Korean Job Discussion Forums

eamo · Joined: 08 Mar 2003 Location: Shepherd's Bush, 1964.

So, my g/f just got a shipment of Kimchi made by her mother in Jeolla-do. Fact is...It's disgusting!! Really sour and fishy.

So I asks her what's up with this Kimchi because actually I like kimchi but this stuff is revolting. It smells like a fish market in July.

She explains that Jeolla-do Kimchi is different from Seoul Kimchi which is usually eaten fresher and prepared with less hardcore ingredients.

This leads me to wonder if many of the foreigners who despise kimchi happen to be living out in the country where the stuff is much stronger.

Anyone tasted country kimchi as opposed to Seoul kimchi?

tommynomad · Joined: 24 Jul 2004 Location: on the move

Yup.

And I feel the same way. Old kimchi (can someone in the know please tell us the correct name for it?) tastes nasty. Like it's gone a little off. Like....

it tastes as bad as regular kimchi smelled the first time you smelled kimchi.

keithinkorea · Joined: 17 Mar 2004

Most Kimchi is horrible stuff in my experience. The fresh really spicey stuff I quite like but the old rotten fishey filthy smelling stuff turns my stomach. Especially if they have too much of the fish oil crap in it.

The fact that Koreans eat Kimchi all the time is a nightmare especially if you go into the country. I was in a taxi the other day - well almost- and the taxi driver had the worst Kimchi breath ever, I felt like demanding a discount. Well to be honest it could have been bad BO but it smelled heavily of garlic and rotten fish so I guess I'd caught him just after he had his lunch.

Old kimchi is nasty stuff indeed.

trevorcollins · Joined: 02 Jul 2004

matthewwoodford · Joined: 01 Oct 2003 Location: Location, location, location.

Cholla-do has the best food including the best kimchi. Your loss if you don't like it. The best tasting cheese can be the worst smelling too.

Zyzyfer · Posted: Thu Jan 06, 2005 9:06 am Post subject:

Fry it up eamo, like Jakob would.

For the record, Bundang kimbap shop kimchi tasteeees exactlly like Cheonan kimbap shop kimchi. And it all tastes off unless it's fried. Let's do kimchi lunch?

osangrl · Joined: 04 Nov 2003 Location: osan

Are you saying my breath stinks? Confused

W.T.Carl · Joined: 16 Jan 2003

There are two seasons for kimchee, summer and winter. The summer version was the more "pungent". There are also various regional differences in what they put in it. Some just put veggies and spices and let it go. Others put fish and raw clams ect. Used to be you could only get it home made, not prepackaged in the store. I never developed a taste for it.

Cthulhu · Joined: 02 Feb 2003

I'm a new kimchi guy all the way--fresh is good.

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

my girlfriend gave me a BIG container full of delicious kimjang kimchi that she and her mother made. but my fridge is not very good and it has matured rapidly. i love it this way - but my girlfriend prefers it fresh.

eamo - make it into kimchi jjigae or bokkeum bap....

OiGirl · Joined: 23 Jan 2003 Location: Hoke-y-gun

Cedar · Posted: Thu Jan 06, 2005 2:40 pm Post subject:

I make my own kimchi at home, I prefer my kimchi to be well-aged and moderately fishy. I've got the end of a batch in my fridge right now, and it's really at that "soup and fried" stage, which is what one does once the kimchi gets sour past a certain point.

Daechidong Waygookin · Posted: Thu Jan 06, 2005 3:49 pm Post subject:

Jeolla? BUAHAAH I laugh at those country hicks. Gyeongsangnam-do has the best food, and the best kimchi.

funplanet · Joined: 20 Jun 2003 Location: The new Bucheon!

there's nothing worse than getting on the train when the heater is blasting forth like Old Faithful and EVERYONE is farting kimchi...

Shocked

canadian_in_korea · Joined: 20 Jun 2004 Location: South Korea

My husband is also from Jeolla-do....his mom's kimchi/food was the first I had in Korea. Needless to say it spoiled me for all the rest. We went to the kimchi expo that was in Yangjae....no comparison to hers. Restaurants that people have said have the best food....hmmm...hers is still better. It could also be the fact that it is homemade. Back at home I'm sure everyone's mother's or grandmother's cooking is far better than any restaurant. Sometimes kimchi does taste a little fishy...the best I've had so far had pear juice in it...totally countered the fish taste. If you are getting kimchi from someone's mom....maybe they are adding extra things to it.....last time my mother-in-law sent kimchi I said to my husband...."I think its bad...what is this?"...he said..."oh that's just an oyster, sometimes my mom puts extra things in there"....hm..I don't think it was cooked....so I didnt' eat any of that kimchi.. Razz

Anyway, what food you like depends on your taste.....if you don't like fishy kimchi then you will most likely enjoy the kimchi from Seoul better than Jeolla province.