Kimchi

[wlach]

Feeling a little bit more energized lately-- probably some combination of the working person's zen retreat I finished a week ago and the longer days. Finally took the two napa cabbages that hit been sitting in the crisper of my fridge for several months and made two batches of kimchi.

I've only tasted the first batch (which is likely not yet fully fermented), but the results are a little disappointing so far. Definitely edible, but not exactly something I'm going to be rushing to give to friends (which I normally enjoy doing with homemade canning). Part of it is no doubt the age of the first (older) cabbage I used. But there's something else missing, the same thing that's been missing every time I've made it, and I'm not sure what it is.

I have been a bit lax in following instructions and/or using random recipes from the Internet before, but this time I followed the recipe in Lukas Volger's Bowl (which is otherwise excellent) pretty close to the letter, and made sure to use Korean red pepper flakes (gochugaru) and not a substitute. But still it doesn't quite taste what I hoped it would taste like -- it's hard to describe what's wrong, but it's definitely a step down from the stuff you would normally get at a good organics' shop.

Oh well, work will continue with perfecting this task, as it does with everything. Next time I will try using fresher cabbage and see if that helps. Probably also need to get some advice from people who actually know what they're doing.