Posted by Ed Levine, February 24, 2008 at 11:00 AM
The New York Times reports today that the first Korean astronaut will be bringing some of that nation's beloved kimchi into space with him. The Korean national dish, a powerful, extremely pungent fermented cabbage, is not exactly shelf- or space-stable, so finding a way to bring it safely into space required a costly and time-consuming effort:
Three top government research institutes spent millions of dollars and several years perfecting a version of kimchi that would not turn dangerous when exposed to cosmic rays or other forms of radiation and would not put off non-Korean astronauts with its pungency.
Related: Space Food Sticks
Photograph from iStockphoto.com/bedo
Forget barbecue or tofu stew: the true staple of Korean food is kimchi, the crunchy fermented cabbage that's always reliably on the table and growingly increasingly popular with Western palates. Did you know there's at least 200 different variations?
Posted by Alaina Browne, May 25, 2007 at 4:50 PM
How ripe and spicy is that kimchi in a jar? The South Korean Ministry of Agriculture has proposed a scale for ranking kimchi spiciness—mild, slightly hot, moderately hot, very hot, and extremely hot. It also includes a three-level scale of "ripeness," depending on the degree of fermentation. Local manufacturers are encouraged to adopt the standards, which are aimed at promoting exports and may fall under regulation in the future.
For the record, I like my kimchi "very hot" and "fermented."
Photograph by Nagyman on Flickr
