Thank you so much for your recipe Maangchi! I’ve visited Seoul, Gyeongju and Busan this summer with my family and I fell in love with kimchi! When I came back to Turkey I’ve missed it so much I had to it myself.
Because I couldn’t find authentic gochugaru and bechu I’ve ended up using Turkish red pepper and the usual cabbage which are very common here but they don’t have the same taste and smell (the peppers are more roasted and darker). That’s why it’s like a Turkish version of kimchi, it smelled a lot like our “ezme” (a Turkish side dish made with tomato, green chili pepper, garlic, lots of onion, red pepper flakes and more spices). It’s fermenting now and I’m curious how it will turn out.
Are you going to travel to Turkey soon? There’s a huge interest of Korean culture here with K-dramas and when we told Koreans in South Korea that we came from Turkey, they were very friendly towards us and all the time they said we were “brother nations/countries” which I find very warm and lovely :) It’s not just diplomatic but authentic, social connection :)
Thank you for uploading your kimchi photo! Good luck with your Korean cooking!