7.143
27 (Fri) May 2016
Buchu Kimchi
3.0
by me
in my apartment
-Malate, Manila-
solo
Same pickling paste as Batch 2, applied to a different vegetable, left to ferment for several days longer, much better result overall. The sweetness in the pickling paste paired nicely with the garlicky grassiness of the buchu (garlic chives), which I’d previously described as a popular form of kimchi (see generally 3.154 Stir-Fried Buchu & Eggs). Best one yet.
- Batch 1 / Part 1 : geotjeoli (7.117 Geotjeoli) / 2.25
- Batch 1 / Part 2 : ggagdugi (7.118 Ggagdugi) / 2.25
- Batch 2 / Part 1 : geotjeoli (7.135 Geotjeoli — Chunky Parts Only) / 2.5
Kimchi is what makes Korean BBQ Korean BBQ. Someone once commented, “Isn’t it just grilling your own meat at the table?” No — it’s about the kimchi, which provides a zing a zap a pow a punch that cuts thru the fat, so that even heavy cuts like pork belly are made to seem heavenly light. This counteracting/balancing effect of kimchi, further enhanced by the fresh lettuce and other wrap veggies (see for example 6.344 He’s Leaving Home), is what would allow me to down 400 grams (2 orders) of samgyeopsal no problem via Korean BBQ , even though sans kimchi I couldn’t finish a mere 160-gram portion of Kobe beef (see 5.143 Good Award Kobe Beef…), and an American-style 8-oz steak (about 225 grams) would typically be more than I could handle (see for example 7.009 Grilled US Beef Tenderloin). So, whether facilitating the increased consumption of red meat is a good thing, that’s what kimchi does.
