Kimchi Mamas

Kimchi Without the Kimchi

Photo Credit L.A. Times

The L.A. Times reports that Kim Soon-ja of South Korea has invented odorless, freeze-dried kimchi.  I'm no fan of kimchi breath or kimchi-flavored butter, but odorless kimchi sounds like an oxymoron to me. I'll stick to the stinky stuff, thank you.

In other food news, it turns out my daughter's addiction to dried seaweed is actually a good thing. If it were up to her, she would eat nothing but rice and gim at every meal. According to this article from Yahoo Health, seaweed is full of potassium and calcium. Who knew?

--Weigook Saram

Kimchi (making) Virgin

Picture is stolen from http://korean-cuisine.blogspot.com.

So, yesterday, I made kimchi for the first time.  Actually, I made khak-doo-ghi, not kimchi. Khak doo ghi is pickled moo/daikon/radish (whatever you want to call that vegetable).

It was really fun!

I followed the recipe from Korean Cuisine and maangchi . They both seem like DA BEST Korean cooks, don't they?

To be honest, I actually made khak doo ghi before... but I just guessed the recipe.  Needless to say, it turned out disastrously and I ended up throwing the entire batch away.  I am really really hoping that this batch will turn out good.  Currently, it is fermenting in my garage.  I will share the results in the comments.

It was somewhat cathartic to put my plastic gloves on and mix up the ingredients... I don't know... it was like I was getting a kimchi hand massage.  =)  And only a few pieces fell on the floor.  Note to self for next time: use a LARGE container when mixing.

My 2 year old LOVES washed out kimchi so I hope he'll like washed out khak doo ghi too.

Have you ever made your own kimchi? Share your experience with us!  =)

-Mary

Crimes of Kimchi

My husband arrived home today bearing a rectangular box wrapped in two shopping bags. It transpired that his co-worker John* had a layover at the Incheon airport on the way from Hong Kong, and impulsively bought us a gift. I smelled it before I saw it.

A kimchi gift set.

I'm not exactly sure how long it takes to fly from Incheon to L.A., but by the time the kimchi arrived at our house, the plastic packaging was bulging alarmingly. At least it didn't explode.

My husband ate the kimchi with chicken pot pie.

--Weigook Saram

*Name changed to protect the guilty.

Open Thread Thursday

Welcome to Open Thread Thursday. What's on your mind today?

--The Kimchi Mamas

RANT

This post is a rant, be warned.

I just came home with my husband who just had lasix surgery.  Anyway, while we were waiting for the operation, the surgeon came and started chit-chatting with me.  His first question was.  "Where were you born?"  Or "Were you born in America?"  Or something like that.  I replied, "I was born in Korea."  He replied, "It's interesting that you have a Chinese husband."  I replied, "No, he was born in Korea too."

Then he went on to tell me how the Korean Ribs from Costco were so good and asked if I ate kimchi.

Later on, after the surgery, when he was examining my husband's eyes, he was all, "Does your wife make good kimchi?"  My husband replied, "She doesn't make kimchi."  He was all, "Oh, really?"  Or something like that.  Then he went on about how the Korean Ribs from Costco were so good...

-Mary

Video: The cutest appliance commercial ever?

Check out this commercial for Samsung's kimchi fridge.

kimchi & blue

Speaking of kimchi, this weekend I was leafing through an urban outfitters catalog.  It's not my favorite store in the world by a long shot, but somehow, their catalog has been following me everywhere that I move.

Anyway, they have a lot of clothes by a company/line called "kimchi & blue."  The clothes are a little too trendy and too pricy for my tastes, but I"m really curious to find out more about the company.  I've done a couple of google searches, and I can't find anything.  Does anyone else know anything about this company/line?  I'm really hoping that it's Korean-owned, not just something that took the word kimchi because it made a hipster-cool-non-sequitor name.

~ eliaday

Top Chef Does Korean Food

On this week's episode of Top Chef, Bravo TV's reality show/cooking competition, the contestants were divided into two teams that had to prepare Korean and Vietnamese dishes.  The funniest part of the whole show was when they announced that they would be doing Korean and Vietnamese, the contestants all had looks on their faces like, "What crawled into the wall and died?  Where is that odor coming from?"  To put it mildly, they were not pleased.

What they came up with on the Korean team (aside from mushy rice and a hockey-puck like gelatin dessert) was a braised pork and kimchi.  You can find the recipe here.  I'm no expert on Korean food by any stretch, but I am curious to know if anyone else thought the chef's recipes were way off base for Korean food.  I mean, the ingredients for Otto's kimchi sounded like the spices my mom uses, but he was cutting up red cabbage. Do other people use that?  When exactly did panna cotta and gelatin become Korean desserts?

While we're on the subject of westernized Korean food, I once saw a Korean woman on TV making kalbi using Coca-cola as the sweetener instead of sugar.  Anyone else do that? Inquiring minds want to know.

--Glennia

Photo from BravoTV website

Kimchi and Health

There's an article about kimchi's health benefits, and risks, in today's L.A. Times. According to the article

The beneficial power of kimchi comes from the lactic acid bacteria (also found in yogurt and other fermented foods) that helps in digestion and, according to some researchers, boosts immunity. In addition, the vegetables are excellent sources of vitamin C and antioxidants, which are believed to protect cells from carcinogens. The high fiber content aids bowel function.

However, researchers have also found a link between excessive kimchi consumption and cancer of the gastrointestinal tract.

"We found that if you were a very, very heavy eater of kimchi, you had a 50% higher risk of getting stomach cancer," said Kim Heon of the department of preventive medicine at Chungbuk National University and one of the authors.

Everything in moderation, I suppose.

--Weigook Saram