Kimchi fear (2010년 10월 9일)

It was weeks before Chuseok when I made the last batch of cabbage kimchi. I bought an average-size cabbage for 2,500 won and a radish for 1,000 won then. A couple of days to Chuseok, I went to a supermarket with the hope of making some fresh ``baechu” kimchi. A head of Korean cabbage was priced 6,000 won. I didn’t buy it because I thought prices would go down once the holidays were over.

Well, it didn’t turn out as I expected. My kimchi was running out after Chuseok and I went to several stores only to find a head selling for 10,000 won and a radish for 3,000 won. When cabbage prices soared exorbitantly in the past, there were some middlemen hoarding them and the surge seldom benefited the farmers who grew the vegetable. Having the least intention to help the profit takers, I bought cucumbers, eggplants and chives instead, gladly remembering that our ancestors made kimchi with many other vegetables than cabbage.

Kimchi dates back to the 6th to 7th century. The first kimchi was more like pickles without ingredients, made of chives, bamboo shoots, turnip and a few other plants, but not of cabbage. In the early half of the Joseon Kingdom period, more diverse vegetables were made into kimchi with spicy ingredients like ginger and garlic. At the end of the 16th century, red pepper was introduced and was used for kimchi. Cabbage kimchi became popular only after a kind of cabbage suitable for the Korean soil was developed around 1900 and gradually replaced other kimchi.

So, it was not only economical but also historically meaningful for me to make kimchi with other vegetables than the expensive cabbage. After washing the cucumbers and eggplants thoroughly, I chopped them into five to six centimeter-long pieces and made a cross cut in each of them. Then, I sprinkled salt over them and turned them over so that every piece was salted. I cut the chives but didn’t souse them because the thin plant becomes too limp if salted.

When the pieces were moderately soused, I drained the salty water from the container. I made a mixture of red pepper powder, a slight amount of garlic and ginger, a few drops of shrimp brine and ``maesil” (Japanese apricot) juice. I mingled the chives with the mixture and put a tiny amount of the combination into the cross cut in the cucumbers and eggplants. The process was quite simple compared to baechu kimchi preparation, because the chives made the green onion unnecessary and required very little garlic and ginger.

My experiment turned out to be a tasty success and I have already gone through the process again upon the consumption of the initial production. Now, having the kimchi in my refrigerator, I feel safe from the ongoing kimchi frenzy. When I watch or read news reports about the cabbage price, I feel sorry for my fellow housewives who are so keen on obtaining the cabbage while there are other vegetables for kimchi.

Even if cabbage kimchi is a crucial element of Korean cuisine nowadays, its absence won’t kill anyone immediately. When the price of something goes up unreasonably high, people don’t buy it. Why not cabbage? If housewives refuse to buy it until the price comes down to an acceptable level, what will happen? Uprooted cabbage withers or rots in time and the conscienceless middlemen will have to sell their stock for a lower price. Thus, I hope the housewives will react nonchalantly.

Ever since the cabbage price soared, the mass media have fanned fear and anger among the people, failing to suggest alternatives to cope with the situation. The government didn’t do anything until housewives panicked and then imported Chinese cabbage. It would have been better if the government took advantage of the current crisis as an opportunity to remind the public of the olden-day variety of kimchi before resorting to import. If deemed inevitable, the imports should have been made earlier.

I wonder if the National Agricultural Cooperatives Federation and the Korea Agro-Fisheries Trade Corporation are under scrutiny for failing to ensure a smooth supply of produce at optimum prices. The government should do its best to uncover and punish those who manipulated cabbage prices, if any.

By the way, a head of Korean cabbage was selling for 6,000 won at a neighborhood store yesterday. The price will definitely go down further. Sisters, be free from the kimchi fear control!

 

배추값 파동과 배추 김치를 만들지 못해 마음을 졸이는 주부들을 보며 안타까운 마음을 금할 수 없습니다. 물건이 비싸면 안 사는 게 상책입니다. 배추가 비싸면 배추를 당분간 먹지 않으면 됩니다. 배추 김치는 한국인의 식탁에 꼭 필요하다지만 먹지 않는다고 죽는 것은 아닙니다. 저는 배추값이 오른 후 배추를 사지 않고 오이, 가지, 부추로 김치를 만들었습니다. 우리나라에서 배추 김치를 담가 먹기 시작한 건 이 나라 토양에 맞는 배추가 개발되어 재배되기 시작한 1900년 즈음이며, 그 전에는 다른 채소로 김치를 만들었었다고 합니다.

 

언제나 그랬듯이 언론은 이번 경우에도 대안을 제시하는 대신 주부들의 공포를 부추기는 보도를 내느라 바빴습니다. 정부도 살림하는 사람들이 공황 상태에 이를 때까지 손을 놓고 있다가 뒤늦게 부랴부랴 중국산 배추를 수입했습니다. 정부와 언론이 제 할 일들을 하지 못하면 국민이라도 중심을 잡아야 하는데, 주부들도 정신을 잃었습니다. 배추는 식물입니다. 뿌리 뽑힌 식물은 보관이 어렵고 이내 시들거나 썩고 맙니다. 주부들이 배추를 사지 않으면 이익에 혈안이 된 중간상들도 내놓을 수밖에 없을 겁니다.

 

이번 배추와 김치 파동을 보면서 다시 한 번 우리 사회의 후진성을 생각합니다. 정부는 지금 무엇을 하고 있을까요? 이번 파동을 일으킨 중간상들을 찾고 있을까요? 농협과 농수산물유통공사가 적정 가격에 농수산물을 공급해야 할 본연의 임무를 하지 못했으니 문제를 삼고 있을까요? 아니면 중국 배추의 수입으로 할 일을 다 했다고 손을 놓고 있을까요? 머지 않아 가을 배추가 본격적으로 출하되면 배추의 공급 과잉으로 고생하는 농가들이 속출하지 않을까요?