There was a great article on Boston.com today that prompted my post for today.
Kimchi, for those who have never had the opportunity to try it, is the national food of Korea.
It's a pungent (as in, very smelly) fermented, spicy side dish made typically with Chinese cabbage or other vegetables.
The typical cabbage style of kimchi looks like this:
I grew up eating Kimchi because my Mom's Korean. The funny thing is that Kimchi is so spicy that most American adults can't stand it but Koreans feed it to their babies. True story as my Mom tells me that I was one of these lucky babies.
Another funny kimchi story is courtesy of my parents. After they were first married, they lived in a Boston triple-decker on the second floor, below my Dad's uncle on the top floor. One day, the Uncle came down and had a talk with my Dad. He told my Dad that he didn't want to interfere with their business, but it was time for my Dad to take out the "garbage" because it was starting to smell bad. The "garbage" was in fact, my Mom's latest batch of Kimchi out on the porch.
Anyway, Kimchi has become common enough that you can usually find a jar of it in the refrigerated section of most urban supermarkets. Most Koreans don't make their own kimchi anymore and resort to buying it premade instead. My Mom is one of the rare few that does make her own and it is definitely a treat to have some of her fresh-made kimchi with rice whenever I'm visiting home.
But for now, I'll have to stick with supermarket kimchi or what gets brought as an appetizer at Korean restaurants. And kudos to Andrew for eating each time and claiming that he likes it!
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