“Black” Girl Kimchi

 Kimchi is a traditional fermented Korean food that is as old as Korean people. The earliest kimchi’s are speculated to have been made as early as 57 B.C.E. when there was no refrigeration. Picked and fermented foods allowed safe storage. Korean women would prepare kimchi during the winter and bury them in ceramic pots. As Buddhism spread and people turned to vegetarian lifestyles, the dish increased in popularity. 

Originally made with radishes the dish took on many variations as access to new foods allowed. Today Chinese cabbage is a popular fermented/pickled food. Other popular varieties of kimchi include cucumber, mushrooms, leeks, bamboo shoots, and mustard leaves.  

Spicy varieties of Kimchi like this one came about in the early 1600’s when the Portuguese brought hot peppers from the Americas into Korea. It was around this time when soy sauce became a thing and ended the reliance on salt as a preservative forever changing the experience of fermented and picked foods. 

I named this “Black” girl Kimchi to bring attention to the fact that Asian food and culture has always been influenced by “black” culture despite what modern media and American culture would have you to recognize in the modern Asian narrative. Before the Han migrations of 1600 BC original inhabitants of places like China were populated by blacks who had arrived 100,000 years prior from Africa, Taiwan, New Guinea, Melanesia, Polynesia Madagascar and Southeast Asia. These people were called negritos. Other groups to note are the Jamon and the Ainu. 

Check out this link for more https://atlantablackstar.com/2014/03/06/black-striking-images-various-types-black-people-around-world/3/