Kimchi good for other things besides stinking up an apartment!

**Airencracken** · 10-11-2005, 11:36 PM

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4347443.stm

Korean dish 'may cure bird flu'
By David Chazan
BBC News

Korean woman make huge batches of kimchi
Kimchi is a traditional staple of Korean cuisine
South Korea's spicy fermented cabbage dish, kimchi, could help to cure bird flu, according to researchers.

Scientists at Seoul National University say they fed an extract of kimchi to 13 infected chickens - and a week later 11 of them had started recovering.

The researchers said the results were far from scientifically proven and if kimchi did have the effects they observed, it was unclear why.

South Koreans are reported to be eating more kimchi as a result of the study.

"I'm eating kimchi these days because I've heard in the media that it helps prevent bird flu infections," one man said.

Love it or loathe it, once you have eaten it, you will never forget it. Kimchi is made by fermenting cabbage with red peppers, radishes and a lot of garlic and ginger.

The idea that it could help poultry to fight off bird flu sounds like a dubious folk remedy.

But the theory is being floated by some of Korea's most eminent scientists.

"We found that the chickens recovered from bird flu, Newcastle disease and bronchitis. The birds' death rate fell, they were livelier and their stools became normal," said Professor Kang Sa-ouk.

Sars link

There was an increase in kimchi consumption two years ago, when thousands of people in Asia contracted Sars (severe acute respiratory syndrome).

Kimchi was reported to have helped to prevent Sars. The claim was never scientifically proven, but according to some Koreans, people in other countries followed their example and started eating kimchi.

"After the Sars outbreak, I went to China and I noticed that the Korean restaurants there sold most of the kimchi they'd made that day," a Korean man said.

So one of Korea's national specialities may soon find a much bigger market. Whether it really is an effective remedy, only time and more research will tell.

**Jane83** · 10-12-2005, 12:06 AM

thats weird, but interesting, sounds too good to be true,...being korean and all, haha
i better not be getting any bird flus or sars

**kimchicowboy** · 10-12-2005, 04:06 AM

just eat it. it's so good. hahah

**Merlin** · 10-12-2005, 04:48 AM

My roomie in grad school ate that stuff all the time. It just smelled like ass. Man I hated that.

**speedracer120** · 10-12-2005, 07:00 AM

But Merlin, it tastes oh so good.

The news is old, I think someone posted a similar link back during the SARS scare. I don't think I saw it mentioned but most people believe it has to do with the high garlic content.

**Merlin** · 10-12-2005, 07:30 AM

Originally Posted by speedracer120

But Merlin, it tastes oh so good.

Ah no. I tried it and it just as nasty tasting as it was smelling.

How in the world can people eat that crap?

**raimin** · 10-12-2005, 07:35 AM

oh its good, and when it get overly ripened and sour...kimchi chigae time

**tupacboy** · 10-12-2005, 08:17 AM

Originally Posted by raimin

oh its good, and when it get overly ripened and sour...kimchi chigae time

personally thats when i like my kimchi... just when its a little over ripened... some kimchi a day keeps the disease away!!!

**CornMonkey** · 10-12-2005, 08:47 AM

kimchi helped me regrow my arm in a horrific industrial accident!

thanks kimchi!

**zenbooty** · 10-12-2005, 08:49 AM

Kimchi's great. I had no idea it was fermented, though. I thought it was just pickled in vinegar and chilis.

**nickel** · 10-12-2005, 08:51 AM

Originally Posted by CornMonkey

kimchi helped me regrow my arm in a horrific industrial accident!

thanks kimchi!

infomercial dude!

**speedracer120** · 10-12-2005, 10:48 AM

Oh you know it's fermented when it's perfectly ripe. If you only had restaurant kimchi, you're usually just getting the quick seasoning style. Those are at max about a week old.

OG kimchi is seasoned in winter and opened and eatten throughout the year. It's all the rage to have a kimchi refrigerator to mimic the conditions the kimchi would endure in clay pots that would be buried frozen under the ground.

**cheapchinese** · 10-12-2005, 10:58 AM

Kimchi Tofu Soup today

the one next to my albertson is the best. yong dong

**kimchicowboy** · 10-12-2005, 11:10 AM

y'all making me hungry for some korean food. need to get me some kimchi this weekend

**speedracer120** · 10-12-2005, 11:17 AM

I want some good home cooked meals. Damn I hate cooking.

**ShawnLee** · 10-12-2005, 11:23 AM

As my brother complains about his lack of Korean food, I sit here eating a Hot Pocket.

I'm cool with or without, but I don't put too much stock in its miraculous abilities to heal. We're talking cabbage and spices here, it might be good for you but I highly doubt that it's aspirin-levels of wonderful.

**zenbooty** · 10-12-2005, 11:43 AM

Originally Posted by speedracer120

Oh you know it's fermented when it's perfectly ripe. If you only had restaurant kimchi, you're usually just getting the quick seasoning style. Those are at max about a week old.

I get glass jars of it at the japanese grocer down the road from me. Where I used to live their was a bodega run by a korean couple and they would make their own which I would get.

**speedracer120** · 10-12-2005, 11:45 AM

Yeah, let the kimchi sit in your fridge for a month plus, even if it's screwed on tight, that fridge will start to smell because of the pressure buildup.

**RoniMan** · 10-12-2005, 02:12 PM

mmm...homemade kimchi!

when my family used to own a restaurant, my stepdad would make it all the time. but now,

**tupacboy** · 10-12-2005, 02:31 PM

there's a lady near ktown of fedora, that sells kimchi out of her house... its the bomb!!! kinda pricey... $20 bux for the large jar... but really worth it... i buy mine from her...