Korean Job Discussion Forums

tsgarp · Joined: 01 Dec 2003

Nothing like getting up at the crack of noon.

desultude · Posted: Wed Jan 28, 2004 7:46 pm Post subject:

I've been considering trying to make a kimchi/sauercraut fusion- hot sauercraut, or sour kimchi. I'm going to mess with it. I think suaercraut with some garlic and heat could really kick. Needless to say, I like both, and cabbage in any form, for that matter. But I have some seriously German ancestors, and grew up on the stuff.

fidel · Joined: 07 Feb 2003 Location: North Shore NZ

Have TWO kimchi fridges stacked to the brim with every type of salted, spiced, vegetables you could imagine. Cottoned on to it soon after arrival and have never looked back. Great with meats, kimbab, rice dishes... well come to think of it almost everything I eat over here I smother in Kimchi. Some people smother their food in ketchup. Pales in comparison to what my friend calls, ".... that infernal korean fire food".

Eazy_E · Joined: 30 Oct 2003 Location: British Columbia, Canada

I find it easy to tell the difference between good and bad kimchi... the good stuff is tasty and crispy, and the bad stuff is sour and soggy. You don't have to be a connoisseur to tell the difference. If it's good, you want to eat more and if it's bad it makes you cringe and shudder.

Tiberious aka Sparkles · Joined: 23 Jan 2003 Location: I'm one cool cat!

Kimchi FN rocks. Dude.

Sparkles*_*

hojucandy · Joined: 03 Feb 2003 Location: In a better place

i eat it at least twice a day... LOVE the stuff!!!

when i was in australia for a break about a year ago i had great difficulty finding good kimchi to eat. its half the reason i came back here - and one third the reason i stay here still.

Mr. Pink · Joined: 21 Oct 2003 Location: China

Tiberious aka Sparkles · Joined: 23 Jan 2003 Location: I'm one cool cat!

Funny thing is, when Wifey and I were back in Cananada two years ago, we picked up some kimchi at a Korean convenience store in Hamilton, Ontario -- and it was labelled as "spicy sauerkraut". It was made by that famous pickle company. You know the one, right? Because I can no longer remember the name (their company colors are red and green, if that helps).

Sparkles*_*

kiwiboy_nz_99 · Joined: 05 Jul 2003 Location: ...Enlightenment...

You know I would LOVE kimchi if it weren't made with the tiny sprats. I cant' stand fish products of any kind and am very sensitive to the flavour they bring to anything. I have no problem with the fermenting and the heat, I just can't stand the fish element. Some places do make it without the fish, in that case I inhale the stuff.

desultude · Posted: Wed Jan 28, 2004 10:44 pm Post subject:

Yes-I'll have to work on a recipe:

First-NO fishy stuff (I do love fish, but not all of the strong fishy stuff.)
I would want heat, but a cleaner, fresher heat- habeneros?

Any other suggestions for kimcraut?

Gord · Joined: 25 Feb 2003

Corporal · Joined: 25 Jan 2003

Tiberious aka Sparkles · Joined: 23 Jan 2003 Location: I'm one cool cat!

I FN love the 'chi, as previously mentioned; but here is some anecdotal evidence that helps back up the assumption that many westerners do, in fact, not:

Wifey and I sent some kimchi via airmail to the folksies in Cananada a few years back (this was when Wifey was still 'Girly Girl', and her propaganda machine was in full effect; she wanted to send everything essentially Korean to my parents, who had not yet met her and didn't even realize what a smokin' hottie their baby boy had fished out of the water). As I mentioned, I love kimchi; and I have a hard time -- as most Koreans do -- coming to terms with the fact that others do not. That anything that makes me feel so good could ever, ever make anyone feel so bad.

If loving you is right, girl, I don't wanna be wrong.

Anyway, my parents got the package, and when I called them a month later and asked them how much they loved the stuff, my mom's answer was this:

"Uh, well...I don't really go for spicy stuff. I think your sister likes it! Your brother says it smells like somebody's old, rancid socks. Your father and I want to try it some time -- unless it's too hot, in which case I just can't eat it; it makes me gag; and your father farts like a geiser whenever he eats Tex-Mex, but I'll let him have as much as he wants and make him sleep on the couch --, but as you know we're both so busy with work and other things. Plus, it looks like a pretty skimpy meal by itself. Is there anything you could recommend to go along with it?"

True story.

And mom: eberyting goes well with 'chi. Even spaghetti.

Sparkles*_*

tsgarp · Joined: 01 Dec 2003

VanIslander · Posted: Thu Jan 29, 2004 8:23 am Post subject:

Just as Pusan is now Busan, so kimchi is now gimchi.

And I love the stuff.

Most of my students prefer new gimchi over old gimchi both in terms of convenience and taste. New gimchi is freshly made the same day or week with little to no fermentation. I prefer old gimchi, sour and soggy after its aged in all its traditional glory.

It's the first thing I taste with most Korean meals and I've been known to complain when it's not served. Of course, I'm talking about the common cabbage gimchi, though I do like radish, leek and other veggie gimchi.

Gimchi is especially good with soju, a smoother combination than the screaming-hot wings and vodka back home.

I don't find gimchi to be particularly hot. Sometimes garlic makes me reach for a drink but only the rare onion makes me suffer pain.

The pleasures of spice.

"Ah, mul jaseyo."