Homemade Kimchi vs Store-Bought Kimchi

August 31, 2008 By Anna Leave a Comment

These days it seems like everything must be easy, simple, or convienient. And I can't deny that I, too, prefer such shortcuts in basically every aspect of my life. My family and friends are very busy people too and they often call Kimchi "Keumchi" (Keum/Geum means Gold in Korean) meaning that Kimchi is that valuable to busy Koreans. Kimchi is part of a life for a Korean and Kimchi is not the easiest thing to make. It takes time to make at home and it is expensive to buy at a store.

SohnMahtBut we always miss homemade cooking during our busy lives. Don't we? At least I do. I really get sick of eating out and just miss homemade meals.
I miss that special taste you just can't get it from the store bought ones. I'm sure you know what I mean. Koreans call such taste mom's "Sohn Maht." Sohn means 'hand' and Maht means 'taste.' It describes the wonderful taste of homemade cooking that everyone loves. The term implies that whoever cooks for their own family, traditionally the mother of a family, transfers love and care into a unique taste while cooking (with hands). That's why your mother's cooking is always so good!! Mothers want to feed their children something healthy and tasty and we can taste her love. It's her Sohn Maht!

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Different tastes of Kimchee

August 20, 2008 By Anna Leave a Comment

Yes, depending on how long you let Kimchi ferment, Kimchi tastes VERY different.

If you like it  fresh you can eat it right away. But usually you should let it sit out in the room temperature for couple days (It's processed much faster during summer...and winter it takes little longer and so on) and then store it in the fridge.

Don't freeze Kimchi. It won't taste good so just keep it cool in the fridge and should be able to eat all of it in a reasonable length of time. When Kimchee gets too old/fermented it could be used to cook Kimchi Jjigae! Kimchi Jjigae tastes the best when Kimchi is little too fermented to eat it 'as is.' 

When I was 'younger' I used to eat ONLY after it got fermented. I would never eat it fresh. YUCK! so I thought....But as I got older I started to appreciate fresh Kimchi too. I've heard from my parents and other elders that the older you get, the fresher your Kimchi has to be. I guess I am getting old too.

Here's the picture of my mom Young's Kimchi. How does it look?
baechu kimchi

Kimchi Recipes:
Traditional Whole Napa Cabbage Kimchi
Quick 'n Easy version Kimchi
Non Spicy American Cabbage Kimchi
Kimchi Fried Rice
Young Radish Water (YeoulMoo Mul) Kimchi
White Non-Spicy Kimchi

Kimchi Facts:

About Kimchi
Korean Homemade Kimchi Part I-Most Popular
Homemade Kimchi vs Store Bought Kimchi

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Korean Homemade Kimchi-Most Popular Ones

August 18, 2008 By Anna 4 Comments

There are 100s of Kimchi varieties based on different ingredients and how they are made. Different Kimchi has their own unique taste even with same ingredients. If you are a real Kimchi lover like me, then you should try as many kinds of Kimchi as you can. And we are here to help you make all the recipe for you to try!

Basically Kimchi can be divided into three basic groups by their ingredients;
Baechu (Napa cabbage) Kimchi, Mu (daikon/radish) Kimchi, and Yachae(vegetable) Kimchi.

You may have thought there's only one kind of Baechu Kimchi, but there are Pogi (whole napa) Kimchi, Mahg (cutted-quick version) kimchi, Bossam (wrapped kimchi), and Baek (white or without hot pepper.) These are varied by how they are made with the same ingredients except for the Baek Kimchi which doesn't include any hot pepper. So if you are not really into or can't eat any spicy stuff you should try white Baek Kimchi.nappa cabbage (whole Napa cabbage) Kimchi

Pogi Kimchi was traditionally made in large amounts to be stored to be consumed during the wintertime (all that fuss with super large earthenware jars called 'jangdok' getting buried underground during the wintertime.) However, we've never tried that when I was living in Korea so I can't say anything else about that. Anyhow there's no need to store Kimchi 'down there' anymore with the wonderful refrigerator uniquely designed only for storing Kimchi. I don't have it, but it would be nice if we have one. If you have one show it off please.
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Gotta Love that Kimchi-the rep of Korean cuisine

August 15, 2008 By Anna Leave a Comment

I don’t know about you, but I think there are wonderful food pairings that would never go wrong. Hamburgers with pickles, chicken with coleslaw, bratwurst or just plain hotdogs with sauerkraut (yum!), sushi with pickled ginger, our own rice with Kimchi (Kimchee)!

Kimchi (or kimchee) is loaded with vitamins A, B, and C, but its biggest benefit may be in its “healthy bacteria” called lactobacilli, found in fermented foods like kimchi and yogurt. This good bacteria helps with digestion, plus it seems to help stop and even prevent yeast infections, according to a recent study. And more good news: Some studies show fermented cabbage has compounds that may prevent the growth of cancer. Source:Health.com

If you are here that means you know what I’m talking about. Just the thought of freshly cooked steam rice with Kimchi on the top just makes Kimchi lovers’ mouth water.

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