The British daily iNews on March 3 said in the article titled "How gut-friendly, Korean snack Kimchi became a lockdown favourite in the UK" that the condiment's growing popularity in the U.K. is due to surging interest in healthier lifestyles and traditional kitchen methods. (Screen capture from iNews website)

By Kim Hyelin and Yoon Hee Young

Kimchi has grabbed the culinary spotlight in the U.K.

The British daily iNews on March 3 analyzed the growing popularity of the spicy condiment in the article titled "How gut-friendly, Korean snack Kimchi became a lockdown favourite in the UK." 

Reporter Sophie Morris said, "It has until recently been mostly restricted to gut-health enthusiasts or food-obsessed folk but our search for healthier lifestyles and interest in traditional kitchen methods are leading more of us to this Korean cabbage dish."

She also said a company that supplies kimchi to restaurants run by Pat Bingley last year sold eight times more volume in November than March, showing how kimchi sales skyrocketed after the first U.K. lockdown due to COVID-19.

The BBC on its website has a section showing how to make vegan kimchi without jeotgal (salted seafood). (Screen capture from BBC website)

Other leading British media have introduced kimchi in a variety of ways.

The Telegraph on Feb. 14 in the article titled "Three lockdown lunch ideas to try this week" recommended kimchi bokkeumbap, or rice fried with eggs, vegetables, chili and kimchi, as a lunch idea.

In the Feb. 22 article titled "Five ways to improve how well your vaccine works, with the help of Dr. Michael Mosley," the daily recommended kimchi as a probiotic food along with yogurt and cheese, saying caring for the digestive system can help boost the effect of a vaccine.

The BBC posted kimchi recipes on a bulletin board on its website, while The Guardian on Feb. 16 suggested making kimchi pancakes in the article titled "Flip your ideas: savoury pancakes for dinner" by "mixing with a bit of rice flour, baking powder and a touch of milk or plant-based milk, then frying."

kimhyelin211@korea.kr