Daikon Kimchi
I love Kimchi.
Indeed, during certain periods of my life I have been obsessed with it.
When I was young I was much taken with the novels of Edmund White, and in one of them (The Beautiful Room is Empty?) I read with fascination a passage where the narrator has a Korean lover who always smells vaguely of kimchi. Now, I was just a know-nothing schoolboy in North Queensland, and had no idea what kimchi was, but then and there I knew I had to taste it.
Years later I was living in Darlinghurst, and Korean restaurants were only just beginning to spring up. Most of them were hideously expensive, but there was a little place in Kings Cross that was absolutely wonderful, and very reasonably priced. That's where my love affair with kimchi began in earnest. I would eat everything on the menu that contained kimchi, and the middle-aged Korean housewives who staffed the place would endlessly replace the little bowls of it that came with every meal. They became so amused by my love of kimchi that they would prepare a special little kimchi pancake for me every time I came in, and serve it up for free.
I love all types of kimchi (cucumber kimchi and bellflower kimchi are my top 2), but my partner, who shares my passion, is a big fan of daikon kimchi.
Much as I love the stuff, I've never really been very good at making it. It always comes out bland, or too salty.
But I have tried again, preparing a big batch of daikon kimchi because the daikons down at the local shops in Cabramatta looked so big and delicious.
I like my kimchi garlicy.
And with ginger - I think that is a Vietnamese aberration. But it's kinda nice.
And the cookbook I consulted also listed ginger as an ingredient.
I saved some of the daikon to make soup with tonight.
Cut it up.
Mixed the ingredients.
And here is one container of the finished result.
Should be ready in a day or two, so I will let you know how it goes.
Indeed, during certain periods of my life I have been obsessed with it.
When I was young I was much taken with the novels of Edmund White, and in one of them (The Beautiful Room is Empty?) I read with fascination a passage where the narrator has a Korean lover who always smells vaguely of kimchi. Now, I was just a know-nothing schoolboy in North Queensland, and had no idea what kimchi was, but then and there I knew I had to taste it.
Years later I was living in Darlinghurst, and Korean restaurants were only just beginning to spring up. Most of them were hideously expensive, but there was a little place in Kings Cross that was absolutely wonderful, and very reasonably priced. That's where my love affair with kimchi began in earnest. I would eat everything on the menu that contained kimchi, and the middle-aged Korean housewives who staffed the place would endlessly replace the little bowls of it that came with every meal. They became so amused by my love of kimchi that they would prepare a special little kimchi pancake for me every time I came in, and serve it up for free.
I love all types of kimchi (cucumber kimchi and bellflower kimchi are my top 2), but my partner, who shares my passion, is a big fan of daikon kimchi.
Much as I love the stuff, I've never really been very good at making it. It always comes out bland, or too salty.
But I have tried again, preparing a big batch of daikon kimchi because the daikons down at the local shops in Cabramatta looked so big and delicious.
I like my kimchi garlicy.
And with ginger - I think that is a Vietnamese aberration. But it's kinda nice.
And the cookbook I consulted also listed ginger as an ingredient.
I saved some of the daikon to make soup with tonight.
Cut it up.
Mixed the ingredients.
And here is one container of the finished result.
Should be ready in a day or two, so I will let you know how it goes.
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