samyoowell

The thing with Kimchi is you have some really good batches, you have some mediocre batches and sometimes you have bad batches. Even if you use the same exact ingredeints, same amounts, mixed it the same identical way it’ll always be different.

You just have to go with it.

Sometimes Kimchi will taste horrible for 2-3 weeks and then all of a sudden it’ll taste good. Somtimes it’ll taste good in the first week and then taste bad the second week. It’s just one of those things that comes with the territory of fermentation.

Whenever my grandmother or mother made bad batches of kimchi they would just set it aside, sorta ‘forget it’ and then when the time came make stew, or pancakes or bokkeum or mixed noodles.

oh man. kkakkddoogi in kimchi jjigae is one of the best.

Please, Maangchi or anyone correct me if I’m wrong. I know a lot of this is just from my family’s personal use and preferences.

In my household there are these types of soy sauces:

jo seon gan jang = the korean soy sauce

this is our soy sauce. the korean soy sauce. this soy sauce is really salty, super earthy, very pungent. its a direct biproduct of making doenjang (korean miso).

‘normal’ ganjang = kikkoman soy sauce (japanese soy sauce)

my parents are from a batch of korean’s that immigrated here in the late 70’s and early 80’s. back in the day there wasn’t a lot of Korean products that they could get without having to make it themselves. So, I think for many Koreans who immigrated at that time this became their ‘normal soy sauce’ . My parents and all my parents’ korean friends used this soy sauce. i think it was the most similar thing that they could find from their mainland without having to make too much sacrifice in flavor.

jin gan jang = has a lot of flavor, its a premade variety

i honestly don’t know too much about this soy sauce other than its not just ‘salty’. it has a lot of other flavors in there that dont’ make it your typical soy sauce. My family doesn’t use this soy sauce all that much but typically it is used in banchans (not main dishes or soups)

gook gan jang = soup soy sauce.

this is the soy sauce for soups. it gives soups that salty taste without compromising the broth to a darker hue.

using plain flour is fine. my grandma and my mom have used this if rice flour wasn’t available.

forgive me if i’m wrong but i’m pretty sure the flour is a thickening agent so that the sauce doesn’t just drip to the bottom of the bottle/jar/container.

also, have you ever made kimchi wtihout flour? its really water so the flour makes it look more presentable.

until maangchi posts one (which i’m sure will be better and more awesome) here is a link for one version

http://blog.ohmynews.com/imissme/119912

just go to google translate and translate it.

can i ask what kind of salt you’re using?

if you use table salt (like morton salt) your kimchi will never turn out. i feel like this is your problem.

미역 오이 초무침

http://girinara.egloos.com/2340204

its called mi-yuk o-i cho moo-chim (미역 오이 초무침 ) literally, seeweed, cucumber, vinegar salad (i don’t know what the english word for moo-chim is)

the recipe translated is:

soaked seaweed

half a cucumber

3 tbl of vinegar

1 tbl of sugar

1 tsp of salt

1 tbs of Jin Soy Sause (jin gan jang- 진간장)

1 tsp of minced garlic

2 tbl of water

sesame seeds

1. blanch the seaweed in hot salted water then put it in cold water. squeeze out the water and cut it nicely.

2. julienne the cucumbers

3. mix the sauce ingredients together

4. before you eat it mix it with the sauce well.

this is a super simple recipe. if you type in “미역 초무침 recipe” in google click on any of the links. copy the URL and paste it in ‘google translate’ and it will translate it roughly.

are these people korean?

i think it ‘d be great to do Korean BBQ (with bulgogi, dwejibulgogi and/or just unmarinated meats) with a bunch of banchan (side dishes) and like a tofu stew.

if they are korean, i feel like there would need to be a little more refinement on your menu choice. korean bbq might not be a good choice.