Composition
Chili peppers being sun-dried for Kimchi
Kimchi's composition separates into the main vegetable ingredient and the mix of seasonings used to flavor the kimchi. While the napa cabbage variety ranks as the most popular type of kimchi, countless different types exist, including regional and seasonal varieties. Popular variants include kkakdugi (깍두기), a kimchi made with cubed radishes, and oh-ee so-bae-gi (오이소배기), a stuffed cucumber kimchi. Kkaennip (깻잎) kimchi features layers of perilla leaves marinated in soy sauce and other spices. The Kimchi Field Museum in Seoul has documented 187 historic and current varieties of kimchi. Although the most common seasonings include brine, garlic, scallions and chili pepper grind, the cook replaces or adds countless varieties of seasoning and ingredients depending on the type of kimchi made. Common seasonings also include ginger, onions, salted fish or shellfish as well as fruit or fresh seafood.
Kimchi comes in other forms than spicy or red. White kimchi (baekkimchi), seasoned without the chili pepper grind, and white radish kimchi (dongchimi), a popular kimchi without spice. Koreans eat a popular dish of cold noodles in "donchimi" brine (dongchimi gooksu) widely during the summer months.