Kimchi

I made Chang's kimchi a few months ago and couldn't find brine shrimp anywhere down here in South Florida so I used some tiny dried shrimp chopped up. I'm sure it is not the same but it turned out delicious.

We tried both the white and red kimchi recipes in Lucky Peach, and they were both very good...after about 2 months in the fridge. However, I was disappointed that his recipes were not fermented (sure, they ferment after being in the fridge for a while, but the process of fermentation is not part of the recipe). If you're familiar with Wild Fermentation by Sandor Katz, his kimchi recipe is freaking amazing. Smelly and pungent and wonderful. The process begins with fermentation, and after a few weeks you have a lovely, spicy pickle. His recipes tend to be more free-form (for instance, he basically tells you to put whatever vegetables you want in the kimchi), but if you take that principle and apply it to the usual kimchi ingredients, you'll have something decidedly worth eating.
I found Chang's kimchi to be overly sweet at first, much improved over a few months. Katz's kimchi is still my favorite.

I agree with thirschfeld. In his book Momofuku, he talks about jarred salted shrimp as a way to kick-start the fermentation process. He says raw oysters are common, as are squid, shrimp or yellow croaker. He likes to use shrimp because it makes the kimchee sweet. A little goes a long way!
I'd love to know how your kimchee turns out....I am also embarking on a kimchee project this spring.

Pierino in Momofuku he uses brine shrimp too. I get them at the local Asian grocery. They come in a jar, have liquid and are salted and fermented. Think of them as the starter for your kimchi. I like Chang's recipe very much but also find it sweet. I found another recipe by Georges Vongrichten's wife in her book on Korean food and it is also excellent.

Thanks for the input everyone. I'm not at squemish about eating dried fish (I eat everything). What made me ask the question is that when I searched on line for sources everything I came up with was aquarium supply. Chang's recipe does call for fish sauce as well. But he's the type of chef who just might plant a joke in a hipster publication like Lucky Peach. I guess I'll have to search Korea Town when I'm back down in LA in a couple of weeks. Meanwhile I do have small dried shrimp from Japan so maybe that will work.

Do you think he may be referring to "salt brined shrimp"? Here's a demo I found of his:
http://www.foodarts.com/recipes/techniques/1519/kimchi-demo

Dried shrimp are pretty common in Korean cooking, and in various Asian chili pastes, etc. Could that be what Chang is referring to? (I've never seen it referred to as 'brine' shrimp, but maybe it sometimes is?)

I wonder if the brine shrimp are a shortcut for making it smell like kimchi without the appropriate time for culturing. Mrs. Vongderichtin has a cookbook -- she is Korean, and gives several recipes for it. Compare with others; use the LP recipe but leave the bs out, or use your powers of discovery and history to find the truth...I'm sure you can access many other, authentic, kimchi recipes.

For me, kimchi and brine shrimp are two separate items. Perhaps it is because where I live I get the best of all Asian foods. Kimchi for me if mostly spivey cabbage that I mostly chop fine to add as a spice and brined shrimp is quite spicy and I use sparingly as an additive to Asian dishes. Also nice on a cracker as a canapé.

Brine shrimp are a pretty common ingredient in Kimchi, so I would assume this is not a "prank recipe" (do people really post those?)
If you're uncomfortable with the idea, I would recommend some anchovy fish sauce as a suitable substitute.

Pierino, my experience with this question is akin to being in a no win pop quiz. Not willing to pay the price for Lucky Peach, and have lived next door to people who made kimchi all the time I am left with kimchi and smelly. Brine shrimp are the same as bait shrimp to me. Littlest catching bigger and everything smells.

Many people use fish sauce in kimchi and it is more expensive than what we use to feed aquarium fish.

My heritage is german, so was raised on sauerkraut. Kimchi is the same kind of thing except for the smelly fish and when I first had it in Korea, was buried in the ground.