It's kimchi makin' time!

Each day at the beginning of class I ask my students what they did the day before, over the weekend, etc. This week, I had many excited students respond, "I made kimchi!" I'm not a kimchi eater myself, but I know that most Korean people are addicted to the stuff. It is served at every meal in the cafeteria and with any dish you order in a restaurant. For these reasons, I was curious (and thought it was important to know) how to make kimchi. My students were pleased with my interest and shared with me what the process is like. So, now I'm sharing a my newly-found cultural knowledge with you!

The first step in making kimchi is to wash the cabbage in salt water. Then, you cover it in red pepper paste. My students said they just buy the red pepper paste from the store, but that their 할모니(grandmas) make it from scratch my crushing dried red peppers. Next, they put the red pepper paste-covered-cabbage into a giant kimchi pot and let it ferment. I am unsure how long it has to stay there (they told me three days, but I would think longer...maybe it was lost in translation), but the entire process takes quite some time. Many said they do it for a couple days for a few hours each day. It seems to be a family affair, too. And, Korean families make SO MUCH KIMCHI! The kimchi pots are huge! Plus, in all of the 가개 and supermarkets there are cabbages stacked in every spare square centimeter you can find.

Maybe I will grow to acquire the taste of kimchi, but I just can't get past the spicyness...maybe some day. In the meantime, I will marvel at the process and appreciate the family time and hard work that goes into making this Korean staple. And if any of you come visit me, be prepared to give kimchi a try!