# Did You Ever Eat Kimchi?



## SeaBreeze (Nov 24, 2014)

My husband's got Bizarre Foods on TV with Andrew Zimmern.  They're making a big bowl of Kimchi in a restaurant, a fermented cabbage dish.  Zimmern has big heavy rubber gloves on and a gas mask, he said the stuff could peel the paint right off the walls.


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## Lee (Nov 25, 2014)

I remember an old episode of MASH where the Vietnamese were making it. To each his own in their culinary tastes.


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## rkunsaw (Nov 25, 2014)

I have never tasted kimchi but I would like to try it. I do make kraut and love it.


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## Ameriscot (Nov 25, 2014)

I think that's what I had when my brother took us to a Korean restaurant in Michigan during our summer visit.  Ick.


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## Pappy (Nov 25, 2014)

My son married a Korean girl years ago and she has made him kimchi. She would tell how they would ferment it in the ground somehow, and I guess it was a popular dish in Korea. I told her I'll pass on that dish.


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## Falcon (Nov 25, 2014)

Yes, I've eaten it but didn't like it. One must acquire a taste for it. It's a staple in most Korean homes.

Made in a crock and then buried in the ground for a time.


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## jujube (Nov 25, 2014)

I like it, but the last time I had it was at a midnight buffet on a cruise ship.  I know, bad idea.  Believe me, I paid for it between 2 and 3 a.m.   I think I'm ready to try it again...maybe.


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## Twixie (Nov 25, 2014)

I was actually introduced to kimchi in a Korean restaurant in Paris..

Didn't smell or look like anything I'd want to eat...

So I didn't..


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## Lon (Nov 25, 2014)

Lee said:


> I remember an old episode of MASH where the Vietnamese were making it. To each his own in their culinary tastes.



Kimchi is Korean and the Mash series was about Korea. I was in Korea in 1953 and had my first introduction to that foul mess.


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## Twixie (Nov 25, 2014)

Lon said:


> Kimchi is Korean and the Mash series was about Korea. I was in Korea in 1953 and had my first introduction to that foul mess.



This restaurant also had fertilised goose eggs..with a large embryo in them..I thought I was going to faint..


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## RadishRose (Nov 25, 2014)

I bought a jar of kimchee some years ago. It was tasty, but not wildly so. I forgot about it!


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## Mrs. Robinson (Nov 25, 2014)

Making Kimchi and other fermented foods is becoming a big deal these days. I have a FB friend who was a friend of my girls when they were kids and she and her friends are very into it. I also have a niece who lives up in the mountains,grows all her own food,strictly vegetarian,who is very into the fermenting thing. She is not a Spring chicken either-she is 50. I have never tried Kimchi-I grew up with friends whose mom was born and raised in Hawaii and ate it all the time-made her own,in fact,but I never tried it that I can remember.


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## Debby (Dec 3, 2014)

We eat it all the time when we go to the sushi restaurant.  It's just like sauerkraut except it's spicy.  It's also very healthy as it's a great source of probiotics, Omega-3 fatty acids, beneficial enzymes and b-vitamins.


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## Lyn (Dec 3, 2014)

Yes, I like Kimchi.  I have been dabbling in lacto-fermentation for almost a year now.  I make my own kimchi and other types of krauts and fermented veggies.


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## Debby (Dec 3, 2014)

Lyn said:


> Yes, I like Kimchi.  I have been dabbling in lacto-fermentation for almost a year now.  I make my own kimchi and other types of krauts and fermented veggies.




So what do you spice it with Lyn and do you use bok choy?  I once tried fermenting carrots and while the taste was what you'd expect, the texture was kind of yuch.  The recipe I found called for shredded carrots so that you got lots of surface area available to the bacteria but like I said, it failed for texture.


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## Lyn (Dec 4, 2014)

Debby said:


> So what do you spice it with Lyn and do you use bok choy?  I once tried fermenting carrots and while the taste was what you'd expect, the texture was kind of yuch.  The recipe I found called for shredded carrots so that you got lots of surface area available to the bacteria but like I said, it failed for texture.



Hi Debby, I used Nappa Cabbage, chopped garlic, grated gingeroot, grated daikon radish, minced scallions, and Korean Chili flakes.


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## tnthomas (Dec 4, 2014)

I like just plain Kimchi that doesn't have any fish components in it.


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## Debby (Dec 6, 2014)

Lyn said:


> Hi Debby, I used Nappa Cabbage, chopped garlic, grated gingeroot, grated daikon radish, minced scallions, and Korean Chili flakes.





That sounds really tasty Lyn.  Do you just wing it or do amounts really matter in this?  I'd like to try it sometime.


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## Lyn (Dec 7, 2014)

Salt 2 pounds Nappa Cabbage, then add 1 Tbs chopped garlic, 2 tsp grated ginger root,  2+ Tbs Korean chili flakes, 2 cups grated daikon radish, 1 cup minced scallions.   If I had thought it through I would have put the amounts in, sorry about that.


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## Debby (Dec 9, 2014)

Thanks very much Lyn.  I'm going to try that recipe.


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## Josiah (Dec 26, 2014)

I use to pay a lot of attention to eating fermented foods and kimchi was a favorite. However I recently learned that I'm homozygous for the a1298c mutation on the MTHFR gene. What this means is that the enzyme produced by my MTHFR gene is defective and that my ability to process ammonia in the methylation cycle is substandard. The answer is not to eat food that leads to the accumulation of ammonia and this includes most fermented foods as well as cheese.


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## Happyflowerlady (Feb 2, 2020)

I have tried making kimchi several times, but even though I like all of the foods that go into kimchi, I don’t like the kimchi itself. This time, I am making it with regular cabbage and not the Napa cabbage it is usually made with, and less of the Korean red pepper.  I am going to taste a bit each day until I find how much fermentation I like, and see how that goes.
I know that it is very healthy, and a good source of probiotics, so I really want to develop a taste for it.


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## Duster (Feb 2, 2020)

There is some in my fridge right now. My husband eats it all of the time.  I've tasted it, but don't like it.
It's supposed to be full of probiotics and very good for your digestion.


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## Pinky (Feb 2, 2020)

All kimchi is not created equal. We were recently given homemade kimchi by a lovely young Korean couple who my hubby met at his college class .. could not eat it. Way too spicy for us. Felt bad about that, but said nothing.

My mother used to make salted cabbage in a big container with a big heavy rock on an inverted plate to push it all down. Japanese style. They now have plastic containers with a screw and press plate to make that sort of thing.


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## Llynn (Feb 2, 2020)

Sadly, tragically, and with ultimate regret and remorse......yes. The memory still makes me shudder.


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## Pecos (Feb 2, 2020)

I spend 2 1/2 years in South Korea and have eaten Kimchi many times. There is "old" kimchi that has been buried in the ground for months and it can stink to high heaven. The first time I smelled it was when I was assuming command of a station and was inspecting our buildings. One of the Korean employees had an open container of it upstairs inside a refrigerator. Still the smell was overpowering. I never ate any of the real old stuff, but I did eat a fair amount of more recent stuff and the very newest that they call "spring kimchi" which is actually pretty good.

Kimchi has a lot of garlic and cayenne in it and after fermentation it is loaded with probiotics that may explain why Koreans typically do not catch colds. (Or no self respecting bacteria or virus will go anywhere near it.) It can be extremely hot.
If you ride a local Korean bus, try to sit next to an open window where you can get some fresh air.

The orphanage we sponsored served a lot of the old kimchi for breakfast so you didn't want to go out there too early in the morning. Oddly enough, the orphans regarded Mexican food as too hot when we took them to the on-base clubs for a treat.

When our aircraft carriers pulled into port, they typically gave us many pallets of donated food for our local orphanages. One thing that the orphans would not eat was dark colored beans unless they were mashed up, otherwise they complained that they looked like goat poop.


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## CarolfromTX (Feb 2, 2020)

Peel paint? Nonsense! Dave loves kimchi. I've eaten it and I don't really enjoy it. It looks spicy but it's not. That red Korean pepper is not hot at all. Dave makes a cucumber thing with it that's really tasty.  I do enjoy many Korean foods. Pickled daikon radish is one of my faves. We make galbi and bulgoki at home. When we eat at a Korean restaurant, I like to order Bi Bim Bop.


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## Gary O' (Feb 2, 2020)

Llynn said:


> Sadly, tragically, and with ultimate regret and remorse......yes. *The memory still makes me shudder*


Yes. Best I can say.....it's bad, real real bad, taste and smell


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## jujube (Feb 2, 2020)

jujube said:


> I like it, but the last time I had it was at a midnight buffet on a cruise ship.  I know, bad idea.  Believe me, I paid for it between 2 and 3 a.m.   I think I'm ready to try it again...maybe.



Update:  I now love kimchi.  Not something I'd have routinely for breakfast, no...….but it really makes the tastebuds stand up and yell 만세!!!


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## treeguy64 (Feb 2, 2020)

I like it, but it doesn't like me. It's high acid content tears me up. Same thing with sauerkraut, which I also used to like, and eat, often.


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## Pappy (Feb 3, 2020)

My daughter-in-law, who is Korean, described it to me how it is made. I decided to decline this one. My son has eaten it, as he did 3 tours in Korea.


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## OneEyedDiva (Feb 3, 2020)

Never heard of it before and from the cook's description, doesn't sound like I'd want to eat it.  I like cabbage too.


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## retiredtraveler (Feb 4, 2020)

I've tried it half a dozen times at Korean restaurants. It's the one thing I don't care for (but we really like Korean food, in general). Never found any kimchi I liked. But _everyone _needs to try Haemuljeon.


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## retiredtraveler (Feb 4, 2020)

CarolfromTX said:


> "..... We make galbi and bulgoki at home....."..


Love to see people cook 'exotic' dishes. I cook, but have never tried cooking Korean. I have a nephew who married a Korean, but they live out of state. I would love to spend an afternoon with her and have her show me how to cook some good Korean dishes (not Kimchi).


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## Lethe200 (Feb 6, 2020)

Certainly. No different than sauerkraut or homemade pickles. 

Some people prefer it on the milder side, while others prefer it on the more fermented, more sour side. Aging mellows out the flavor tremendously - when done properly it's excellent.

Acidic foods are useful as you age - they help promote "good" gut bacteria.


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## Happyflowerlady (Feb 17, 2020)

My last batch of kimchi, made with regular green cabbage turned out pretty good, and I have eaten about half of the jar now and moved it to a pint jar instead of the quart jar. 
This morning, I started another quart of it, and this time, I added some apple and bok choy, to see how that turns out.  This batch has a little more of the red pepper and garlic in it, too; so it will have a little more heat to the taste. 

My sauerkraut is doing good also and when I get it about halfway eaten, then I will start another quart of it.  I know that I need to have  probiotics, and this is a great way to get them. 
I don’t wear gloves nor a face mask, @SeaBreeze ; but I suppose it might depend on what all a person put into their kimchi.  I think that it was mostly to add drama to the television procedure though.


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## Happyflowerlady (Mar 7, 2020)

Today, I am having rice and kimchi, and this is the one with the apple and bok choy. This one has regular cabbage and not the thinner Napa cabbage that usually goes in kimchi, and I like this better, and it is crunchy.
I haven’t tried putting any fish sauce in my kimchi, although many recipes do call for the addition of a little bit.  I read about it, and it is made with fermented anchovies.
 I am still not sure if I would like it or not, but the next time I go to the Korean store, I am going to ask the lady who owns it what would be a good brand to try for a first time experiment.
The dark peppery-looking stuff on top is kelp granules.


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## RadishRose (Mar 7, 2020)

jujube said:


> Update:  I now love kimchi.  Not something I'd have routinely for breakfast, no...….but it really makes the tastebuds stand up and yell 만세!!!


Why not for breakfast Jujube?


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## RadishRose (Mar 7, 2020)

The one time I tried it, it was too hot. Otherwise, what flavor I could discern through the burn was tasty. Maybe I'll read the lable next time and get a mider one. Or rinse it a little.


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## jujube (Mar 7, 2020)

RadishRose said:


> Why not for breakfast Jujube?



I remember what a shock it was to me as a teenager, sailing on the old Queen Elizabeth, when I was served pickled herrings on a bed of chopped onion for breakfast.  That was so far from my Midwestern semi-country girl's idea of a breakfast item as to be unthinkable.

While my taste _has_ become quite a bit more cosmopolitan, I'm still not going to eat kimchi for breakfast.   I have to draw the line _somewhere._ And as much as I have come to love pickled herrings, I'm not eating _them_ for breakfast, either.


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## RadishRose (Mar 7, 2020)

jujube said:


> I remember what a shock it was to me as a teenager, sailing on the old Queen Elizabeth, when I was served pickled herrings on a bed of chopped onion for breakfast.  That was so far from my Midwestern semi-country girl's idea of a breakfast item as to be unthinkable.
> 
> While my taste _has_ become quite a bit more cosmopolitan, I'm still not going to eat kimchi for breakfast.   I have to draw the line _somewhere._ And as much as I have come to love pickled herrings, I'm not eating _them_ for breakfast, either.


Thanks Jujube. I just have this lifetime curiosity as to why "breakfast" holds certain rules over us.


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## Happyflowerlady (Mar 7, 2020)

It really helped me to learn to make my own kimchi, and then I can alter the ingredients and fermenting time to find what works best for me. 
I didn’t like how squishy the Napa cabbage gets, but I like it much better with regular cabbage. I liked the bok choy better than I did adding kale, and I do not use as much of the red pepper as some recipes call for. As I get used to eating it, I will probably evolve it into something a little bit hotter. 
I also like that I can start tasting it a bit each day to see when I want to stop the ferment and refrigerate the kimchi. It is simple to make. Here is a basic recipe, but YouTube has lots of them.


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## Linda (Mar 7, 2020)

My husband loves it and eats a spoon or two every day that we have some in our refrigerator.  Its a bit strong for me.


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## Devi (Mar 25, 2020)

Kimchi? Yes, I've tried it, or at least smelled it.  No, it's not for me, not ever again. I may be the only one on the planet, but ...


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