When my husband saw this article in the International Herald Tribute, he immediately knew I would love to read it. Kimchi is my big passion, too.
When Koreans travel within Europe by car, they never fail to take Kimchi with them. In the past, when students returned from a trip to Norway, I would ask how they liked the Norwegian food. As an initial response, I just got a blank stare. Then I was told they had only eaten Korean food during the trip. My first thought was there must be many Korean restaurants in Norway… Wrong again. Koreans travel with their rice cookers, Kimchi prepared in oil for traveling, instant noodles, etc. Most meals are taken in the room sitting on the bed.
In 2002 I went on a trip to London with two Korean friends. As this was my first trip, I was looking forward to trying the British food, despite its reputation. Every evening I would stop at a little eatery and get myself a sandwich or stop in a bar for a beer and have some food there. My Korean friends would not stop, but proceed back to the hotel to prepare their Korean food in the hotel room. After I had my share of British food each evening, I would return to the hotel and share the leftover rice and Kimchi with them.
The very first time I smelled Kimchi was while we were living in Japan. Its pungent smell really turned me off at first, but my husband convinced me to try it. And I have been eating Kimchi ever since.
I don’t make it as it takes a much experienced person to do this once-a-month, eight-hour job. I buy it in shops as some of the younger Korean wives do.
Kimchi is fermented cabbage, slathered in garlic and coated with red hot chili pepper. It’s a main dish and served with breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Once I had rice and Kimchi for breakfast and when my then five-year old daughter saw me eating this, she almost started crying. She asked me not to eat Kimchi for breakfast anymore as she was afraid I would totally turn Korean….
If you assume every Korean loves Kimchi, then you are wrong. I have talked to mothers who tried desperately to make their children eat Kimchi. One mother would take off the chili coating to make her son eat at least the cabbage leaf. Others fry pancakes and hide the Kimchi in it if the kid refuses to eat it the normal way. As more and more young Koreans get used to western food, more and more new food creations appear. Try spaghetti with Kimchi cut up into small pieces and mixed in as you would do with pesto.
I do not have a Kimchi refrigerator as most households do. In the winter the balcony is my fridge. In the summer I try to hide it in the fridge, but my husband inevitably smells it.
