MtnTraveler wrote:
>
> Arri London wrote:
> >
> > Goomba wrote:
> >> Does anyone have a good recipe/method for making cucumber kimchi?
> >> I've only attempted it once and felt it was lacking something, but can't
> >> say what? Also I want to make sure it doesn't get watery as it never is
> >> when I have eaten it at restaurants. So I think the method is important.
> >> The stuff I like is hot yet a touch of sweet also.
>
> One ingredient that most Westerners seem to avoid when making kimchee is
> some sort of smelly fermented fish added into the recipe. If you have an
> Asian market near you, look for Japanese 'shiokara,' and add 1-2 TBS to
> your recipe. (It's often sold in small bottles and has a very strong
> smell!) In Korea people store their kimchee in large pots OUTSIDE their
> homes; on roofs, back stairs, etc., as the smell is too strong to keep
> them inside. This might be what is missing from your recipe. Many
> westernized recipes tone this down by using dried shrimp which gives a
> very different flavor.


That's why the recipe stated 'fermented shrimp' or dried shrimp. Other
recipes I've seen use other fermented fish products. The kimchi in jars
sold locally doesn't contain those things though.