Korean Job Discussion Forums

[J Rock]

I just had Dinner at my in-laws house and my wife's mom makes the WORST home made kimchi in the world. Before I explain what it tasted like I should point out that I�m not really a picky eater at all and I eat kimchi everyday.

Now on to my Mother in laws Kimchi, it has an orange color to, which by itself wouldn�t put me off if it still tasted good. I ate a piece of it and it was so sour I cringed and my face puckered up. It was rubbery and had no heat or sweet taste to it, just an overpowering sour taste. I couldn�t even taste anything just sourness. I didn�t eat any more by itself but did move on to the kimchi chiggae.

I should also note that every time we go over to their house, the grandma gives me history lessons about old time Korea. I don�t really mind because she�s a nice old lady (nice old lady that wanted to kill me when she found out her granddaughter was pregnant, but has since gotten over it) and she gets really excited when she talks about when she used to be young. Well I had mentioned that my favorite Korean food of all time was Kimchi Chiggae. She told me that Kimchi Chiggae was originally invented because they always had leftover Kimchi and right before it got to the rotten point they made it into soup. Being in the soup it hid the flavor just enough so that you couldn�t tell it was about to go bad.

So as I took my first spoonful of soup I was hoping it would taste different than the kimchi alone. Nope it tasted just like the awful kimchi, awful isn�t even the right word it was just disgusting. The broth even tasted sour and just had no flavor. I have never ever had Kimchi Chiggae that bad in my life, and they were all chowing it down like it was the best soup in history and kept saying, �OOOHHH, AAAAHHHH, DELICIOUS!!!!!!.�
The one person I was looking to appeal to was my sister in laws boyfriend, he was a cook while he was in the army and has made me Kimchi Chiggae because I was curious if the �army version� was different than the restaurant version, they were both equally awesome. I�m looking at him like are you really eating this crap?

After we left I said to my wife, �your moms Kimchi tastes a little different than other Kimchi.� She�s like �how so?� I didn�t want to be a jerk and say it sucked so I let it go.

Anyone else have in laws who cook like crap? I guess maybe it wasn�t the cooking of it but the flavor was god awful. Who knows, I wonder if it�s gonna look bad if I bring my own kimchi next time I go over there?

[sml7285]

[giraffe]

I must be lucky ... My mother in laws cooking is awesome ! She cooks everything. And beats any Korean restaurant out of the water :p. at least I think so ! All the different kimchi she makes is wonderful. Not quite sure how I would handle your situation though :/. Maybe Suggest going to restaurant. Ext time instead of them cooking

[Zulethe]

The Kimchee you ate was "old" kimchee as you probably already know. I personally prefer old kimchee for kimchee chigae but new kimchee for everyday eating.

The older generation generally prefer old kimchee.

T

[Jonephant]

my mother in-laws cooking is really bad but she knows i think its bad and we all have a laugh about it. I might say at the dinner table that "this kimchee tastes suspiciously good" and my mother in-law will say "i bought it cause i knew you were coming to dinner" and we all laugh.

[soomin]

[Modernist]

Of all the Korean foods I dislike, I dislike kimchi the absolute most. Hate it, would be a more accurate description. When I first got here I tried at least a dozen different kinds and wanted to vomit each time. Going past the kimchi stalls in my local market still stimulates the same reaction. I have not touched kimchi in almost a year and I don't intend to do it again, ever.

That said, has ANYONE in a serious relationship with a Korean, male or female, been able to handle just saying, 'I don't like kimchi. I don't want to eat it, ever, not even a little, no matter who makes it. Any kimchi, ever'? Is it posible to do this, or is it REQUIRED that you pretend to like it? Are Koreans capable of grasping that people can just not like kimchi, and that fact does not bear on anything else necessarily [e.g., hating Korea itself, or being closed-minded, or whatever]? I just HATE the stuff. I REALLY do. It's like the perfect creation to generate absolute revulsion in me.

[Jonephant]

[yodanole]

Some guy with mother-in-law problems. Now I've heard everything! Old, sour kimchi is more delicious to me than fresh. Fresh kimchi is basically only a Korean cabbage salad.

[soomin]

[Hugo85]

I love old kimchi. Your in-laws food is not terrible, your sense of taste just hasn't gotten used to it. It's like people who can't eat raw oyster, blue cheese or any other number of things people learn to like (and love).

[fermentation]

lol at people who are chiding the TS for not getting the taste of old kimchi. It's possible that it is too old. I prefer sour kimchi myself but sometimes people mess up the containing process or their kimchi fridge malfunctions it just gets too sour to the point it is hard to eat with a straight face.

[tiger fancini]

[Daantaat]

[soomin]