Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion The Water Cooler Anybody ever try making Kimchi ?

Yeah, I lived in Korea for a while. I guess that helps

I just found another downside...

My current house is not real big, but the basement is fully finished so that helps a lot. The only unfinished room is the laundry room, with a bare concrete floor.

I walked into the laundry room this morning and was sure that one of the dogs had taken a dump somewhere in the room (all of the family dogs tend to poop in front of the dryer if you leave the door open, I don't know why).

I searched around, even behind the furnace and the beer fridge, but didn't find a thing. Eventually I concluded that the smell was coming from the second batch of Kimchi, which had now been fermenting for a couple of days. It's pretty impressive really -- the stuff bubbles gently, and the lid (I use Rubbermaid containers) bulges like a five year old can of tuna.

Popped the lid and "phfftt", I knew where the smell was coming from. Guess this is why the Koreans (and Germans) ferment their cabbage outside.

Like a fine cheese, however, the stuff does taste better than it smells

In reply to:

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Guess this is why the Koreans (and Germans) ferment their cabbage outside.

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As someone that thinks exotic food is a chimichanga, I tip my hat to your adventurous palette. The idea of oriental fermented ANYTHING (especially the writings of SEAL Team Six founder CDR Richard "Dick" Marcinko, USN Ret. talking about his experiences with "real" Nuc Mam - fish buried in clay pots and left to rot) really doesn't appeal to me.

Bren R.

Don't worry... everyone has their limits and I have mine. In my case it was "Thousand Year Eggs" in Nanjing -- raw eggs buried in (I think) limestone and left to "think about things" for several months. The rain and the limestone leach the calcium out of the shells leaving them kind of leathery, the egg yolk turns into a grey crumbly thing, and the egg white turns into what can only be described as purple jelly.

Apparently you eat these. Despite my curiousity, I can not tell you how they taste.

Man, this stuff is just plain gross.

Thousand Year Old Egg

I'm thinking a rack of ribs on the slow cooker might be sounding pretty darn good about now.

May I tip my hat to you as well! I had spent some time in the Phillipines and in Hong Kong(before the Brits left) and while I did get to know some of the families fairly well, I have to admit that their foods weren't, uh..quite as adventurous.

I thought I was going on the wild side by simply considering a fourth version of cabbage

But...since none of the little ones are any longer in diapers, I don't really have an explanation for the aroma should some visitors come a callin'

That dosent't mean were going to stop researching the matter, just perhaps tempering our expectations a bit

and perhaps waiting just a little so we can shut off the air conditioner and open some windows

I spent a few weeks in Korea on contract w/ the Army in '95. My side trips were only to most of the bases like Camp Casey, the one in Seoul just next to Itaewan, and Wonju.

I did develop a liking for bibimbap but have yet to find a place stateside that will cook it in a real cast iron bowl. I think our liability concerns keep restaurants from serving it correctly...

I'm Filipino so my tastebuds can be a little adventurous. Granted I don't eat balut, never could stomach it.

Balut...yeah heard of that...

....didn't try "it" either