http://www.maangchi.com/talk/ Talk about Korean food, recipes, restaurants, and cooking en Thu, 23 May 2013 08:13:38 +0000 http://www.maangchi.com/talk/topic/my-kimchi-disaster#post-4754 Wed, 02 Mar 2011 20:28:47 +0000 oksipak 4754@http://www.maangchi.com/talk/ <p>Interesting "science" project(?). </p> <p>Since I'm new to the ways of Maangchi's Recipes, I decided to make the "pure" form of Maangchi's Recipes. The 2nd and 3rd batches I improvise and add what I like and omit (more like substitute) some things, but because Maangchi's recipes turn out fantastico, I pretty much stay true to her recipes. :) </p> http://www.maangchi.com/talk/topic/my-kimchi-disaster#post-4748 Wed, 02 Mar 2011 02:12:23 +0000 Francesca 4748@http://www.maangchi.com/talk/ <p>Hello, everyone!</p> <p>I've been using Maangchi's whole kimchi recipe for about a year now, with excellent results AS LONG AS I FOLLOWED HER DIRECTIONS. Maangchi's flexibility about some things ("use/don't use oysters", for example)is one of the things I like best about her teaching. That's how my Mother taught me to cook- some things about a recipe really are a matter of personal taste.("4-6 CUPS(!!!) of crushed red pepper" ??? hmmmmm...)<br /> But some things are a matter of CHEMISTRY: and here, MaangchiTakes No Prisoners.Some things she simply instructs one to do without question, just like my Mother. Unless I wanted to make cannon balls, would Mom let me leave the baking powder out of Mother's Famous Biscuits? Certainly not!<br /> And yet...<br /> The last time I made kimchi I more or less did just that, except that the "finished product" was a lot more lethal than a cannon ball.<br /> This is what happened:<br /> Having carefully, arduously, and According To Directions salted and rinsed (yes, three times) my cabbage, I tasted it as usual. I detected the slight saltiness always present at this stage. This never having resulted in an over-salted batch of Kimchi, my fateful next step is inexplicable even to me: I DECIDED TO ATTEMPT TO REMOVE THE SALT. Having heard Maangchi repeatedly say how important salt is to the fermentation process, I can only plead insanity in defense of that decision.<br /> I wasn't without an accomplice in this endeavor- my husband the Chemical Engineer asserted that were I to place the heads in a water bath for a couple of hours the salt would "equalize", and I could pour off the water, thus reducing the salt in the cabbage.<br /> So I did.<br /> I took my perfectly "wilted" heads of Napa and put them in a pot of cold water. A few hours later, I was delighted to find that the water had, just as he said, taken on a slightly salty taste. I tasted the cabbage and-Mission accomplished!- it was less salty, although it somehow seemed crisper than it had been when I placed it in the bath. I dismissed this as impossible, even when it proved much harder to stuff than usual. Hadn't I just "brined" it? TWICE??? Well, no. As it turns out, that second fateful water bath had not only removed the (necessary) salt, it RECONSTITUTED THE CABBAGE. I had made two mistakes that were to prove fatal to the chemical process of fermentation.<br /> It was as if I had taken two fresh heads of Napa, cut them in half, and stuffed Maangchi's paste between the leaves. Ever "De Queen of Denial" (surely it'll ferment anyway!), I put the heads in the kimchi crock and waited for fermentation to begin.<br /> And waited...and waited...and waited...........<br /> I'd still be waiting if I hadn't finally thrown it away due to a presumption that two inches of fuzzy mold was not an indicator of proper fermentation. Not to mention the stench.<br /> If you'd like to avoid this and other disasters my advice is that you listen to Maangchi, and your mother. If they say you can change something, go right ahead; but if they don't, well ........DON'T! </p>