim gyeongje, a household guide published in 1766. Chili had been in Korea since at least the early 1600s.
What was kimchi like before chili peppers?
Vegetables such as turnips were pickled in salt water or seasoned with spices like Sichuan pepper and fennel. It was not red.
Is napa cabbage kimchi old?
The dish is old, but the tight-headed napa cabbage used today reached Korean tables only about a century ago.
Sources
- Encyclopedia of Korean Culture: "Kimchi" (김치, Korean)
- Woori History Net: the kimchi revolution (Korean)
- Encyclopedia of Korean Culture: "Making kimchi" (김치 담그기, Korean)
Written by the Korea in Time team. Each fact above is checked against the sources listed. Found a mistake? Tell us.
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