Kimchi

Fermented cabbage and other vegetables highly charged with spice, kimchi (also written kimchee) is Korean cuisine’s most recognizable side dish, as well as an ingredient in soups and stews. Its distinct aroma has limited its popularity in restaurant kitchens, but many cutting-edge eateries in the U.S. have made a point of using it for its powerfully pickly umami. Meltz, an eclectic sandwich shop in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, adds kimchi relish to a Dagwood known as the Korean Krazy. Whiskey Alley in Aiken, South Carolina, offers kimchi-braised pork shoulder. A food truck in Boulder, Utah, called Magnolia’s Street Food makes breakfast tacos that include house-fermented kimchi. Another breakfast dish, at Saddle Creek Breakfast Club In Omaha, Nebraska, is a kimchi omelet drizzled with unagi sauce.