Water kimchi good for beauty

Kimchi is Korean fermented vegetables that are popular also in Japan. You can find several kinds in any supermarket, however, they usually contain some fish products. I had thought it was almost impossible to find vegan one.

Several days ago, I happened to find kimchi looking very different from other familiar kinds of kimchi that were all red with red pepper. It was water kimchi containing ten ingredients. According to the label, they were Chinese cabbage, white radish, cherry tomato, apple, paprika, small green onion, honeydew melon, carrot, pine nut, and goji berry soaked in mixture of salt, ginger, garlic, wheat flour, brewed vinegar, and red pepper. Like many processed foods in Japan, it also contained amino acid. I didn’t like it, but this kimchi seemed to vegan, and I couldn’t miss the chance to take it. I bought it immediately because it was the last pack on the shelf.

I kept it in the refrigerator and put it in a glass bowl before eating. It looked beautiful with cherry tomato and honeydew melon. Kimchi often contains fruits while Japanese pickles don't have them.

Soon after I began to eat it, I turned off the air conditioner in the room because I realized that it is best to eat this kind of kimchi on a hot day when you sweat a lot. The vegetables and fruits were fresh. The cherry tomato kept its sweetness. The soup was sour, cold, and refreshing. I drank it up and thought it might be best to eat it with hot chickpea curry in the height of summer.

On the shelf in Seijo Ishii, where I bought this kimchi, there was an explanation saying that it is an old type of kimchi without red pepper (the product contained red pepper actually, but not as a major ingredient). According to some websites, water kimchi contains much lactic acid bacterium and is good for beauty and dieting. That may be the reason why it was almost sold out when I found it.