Korean kimchi tradition boosted by health scare

SEOUL, Nov 30(Reuters) Parasite eggs can sometimes bejust the thing to bring families together.

Last year, South Koreans were alarmed for the safety of their kimchi -- the spicy pickled cabbage they eat with almost every meal -- after parasite eggs were found in kimchi imported from China, where farmers often use human excrement as fertiliser.

That crisis subsided.

In its wake, more South Koreans started making kimchi at home, found they enjoyed it and that has given new life to the traditional communal effort of producing fiery fermented foods.

Autumn is the time for ''Kimjang'', a traditional Korean event when kimchi is prepared for the coldest months of winter. At both ends of the divided peninsula, homes stock up on cabbage, garlic, ginger and power-packed peppers dried in the sun.

The South is bracing for a perfect storm this Kimjang season thanks to cheap prices for ingredients, a batch of new converts to homemade pickled cabbage and the spread of high-tech kimchi home appliances.

At Kimjang, groups pickle dozens of cabbages or radishes, plunging their arms elbow-deep into a peppery red paste before rubbing it all over the vegetables. Traditionally these were then stored in earthenware containers buried in the ground.

''The Kimjang tradition is alive and has only become stronger,'' said Park Ki-hwan, a research fellow with the Korean Rural Economic Institute. ''More people returned to it last year due to health concerns and they have stuck with it.'' No fewer than 47.2 per cent of South Korean households are expected to make their own kimchi this year, the institute said in a survey, up from 45.4 per cent two years ago. It said it lacked data from earlier years.

EASIER THAN DIGGING HOLES Experts said the number of South Koreans making their own kimchi had been tailing off over the past decade as more young couples moved to urban areas.

They found it easier to buy kimchi at local supermarkets than to dig holes to bury it in the yard.

More city apartments now come equipped with special fridges to keep kimchi at the proper temperature for long storage -- and, incidentally, ensure its pungent odour does not taint other foodstuffs.

While kimchi can be made from almost any vegetable, it typically consists of cabbages or radishes.

Koreans started producing a pickled dish similar to kimchi in about the 7th century to keep vegetables in their diet during the harsh winters. They didn't know it but they were topping up their Vitamin C levels.

The 2005 kimchi scare convinced South Koreans like Min Jeong-sun it was time she learned how to make the national dish.

''It tastes better when I make it myself,'' said Min, 23.

''Kimchi sold in stores has too many artificial ingredients.'' With the resurgence of Kimjang, part of a lost generation of Korean youth who never learned to make kimchi now have hands-on experience, companies have increased kimchi donations to charities, and Seoul health stores have waiting lists for organic cabbages due to soaring demand.

The village spirit has been revived in families and among urban neighbours, who unfold tables, pile ingredients in plastic baskets and gossip as they make a year's worth of kimchi.

In November, more than 5,000 Yakult employees -- dressed in the beverage company's mustard yellow uniforms, elbow-length rubber gloves and shower caps -- pickled 120,000 cabbages for charities such as orphanages.

Kimjang knows few bounds.

For lonely individuals, kimchi factories have started offering cooking tours where a person can make his or her own kimchi and walk away with about 20 kg of fermenting food.

For astronauts, South Korea's science ministry is working on a plan to send a kimchi kit into orbit when its first astronaut blasts off into space in 2008.

Even impoverished North Korea celebrates the kimchi-making season. A recent official news report said women were ringing kimchi factories for technical advice and markets were jammed with people buying ingredients.

''The topic among women is how to prepare tasty kimchi,'' the KCNA news agency said.

REUTERS AKJ KP1120