Kimchi, Korea's national dish, is a phenomenon. The sheer numbers speak for themselves: The average Korean eats about 40 pounds of kimchi a year, according to one source. That means 1.6 million tons of kimchi is consumed in South Korea annually.  In fact, when South Korea sent its first man into space last year, he took with him a specially created, bacteria-free space kimchi to share with his Russian counterparts at the International Space Station.