Peggy's Kimchee
from Peggy in Louisiana, 1/13/00:
Kimchee is nectar of the gods for those that like spicy foods!
Its a Korean dish, sort of a hot salad dish, fermented cabbage and very easy to make. Can be made with cabbage or cucumbers.
1. Chop up a head of cabbage (or a bunch of cucumbers, if you prefer)
2. Sprinkle liberally with salt (Koreans didn't have refrigeration and salted everything)
3. Sprinkle very liberally with red pepper (my friend who taught me to make this buys red pepper in huge mayonnaise style jars) -- enough to turn the mixture sort of red.
4. You can eat it right away, but its best if you let it sit a few days (in the refrigerator -- food poisoning is too risky!)
Kimchee ferments. Store-bought Kimchee should never be left in a warm car -- the jar will explode and your car will smell like fermented cabbage for weeks. If you drop the jar it will explode. Do not shake the jar (it may explode). Stuff sounds very dangerous, but tastes great!
Peggy in Louisiana