My definition of kimchi: extremely funky cabbage stuff. I had had a few bites of it at restaurants. I had noticed and admired jars of it in gourmet food shops for a long time before I finally took the plunge and bought a jar. And then I was too terrified to use it for a few months. Which is fine, because it has a really long shelf life, since it's already fermented and all.
Well, when I finally started experimenting with it, the first thing I noticed is that when you open the jar, you're in store for an extremely funky smelling kitchen. Seriously, every time I open the jar, I kind of want to die for a few moments. The smell is just so strong. So funky. But, once you get past that, this stuff tastes really great. It's tangy and sour and unique. I've discovered that I enjoy it best in fried rice. Here's a recipe for a version I made recently. I left out the scrambled eggs (which is kind of traditional in fried rice, and you could add them here if you want), but I added some bean sprouts that I had left over from another meal. —foxeslovelemons
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