Kimchi a fat burner!?

Eating healthy comes from thinking healthy, and thinking healthy comes from great information. If you think the fast-food world’s grip on modern society is too hard to overcome, let me add some grease (no pun intended) to .loosen its grasp.  We all know veggies in the diet can be a mental nightmare for some, especially since its “healthy”.  This is the hardest part, then that’s it. It’s like riding a bike for the first time, you might be hesitant at first, but if the bike feels nice and you do chances are, you’re not getting off.

Traditional American veggie dishes lack flavoring and rely heavily on dressings and some sort of topping.  Well, I have some good news for you, the Korean dish “Kimchi” is all that, and then some.  It’s marinated, sweet like honey, and has just enough spices to satisfy the loneliest part of your taste buds.  What’s not to like? It’s no mystery it’s the most popular dish in Korea and rated as one of the world’s most-healthy dishes. 

First let’s get down to brass tax.  Kimchi is a fat burner.  Not like the pills and powder mess you see people indulge their already lean bodies with.  It’s more of the natural kind, the way nature intended. The three main ingredients are Napa Cabbage, Garlic, and chili paste.  First off, its prepared through a fermentation process which allows lactic acid to absorb into the food creating a healthy bacteria called Lactobacillus kimchii.  This stuff helps your body produce more lactic acid, which regulates your digestion and actually BOOSTS your metabolism.  Everyone already knows about garlic’s health benefits: cancer-fighting agents, great for lowering cholesterol.  The chili paste used contains capsaicin which helps you feel fuller throughout the day.  

Now here is the tricky part.  Mess it up, the health benefits are still there, just not the taste that I want you all to experience. You take the baechu, which is made by stuffing a Napa cabbage with fish paste, garlic, and a red chili paste mixture, placing it in a thick stoneware pot, and then allowing it to ferment in the sun.  The taste depends on how long you allow it to ferment.  I like to add sugar to mine so it has a sweet tasting spiciness to it.  Afterwards, cut them up into little pieces and your now eating something made for over thousands of years.  Enjoy! 

Ingredients

Chinese cabbage                     

(approximately 1 lb)

1/2 cup sea salt

1/2 teaspoon of Cayenne                  

 pepper

6 Finely chopped scallions

2 finely chopped garlic cloves

                                                                   5 cm grated ginger

                                                                   3~4 teaspoons chopped chili

                                                                   1 tablespoon fine sugar

                                                                    2 1/2 cups drinking water