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"Some people I know eat kimchi with their hamburger
instead of dill pickles," says David Cho, who manages deliveries
at Kae Sung Market, a sort of kimchi boutique.
Most non-Koreans know kimchi only as the
garlicky, scorchingly hot fermented cabbage served at Korean barbecue
restaurants. But there are actually hundreds of kimchis, made from all
kinds of vegetables, and they range from fiery hot to very mild.
"The recipes vary regionally, seasonally
and from family to family," says Sook Jae Cho, owner of Kae Sung
Market.
In its obscure location on a residential
street near Koreatown, Cho, her two sisters and a small crew turn out
kimchis in a spotless modern factory behind the store. Their beautifully
hand-crafted assortment includes leek and radish stuffed baby cucumber
kimchi in peppery sauce and clear "water" kimchi-halved napa
cabbages layered with julienne radishes in a brine flavored with fruit
juices.
Her most opulent kimchi, bos sam, was
once eaten only by royalty. It's made from perfect whole cabbage leaves
stuffed with oysters, apples and Asian pears, along with pine nuts,
chestnuts and jujubes. Bo sam is prepared only in the fall, when the
fruits and cabbage are at their peak.
Like many women of her generation, Cho
perfected her kimchi-making skills under the watchful eye of her mother
and grandmother. She grew up in the North Korean city of Kae Sung in
the days before the Korean War, when horse-drawn carts were still the
major mode of transportation. Cho recalls how everyone in the family
got involved in the kimjang, a colorful harvest-time ritual of preserving
vegetables for the winter by turning them into kimchi.
During the kimjang, an endless stream
of wooden-sided carts heaped with Asian cabbages or enormous white radishes
would rumble in from the countryside to the open marketplace. In the
stalls, masses of bright-red chiles had already been strung to dry.
Tons of garlic tied into ropes would hang next to stands filled with
towering stacks of green onions. Cooks swarmed through the market inspecting
the booty, bargaining for the best they could get.
After days of cutting and salting vegetables,
grinding pepper and peeling garlic, the family would pack the kimchis
into huge porcelain Ali Baba-style jugs and bury them underground. As
they slowly fermented during the icy Korean winter, the kimchis would
become increasingly sour. By March everyone would be delighted to have
a change--fresh-tasting new kimchis made with spring vegetables.
Throughout the Korean War, political control
of Kae Sung shifted back and forth between opposing forces. But when
it became clear the city was to remain part of the Communist North,
Cho's family fled south along with thousands of other Koreans.
After Cho immigrated to Los Angeles, she
began making her Kae Sung-style kimchis for friends. Within the Korean
community, where Kae Sung-style foods have a certain cachet, her reputation
for creating fine kimchis grew. In 1974, Cho turned professional, producing
her kimchis at Green Tree Korean market, where they were an immediate
success with food-loving Koreans too busy to make their own.
Three-and-a-half years ago when Cho opened
Kae Sung, she added home-style cooking sauces and side dishes (panchan)
to her repertoire. Cho's kimchis, sauces and panchan are available at
many Korean supermarkets, as well as at the store. Although bigger factories
now manufacture tons of mass-produced kimchi, many discerning Koreans
still prefer Cho's elegant home-style versions - even if they're just
something to eat with a burger.
SHOPPING LIST
When kimchis were the only source
of winter vegetables (and of Vitamin C), many Koreans developed a preference
for the pungent, fermented winter varieties. In this country, with refrigeration
and an almost year-round supply of fresh vegetables, both the winter-style
and the very lightly fermented summer-style kimchis are made nearly
all year, Cho says.
The shop sells kimchi fresh, but some
people take their purchase home and lit it sit overnight at room temperature,
then keep it for a week or so in the refrigerator before eating, to
get a more fermented flavor. Most kimchis can be kept frefigerated for
about three weeks. "After that," says David, Cho's son, "they
can really get a bit too strong."
Kae Sung's kimchis can be neatly organized
into three categories:
TONGCHIMI
Originally from North Korea's Pyongyang
region, where the water is said to be exceptionally pure and the winters
extremely harsh, tongchimi is the mildest and least salty of the of
the kimchis. (In the warmer South, more salt and seasonings were added
to keep the vegetables preserved.) The Korean equivalent of kosher half-dills,
this is the best style for the kimchi novice.
Tongchimi is primarily made from muu,
a large radish with a turnip-like texture. The long, elegant wedges
of muu will share a gleaming rounded jar with spring onions, a few strips
of red bell pepper and a single slice of hot green pepper in a garlicky
brine. Tongchimi is best served will chilled.
Before widespread home refigeration, housewives
fermented their tongchimi underground for about a month before serving
it. Veteran kimchi eaters now quick-ferment their tongchimi at room
temperature overnight before refrigerating it. Cho sells tongchimi fresh,
or if you request it, already fermented.
WATER KIMCHIS
Also known as mool kimchis, these
are also associated with the milder and less-salty cooking of North
Korea. But since the exodus of North Koreans to the South, mool kimchis
have been adopted by everyone. Cho makes two of these pickles; both
should be served icy cold.
1.) Turnip Green Water Kimchi(Putbachu Mool Kimchi): Made in the style
of Kae Sung, this particular kimchi of tender turnip leaves submerged
in a lightly peppery, coral-colored brine, is flavored with pureed fresh
garlic, sweet and hot red peppers and fruit juice. Traditionally it
is served in a small bowl with a little brine.
2.) Whole Cabbage Water Kimchi (Bak Kimchi): In tradition-bound Korea,
a young woman's marriage-ability depended on the finesse with which
she could cut and arrange foods. Making a batch of bak kimchi would
certainly demonstrate her skills. The radish filling, now usually produced
by a machine, was once meticulously julienned by hand.
At Kae Sung the Asian cabbage halves are
salted and left to soften overnight in plastic tubs. After flushing
them thoroughly with water, the workers carefully sprinkly the largest
leaves with a mixture of julienned radishes, a few pine nuts and green
onion strips. Several of the stuffed cabbage halves are inserted into
a jar and covered with brine.
When cut, this kimchi yields beautiful
lasagna-like servings of cabbage layered with radish and seasonings.
You peel away the top leaf and eat it first before tasting the multiple
flavors of the filling.
Use tongs to remove each cabbage half
from the jar and serve the kimchi sliced crosswise into broad strips.
Place these cut rectangles flat side up in a small bowl with a little
brine.
EXTRA -SPICY KIMCHIS
With some slight variation in seasonings,
all of the following kimchis are based on a pasty brine of ground dried
red pepper, mashed garlic and salt. The mixture also includes salted
baby shrimp, cured yellow fish or salted anchovies, which actively ferment
in the kimchi.
1.) Mak Kimchi: This style is simply labeled kimchi. The name is loosely
translated as "anything goes" or "common" kimchi,
because the cabbage is roughly chopped and tossed together with julienned
radishes, perhaps a few wisps of carrot and green onion. It's a less
labor-intensive kimchi than the whole or layered varieties. Mak kimchi
has a little sugar and ginger in the brine, which mellows its flavor
somewhat.
2.) Whole Spicy Cabbage Kimchi (Poki Kimchi): More elegant than the
mak kimchi, this is a whole cabbage layered in the same manner as the
cabbage water kimchi described above, and it's served the same way too
- but it's spicier.
3.) Stuffed Baby Cucumber Kimchi (Oi Sobagi Kimchi): Just about everyone
loves this kimchi's fusion of hot and cool tastes. It is one that many
cooks like to make at home - if they're up to doing all the delicate
knife-work it requires. The cucumbers are slit lengthwise in two directions,
stuffed with an angel-hair-fine mix of Chinese leeks and green onions
and submerged in a thick peppery sauce. Most of the sauce may be brushed
away before the cucumbers are served.
4.) Bachelor Kimchi (Chonggak Kimchi): Thumb-length white radishes,
with thier long leafy stems still on, are packed into the red pepper
paste with a few green onions. The radishes are slit lengthwise so the
pepper sauce can penetrate. You eat this kimchi leaves and all.
5.) Hot Radish Kimchi (Katktugi Kimchi): For this one, larger radishes
are cut into small squares. It's one of the kimchis that some people
like to ferment at home.
6.) Texas Mustard Green Kimchi (Kat Kimchi): One of Cho's inventions,
this kimchi is made extra hot and salty in the South Korean style. The
broad, soft leaves on their long stems are packed into the seasoning,
which renders them almost translucent. Unlike the firmer cabbage and
turnip leaf kimchis, this one has a buttery texture with a slight crunch
to the stem.
7.) Green Onion Kimchi (Pa Kimchi): In place of cabbage or radishes,
pa kimchi uses green and white Chinese cabbage leaves and a few shreds
of green onion make for a less crunchy and slightly more bitter kimchi
than the napa cabbage styles.
8.)Sesame Leaf Kimchi (Khaennip Kimchi): These slightly tangy multi-pointed
leaves go by the formal name of perilla or shiso. If you've tasted shiso,
you know their assertive character. (These leaves really soak up the
hot sauce.)
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