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There we go, Chang's Kimchee. Except, not.
I didn't have carrots.
I didn't have scallions.
I didn't have Korean chili powder.
I didn't have two teaspoons of salted shrimp.
Sigh.
So...
Instead of carrots - threw in a chopped up sweet red pepper and a chopped up cucumber.
I had garlic scallions, so made do with those and added less garlic than called for to recipe.
I used a Korean kimchee paste base instead of plain korean chili powder, and threw in some regular chili powder to make it spicier.
I made do without the salted shrimp. In the end, the stuff is too salty anyway.
Learnings:
I had NO IDEA how much garlic, and salty products go into this stuff. Garlic - ok, not worried about. But soy sauce, fish sauce, etc. Woah. This stuff is supposed to be some of the healthiest food you can eat, at least if you ignore the reports about stomach cancer incidences in Koreans. (Can't only be because of the kimchee...)
Don't get me wrong, I am happy to have those three jars sitting in my fridge now, fermenting away. But I think we need some further adjustments to Chang's recipe. And next time I will at least make sure I have most of the ingredients at home before chopping up the cabbage.
BTW, anyone know anything about the fermentation process? I mean, are those jars gonna explode in the fridge?
4 comments:
No matter if it will be the best Kimchee that has ever been made - which it will undoubtedly be - it looks like you had a lot of fun making it.
Chang's recipe also calls for plenty of sugar...also a bit weird. It tastes (already) fairly good, but is not the kimchee flavor I look for. It's more "umami" (you know this term? quite a nice concept) than I am used to. The kimchee I know and love is all about sharp sour bite. This stuff is more like sweet tangy nip. So next time...I think another recipe. But indeed, it was fun to make and play with the recipe at hand a bit.
I know a Korean Pathologist .... she had stomach cancer. The cause of stomach cancer in asians is felt to be due to their consumpsion of fish not kimchee.
ABA
I imagined you sitting on the floor in your kitchen, mixing it all together with your hands, just like the Korean woman in the video I sent you. Nice picture :)
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