Keep on Learning -- and eating Kimchi!

[Emily H.]

I've been busy lately, but I'm picking up words here and there. I've almost memorized all of the vowels, and I'm still working on the consonants. I know how to say please, thank you, sorry, excuse me and a few other polite words. I figure, even if it takes me forever to learn how to have a conversation at least I'll seem polite. 

My family now clearly knows of my desire to go to Korea someday, but none of them are really interested in eating the food with me. I made some radish kimchi a little while ago --- turned out great! -- and I had to eat it when no one was around =( . It's too spicy for some of my family, and the rest are just picky eaters. *sigh*

Someday, I'm going to Korea and I'm going to eat so much food... drools.

[Emily H.]

Definitely. I have an Asian market nearby that has a plenty of the ingredients I can't find anywhere else, and they even have aisles for other international foods.

[John 구성욱]

깍두기 is one of my favorites. You're absolutely right about making sure all the ingredients are correct. Aside from finding the specific things you need if you live outside Korea, sometimes the names of ingredients in Korean cuisine seems general enough at first, but its misleading if you live in the west and don't know that Asia has a different version of that food than the west.That's why I recommended finding an Asian food market, since they will have the right stuff.

[Emily H.]

@ John: Yes, there isn't just one form of kimchi. The particular kimchi that I made is called 깍두기, but there are a number of kimchi out there that involve different radishes and other vegetables. You should always make sure you're buying the right kind of hot pepper powder too (고춧 가루), since the wrong kind of pepper can make your food taste strange.

[John 구성욱]

@ Michahlene: You don't necessarily need the right cabbage to make kimchi as there are well over a hundred varieties of kimchi, many of which use no cabbage at all. Walmart is not a great place to find the vegetables used in Korean dishes, you need to go to real markets to find them usually. Even though the vegetables are often referred to with names used for western vegetables, the ones used in most Korean dishes are the Asian variety. When Koreans say 배추 (cabbage) for example, it means the Asian kind of cabbage (often called Chinese cabbage in the US). 양배추 (Western cabbage) is how to specify the kind of cabbage found in North America or Europe. The same goes for most vegetables. If you want to make Korean foods, you should look for an Asian food market, since the big chain stores won't typically carry such items.

[Micahlene]

Wow! You made radish kimchee? Awesome! I've been wanting to make kimchee for a while but apparently I need a special type of cabbage (napa?) and a fish oil that I've never heard of... Unfortunately, walmart doesn't carry those products... Where did you buy the ingredients?? I found an asian market about an hour from my house, but I'm kind of scared to go in, plus there's mandarin writing on the front, so I don't know if they'll carry Korean food products... =(

I have the same problem with my family... None of them are even remotely interested in anything Korean... Sooo sad!