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| The Walrus Blog |
Korea is having a full-blown kimchi shortage. And that's a really big thing.
Bad weather and heavy rains in September have ruined much of the cabbage crop, skyrocketing prices for the oblong shaped produce to about $14 a head. People are in a panic to find sources of Napa cabbage, especially as gimjang season nears--the time when families gather together to make their yearly supply of kimchi.
The government is scrambling to help get more cabbage to consumers and is even temporarily dropping the tariffs on (gasp) Chinese cabbage to help ease the shortage. There is also a kimchi bailout under way--Seoul city has purchased 300,000 heads from rural farmers and is absorbing 30% of the cost to get cheaper produce to consumers. Wow.
So what's the big deal with kimchi, you ask? It's the country's staple and is served with every meal. (Pretty much like cheese in Wisconsin--hence the name of this blog.) South Koreans eat more than 2 million tons of kimchi every year. It's rich in vitamins A and C, believed to slow aging, prevent disease, obesity and diabetes, and lower cholesterol. A miracle food!
Maybe we should all be eating kimchi instead of french fries. Hmm. Not sure that would go over well here.
Want to see what the hype is about? Go to Maangchi's site for the recipe. Or check out photos/videos of the kimchi museum. Or read more on this story at CNN or this article from the LA Times. Or head to The Walrus Blog for a very comprehensive and funny post about kimchi and Korea.
Wow! That is a big deal. We better watch for skyrocketing prices when we eat in Korea then... ;) Yikes! I hope that they can get some imports and prayers for a great crop next year.
ReplyDeletei heard about this! crazy! i love my kimchi and can't live without it...it seriously is a miracle food. :)
ReplyDeleteYikes, poor people! Isn't this pretty much a part of their every meal??
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