kimchi

noun

kim·​chi ˈkim-chē 

variants or less commonly kimchee

: a spicy, pungent vegetable dish that consists of one or more pickled and fermented vegetables and especially napa cabbage and radishes with various seasonings (such as garlic, red chili pepper, ginger, scallions, and anchovy paste) and that is the national dish of South Korea

To Koreans, life without "kimchi"—that spicy, fermented pickled vegetable mixture, which accompanies every Korean meal—is unthinkable.

—K. Connie Kang

Korean buckwheat noodles have more of a kick, often delivered with a little spicy kimchi.

—David Tanis

Examples of kimchi in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

In 2013, tensions between the two countries flared over a Chinese measure that effectively blocked imports of South Korean kimchi at a time when China’s own kimchi exports to South Korea were surging. —Bonnie S. Glaser, Foreign Affairs, 15 Feb. 2017

Favorite hobbies: Poker, working out, personal growth, eating kimchi. —Dalton Ross, EW.com, 4 Sep. 2024

After shoppers are finished picking up their kimchi and frog legs, an in-store ice cream shop called Frutopia waits on the other side of the cash registers. —Jenna Thompson, Kansas City Star, 23 May 2024

The cultural values of taste, creativity and style that create a kimchi or a sauerkraut go on to support distinct microbiomes on those foods and inside the people who eat them. —Joseph Orkin, Discover Magazine, 20 Apr. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Korean kimch'i

First Known Use

1888, in the meaning defined above