Tell me about Kimchi

Linda Bittle
Linda Bittle Posts: 1,518 ✭✭✭✭✭

Anyone make it?

I've never had the opportunity to try it. But I like many fermented foods, and this recipe seems simple enough.

But am I gonna like it? Do you know of a version I can get at the grocery store that's actually good?



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Comments

  • shllnzl
    shllnzl Posts: 1,820 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I have been waiting to try some too.

  • judsoncarroll4
    judsoncarroll4 Posts: 5,490 admin

    I LOVE it! It is very strong in flavor - hot, sour, funky, etc. I have never tried store bought, so I can't answer that. It is very much to my tastes though - I even put it on hot dogs!

  • Linda Bittle
    Linda Bittle Posts: 1,518 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @judsoncarroll4 yeah, it's not really local, is it? I like to try new things, and have eaten some...unusual...dishes in my time, but there are some issues. Often it's texture. I will not try raw fish...in Missouri, that's bait! Not fond of seafood in general. It seems to me that Asian influences can be iffy for my tastes. Funky can be good. Or not.

    I may just wait to try this recipe until I've had an opportunity to try it somewhere. Even here in south Missouri, we have restaurants with International cuisine.

  • kbmbillups1
    kbmbillups1 Posts: 1,391 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I make kimchi but haven't made any recently. I was looking for something today and found I still have some from the last time I made it that got pushed to the back of the fridge.

    I use pretty much the same recipe but I don't use the fish sauce or the daikon radish. I use onions instead of scallions. I use this recipe more or less: https://traditionalcookingschool.com/food-preparation/recipes/kimchi-korean-sauerkraut/

    My daughter LOVES it so I follow Wardee's suggestion in the above link and chop everything small so it ferments faster. So I don't make traditional kimchi but that's okay. We like it and that's what counts.

  • Monek Marie
    Monek Marie Posts: 3,539 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Looks like I will be making this this weekend. If I like it I think I will take it to family gatherings.

  • RustBeltCowgirl
    RustBeltCowgirl Posts: 1,403 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @Mary Linda Bittle, West Plains, Missouri Amazon from a quick glance seems to carry quite a bit.

  • VermontCathy
    VermontCathy Posts: 1,987 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I routinely make my own kimchi. It's not difficult to make, but finding some of the key ingredients can be a challenge.

    I'll post more on this later.

  • LaurieLovesLearning
    LaurieLovesLearning Posts: 7,576 admin
    edited October 2021

    I've made it using a Korean recipe. We did skip the fish part though. My husband doesn't like the texture of larger pieces, but blended to be more the size of relish, it was acceptable...and that is how we used it too.

    Dr. Kim says most store kimchi uses vast amounts of sugar, which is not what you want. He has a method which uses only natural sugars.


    Here is another link where one of our member's posted a Korean cookbook filled with traditional recipes.


  • judsoncarroll4
    judsoncarroll4 Posts: 5,490 admin

    Don't let fish sauce scare you - it is basically the original Worcestershire sauce (which is made from anchovies)

  • monica197
    monica197 Posts: 332 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited October 2021

    I love kimchi - I make homestead 'chi - I think the key to making it is using Korean hot pepper flakes. One thing I love about fermenting is if I only have one cabbage to harvest in the garden, I can make a batch of ferment and I can use that single cabbage for so long, adding it to many, many meals. Ferments give me so much more mileage out of food.

    I have purchased this one from the store and I find it very good.


  • kbmbillups1
    kbmbillups1 Posts: 1,391 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @judsoncarroll4 The smell of fish sauce is just a bit much. My daughter that loves the kimchi won't eat it with the fish sauce in it but my other daughter loves shrimp chips which have a certain smell to them as well. I won't let her eat them in the car because of the smell. 😁

  • judsoncarroll4
    judsoncarroll4 Posts: 5,490 admin

    I like it, but like I said, I like funky flavors. Interestingly, most all cultures have a fish sauce. Ketchup began as catsiap, a fermented fish sauce. Ancient Rome had garum, also a fermented fish sauce. Etc. I think all cultures at some point found they had left their salted fish too long and it liquified.

  • VermontCathy
    VermontCathy Posts: 1,987 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @monica197 "I love kimchi - I make homestead 'chi - I think the key to making it is using Korean hot pepper flakes."

    Exactly right. There are many recipes for kimchi, but no one right way it must be done.

    But any kimchi that is even slightly authentic will need those Korean red pepper flakes, and most American grocery stores don't carry them. Since they keep well, I buy big bags of them at H Mart, the big Korean grocery chain.

    Korean food in general has very strong flavors. If you or someone in your family does not like bold, hot, spicy, and sour dishes, skip Korean and try milder cuisines, such as Vietnamese.

    Korean radishes, sold as Alpine in the seed catalogs, are not found in every kimchi but really work well as a kimchi base. Unfortunately I can't buy these locally.

    I tried growing Alpine radishes one year and they did grow, which is not surprising as Korea is a cold, mountainous climate similar to Vermont. But my soil didn't let the radishes get as large as the ones I get at the store. I think I would need deeper, less dense soil to get them larger, and would need to plant them farther apart. They're probably not the best crop for intensive cultivation of small spaces.

    To make kimchi, mix the ingredients in a bowl, transfer them to half gallon canning jars, leave them on the counter for 2 days, then move them to the refrigerator. They will keep about a month in the refrigerator, slowly steadily getting stronger as fermentation continues.

  • LaurieLovesLearning
    LaurieLovesLearning Posts: 7,576 admin

    @judsoncarroll4 I am not sure how I'd like the smell of the fish sauce. Some fishy smells make me feel nauseous.

    I think the other reason we didn't include it was that the sauce we could find (it was hard to find any) must have had MSG/MSG under a different name or some other synthetic additive present. Considering, we are better off without the fish sauce.

  • VermontCathy
    VermontCathy Posts: 1,987 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @LaurieLovesLearning Authentic Korean food is definitely not for everyone! I like spicy food, and even I have to be in the right mood for it.

    I do use fish sauce in kimchi and other Asian recipes. I recommend Three Crabs fish sauce. You are not likely to find it at a typical mainstream North American grocery store, but most Asian grocery stores in North America, even small local ones, carry it. I buy several large bottles since I can't get it locally.

    I just checked the label, and it says nothing about MSG.

    Three Crabs fish sauce is great in Korean, Vietnamese, and Thai dishes, such as curries.

  • LaurieLovesLearning
    LaurieLovesLearning Posts: 7,576 admin
    edited October 2021

    @VermontCathy Could you post its ingredients list? EDIT: I found it online. The hydrolyzed wheat protien would be the msg that I was thinking of. Anything marked as hydrolyzed protien will be hiding msg.

    This site has many of the names for msg listed. However, two others that I am familiar with looking for have been forgotten on their list: Spices, and Torula Yeast. Spices gets to me as sometimes it can just indicate a proprietary mix of actual spices that don't include msg.

    https://www.hungryforchange.tv/article/sneaky-names-for-msg-check-your-labels

    I had authentic Thai food once made by some students new to Canada. It was so very difficult to eat the food. Yet I did not want to offend them by refusing more than a bite. I am willing to try other culture's foods as it is a good thing to experience their culture, but that is one culture's food that now I know I absolutely need to avoid. I about turned inside out that whole time. It was awkward.

  • Tave
    Tave Posts: 952 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I make my own kimchi because I don't care for the MSG, sugar, and fish sauce. I also like to go heavier on the garlic.

  • Lisa K
    Lisa K Posts: 1,936 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I have made it without the fish sauce and I like it. I saw an article the other day that said if you buy store bought Kimchi to let it stand a room temperature for a bit.

  • VermontCathy
    VermontCathy Posts: 1,987 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I seem to be the only person here who likes fish sauce!

    @LaurieLovesLearning Interesting, I didn't know that hydrolyzed vegetable protein contained MSG.

    The dishes I make typically have about a tablespoon of fish sauce, so it's not a huge amount. Neither my husband nor I is sensitive to MSG, however.

  • judsoncarroll4
    judsoncarroll4 Posts: 5,490 admin

    Nope, I love it! But, I have used soy sauce as a substitute in a pinch

  • annbeck62
    annbeck62 Posts: 1,028 ✭✭✭✭

    I make it too and have seen many different versions. The first time you make it I'd go light on the spice and then adjust to your taste the next time.

  • marjstratton
    marjstratton Posts: 1,132 ✭✭✭✭

    I've never tried making Kimchi. I do love to eat it. I have tried making sauerkraut and got nervous when it grew some mold so I fed it to the compost pile. Later I learned that it is no big deal if it grows regular mold (not pink or weird colors). Just pick it off and continue on. Trying to make kimchi is still on my to do list. I should be able to do it. I have made my own yogurt for years.

  • Tave
    Tave Posts: 952 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @marjstratton An old saying is under the brine is fine. As long as the mold is floating on top of the brine, and it's white, not a funky color, I just skim it off.

  • Merin Porter
    Merin Porter Posts: 1,026 admin

    You all are so brave! I actually want to try making that pink onion stuff they have at fish restaurants in Honduras and places like that. I have found recipes for Pickled Pink Onion Relish, and I'm thinking maybe that is the stuff?

  • monica197
    monica197 Posts: 332 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Or you can get them from you Korean Aunt - she was so thrilled other that I was making kimchi 😉

  • Owl
    Owl Posts: 346 ✭✭✭

    Another tell, when trying to decide if your kraut has gone bad is texture. If the cabbage feels slimy, feed it to the compost heap.

  • nicksamanda11
    nicksamanda11 Posts: 755 ✭✭✭✭

    I like the juice from the kimchi. I would like a whole jar of juice and then I'd just take shots of it all day long. Talk about pooping!

  • Linda Bittle
    Linda Bittle Posts: 1,518 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Found some Kimchi at the farmer's Market today. 10.00 for a pint, so I got one. It's potent! Heavy on the garlic and ginger. I LOVE it. Thinking small doses are the way to go.

    Thanks for the encouragement to try it!

  • LaurieLovesLearning
    LaurieLovesLearning Posts: 7,576 admin
    edited October 2021

    I finally made my kimchi. I accidentally made it full strength hot. Whoops. I usually use cayenne powder. I haven't got the Korean hot stuff to try yet (I don't remember the name), and there was no napa cabbage, so I used bok choi.

    I pre-blended some up (we use the kimchi as relish), but left some partially unblended as I had wanted to try these fermentation jars out and had almost forgotten about them. Obviously, blending doesn't make sense when using the coil.