View Single Post
Old January 12, 2020   #78
GoDawgs
Tomatovillian™
 
GoDawgs's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2018
Location: Augusta area, Georgia, 8a/7b
Posts: 1,685
Default

Wow, the taste of kimchi... it's pretty hard to describe. Those of us who like it think it's an an exotic mix of vegetal flavors with some heat and a tang. Those who don't like it often say it tastes like a ripe compost bucket smells.

Lauryn Chun, the author of The Kimchi Cookbook tells of the various stages kimchi goes through. You can eat it after just a couple of days and it will be pretty crunchy. You can easily sort out the separate tastes of cabbage, turnip and onion. As it ages the vegetables start to soften and at six weeks they're pretty limp and there is no longer an individual taste of the vegetables as they have all merged into something unique. It lasts for ages in the refrigerator.

No two kimchis are the same as it's one of those things where you use what you have. I understand that Koreans have summer kimchi and winter kimchi based on what's in the garden at that time and probably everything in between. You can even use the process to make it with just cubes of daikon radish. I add daikon slices or matchsticks to kimchi if there's any daikon coming from the garden.

Fish sauce... I've made kimchi with fish sauce and also with the tiny salted shrimp that some recipes call for and don't care for either versions so I leave it out. I think I'll amend the recipe I posted to say (optional) on the fish sauce.

Heat level is to taste. We don't use the full amount of gochugaru pepper flakes as the recipe calls for. But it's that kind of hot pepper that is hot at first and then the heat goes away relatively quickly.

We also use just the plain green cabbage as the groceries out here in Cow Pie County don't carry it.

Kimchi is really easy to make!

https://www.amazon.com/Kimchi-Cookbo.../dp/1607743353

Last edited by GoDawgs; January 12, 2020 at 10:42 AM.
GoDawgs is offline   Reply With Quote