If non-Koreans know the name of one Korean food, it's kimchi. Every year, South Korea exports some 35,000 tons of the traditional Korean dish, which is made of fermented vegetables—usually cabbage or radishes. You can buy it by the truckload at Korean-American megastores like Super H-Mart.

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Yet, concerned that foreigners just aren't eating enough kimchi, the Korean government made like the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and created a kimchi alert system to make it easier for consumers to tell what kind of kimchi—mild, slightly hot, moderately hot, very hot, or extremely hot—is right for them.