Let's talk about gas. Not the kind you put in your car (Which is about $1.62 per liter, for anyone who cares to do the math). Not the kind that you fuel your stove with, but you're getting warmer: it is natural gas. That's right. Methane. Pure intestinal air bubbles. In America we all know that releasing these little pockets out into the world is rude and we recognize that it should be done in private, if not at least incognito.
In Korea however it's a whole 'nother story. At least in my family it's treated like a sneeze. No matter where you are (be it the park, church, the dinner table, teaching a piano lesson, lint rolling the floor) the expulsion of gas is treated as perfectly normal and acceptable. In fact, no one even blinks. It's passed off more nonchalantly even than a sneeze. No matter what the volume, whatever is natural is completely fine.
This has been your cultural oddity moment of the day.
(If I could have taken a picture, I would have, but it always catches me so off guard. Plus you can't really capture gas on film / a memory card.)
REASONS WHY KIMCHI GIVES YOU GAS:
ReplyDelete* The nutritional functions of Kimchi
1. The source of nutritional varieties - Salted and fermented anchovies and shrimp used in
kimchi as ingredients are good sources of protein, amino acids and fats, that are lacking in
vegetables and rice. In the process of fermentation, the protein of shrimps and anchovies is
hydrolyzed into Amino Acids. Vegetables, which are a major ingredient of Kimchi, have
sufficient minerals such as calcium, copper, phosphorus, iron, and salt. This helps those
who eat rice as the staple food to absorb Vitamin B and C.
2. The peculiar color and taste stimulate the appetite - Ripe Kimchi is fermented food
which makes an organic acid, alcohol, and ester, and this stimulates appetite.
3. Kimchi helps digestion - Kimchi cleans the intestines with the synthetic effect of the
juice from vegetables and salt. And it facilitates the secretion of Pectin, the enzyme of
protein hydrolysis. It helps digestion and absorption, and stabilizes the distribution of
microorganism.
4. Kimchi cleans the intestines - The diet fiber which is sufficient in Kimchi prevents
constipation and diseases such as enteritis or colonitis.
5. Kimchi behaves as an antibiotics as it ferments - Lactic acid which comes from Kimchi
when fermented, suppresses harmful germs and prevents unusual fermentation in the
intestines. Lactic acid has a sour taste.
6. Various spices such as garlic, red pepper, and ginger have medical effects. - Kimchi is
the good alkaline food which prevents acid toxicosis which is the result of overeating
acidic food.