Kimchi!

To see just what we've gotten ourselves into, we took a trip to Asia Mart yesterday on a mission for kimchi, one of the foods Korea is most known for. Basically, kimchi is pickled vegetables. I stumbled upon a fun fact while Googling 'kimchi': It's so popular that the Korea Aerospace Research Institute developed space kimchi for all those homesick astronauts out there. The most popular vegetable to use is cabbage, and that's the kind we got.



We had to search everywhere in Asia Mart because we had no idea where to find it. Finally, I saw an older man and woman getting into the refrigerators by the fish counter and pulling out a large jar of what I thought looked like kimchi. As I stood behind them and waited, the old man turns and looks at me and says, "Kimchi! You want kimchi!?" in an excited/ surprised voice. Jackpot!

When we opened it, we tentatively smelled it to decide whether or not to proceed. It's a subtle peppery smell which is not completely foreign. I'm still not sure what to think of it. The spices are good, but the veggie taste is what gets me. I guess if cabbage is not slathered in mayo or coated in butter, I don't much care for it. However, I think it's a taste I can get used to. There are many other veggies used in kimchi, too. Perhaps I would prefer cucumber kimchi!

We also got a little juice box from Korea which was banana flavored soy milk. It was good!

Anyway, only 10 days left before we board the plane!