Believe it or not there is actually a sizable article on kimchi in today’s Washington Post. Personally, I have no idea why there is an article on kimchi in a U.S. national paper, but there it is and there is no “advertisement” header or footer on it and it’s not written in broken English so I suppose it’s legit.
Jane Black, a WaPo staff writer usually in the Food section, sounds like an unedited Hanshik brochure as she gushes on and on about kimchi:
What started out as a neat addition to a dinner party menu — “Let’s try something from the new Momofuku cookbook” — turned into an all-out obsession with funky, spicy Korean fermented cabbage. It was terrific with the hanger steak at dinner and maybe better with steamed rice or poached eggs after a few more days in the fridge. Soon, I began to crave it, the same way most people yearn for chocolate cake. That’s when I realized that kimchi also tastes pretty darn good right out of the jar.
“It’s like cabbage crack,” I told my fiance as we polished off one of our early batches for a mid-morning snack. Then we both burst into hyena-like laughter. We were in trouble.
Looks like she copied a recipe from a TMH favorite- David Chang. She even quotes the South Korean government’s web site:
My kimchi habit will no doubt be a great relief to the government of South Korea, which has made spreading the word about the country’s national dish an official policy. The Korea Food Research Institute has a traditional-foods division charged with the “scientific research of Korean fermented foods such as sauces, alcohols, and kimchi for their globalization,” according to its Web site.
You can’t get this kind of publicity even if you paid for it. (Satire On)I’m not saying any one but The Washington Post Company pays Jane Black, but I’m just sayin’ (Satire Off).
{ 35 comments… read them below or add one }
Hey AAK…. Did your head explode yet?
My office is now strewn with my brain.
I started reading the article muttering, “No, no, no…” like I am inevitably sliding toward a cliff. Then I read this:
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!
For those of you who never made your own kimchi in your life — fish sauce (either 멸치젓 or 까나리 액젓) and salted shrimp (새우젓) are absolutely essential in kimchi. In fact, the difference between good and crappy kimchi comes down to the amount of seafood in it. Kimchi needs to finish with a slight briny aftertaste that complements the fermented sourness as it ages. Otherwise, it’s just a fucking cabbage with chili peppers.
Now if you would excuse me, I need to buy some kerosene and matches. A lot of matches.
Considering their Moonie history, I would have expected an article like that first coming from the Washington Times.
The Korean–familiar with temple style kimchi?
Yes. But temple style anything for me is just an abnormal offshoot of Korean food, like the “food” that comes out of Gyeongsang-do. (Hey oh!)
AAK,
Methinks you are not the only one who’s head exploded. I think other people’s heads exploded as well, but for different reasons than you.
The words don’t surprise me… sounds like it came from a hanshik tourism brochure like I said… but the source does.
That’s why you are a Korean food Wahabist…
Wangkon who claims to be korean also said he doesn’t really like kimchi all that much. Can 1 + 0 equal 2? kakakaka
yeah… and wasn’t he the guy who didn’t know how to add cheese to his 신라면? :p
#4
You need to reverse your logic. Perceptions like yours are the reason the WT would think twice before running such a story.
The only running the Moonie Times is doing these days is away from its creditors. Who’d have thought that a partisan rag run by a nutball that never made a dime would’ve even lasted this long?
IHBB,
Don’t underestimate the power of brainwashed college students peddling weird abstract paintings on the street for $30 a pop.
… or the power of sushi. I think a bulk of Mr. Moon’s money comes from sushi distribution… Don’t know for sure but that’s what I heard.
Not a rumor, according to Chicago Tribue
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/watchdog/chi-0604sushi-1-story,0,656681.story
Yes, the paper is collapsing and may end up just online if it survives at all. It’s always been an appalling business proposition. Byvirtue of its existence it protected the cult from deprogrammers and got SMM in front of Gorbachev and Kim Il-sung. Otherwise, it served no purpose. Its conservative voice was never the Moon voice.
#12
The WT may seem “partisan” because American conservates tend to be rather shrill and there are not many conservative dailies. But it’s rather like The Daily Telegraph (with which it has a story-sharing tie-up) with the WP being more like The Guardian (similar tie-up).
Cabbage crack? Wow, that’s so awesome dude.
In due time, urban dwelling hipsters will be walking around with kimchi breath. Just you wait. David Chang will be the one who made this happen.
What is the official gyopo consensus on this matter?
One of the nice things about kimchi is not only are there so many variations for all tastes, no two people make even the same kind the same way.
Is that “the” Michael Breen, or an impostor?
the more fishy the kimchi tastes, the less likely western people will like it. some of the thai people who own restaurants i know almost always say they reduce the amount of fish sauce they use for their western clients who don’t seem to care for fishy flavors. i’d have to say i’m one of them since i always avoid seafood panchan and never eat any kind of ocean food except shrimp though i can tolerate the fishy kimchi. i like the pork and beef.
I always thought 굴김치 was the bestest type of kimchi out there, but now I’m having fantasies about eating piping hot white rice with loads and loads of 쭈꾸미 김치 at its side. Matter fact, I’ll happily eat any damn thing with 쭈꾸미 mixed in.
What I say about this guy? Why do you keep assuming Pawi is Korean? Korean is practically synonymous with “I love FISH”. Do you, PAWI, know why Chosun.com invariably has a news article or a bigass photo of a bigass fish catch at least once every week? It’s cuz THEY ARE KOREAN, which YOU’RE NOT. kakakaka
I don’t know enough about the history of the Telegraph or Guardian to comment on the validity of your comparison, but the reason the WT “may seem ‘partisan,’” is because it is, and unashamedly so, so there’s no need for the quotation marks. There’s really not even a pretense of journalistic integrity or attempt at unbiased coverage, which is actually far preferrable to a media outlet advertising an Orwellian slogan (Fair & Balanced, anyone?) while pursuing a nakedly partisan agenda.
The WP, and an overwhelming majority of daily American newspapers stay between the 40-yard lines with their straight news coverage, regardless of where their editorial page stands.
The WT never gets out of the GOP end zone.
lol. reminds me of the time i met a japanese guy who offered me some fresh fish and i told him i don’t eat fish. his eyes got big and he said to me: ‘you ain’t no asian!’
#3,
There are different styles of kimchi, many of which don’t have cabbage or seafood.
@ AAK #3,
You know what’s a funny image? The picture of a 6 foot one inch 20 something Korean guy with rubber gloves and his mom’s apron struggling over a pink tub of napa cabbage and red chilis stinking of small shrimp and dead anchovies… I wanna see pictures AAK!
Bonus points if the apron says “Happy time kitchen joy” or similar goofy, incoherent Engrish slogan…
@ JW #14,
A similar issue came up when I was in a conference call with a client today. He said since we haven’t met he doesn’t know if I’m a real person… to which I replied that I’m really a super computer part of an extensive experiment by CalTech’s artificial intelligence department…
#23
I think you make my point which is that the scarcity of conservative papers makes it hard for American readers to see the WT as legitimate . The idea that the WP and NYT are neutral is a delusion. But it explains why otherwise intelligent democratic people in a country where half the voters are conservative Republicans freak out over any media that expresses their views.
2nd point: not only are US papers not neutral, but they are not required to be. Their official opinion is expressed in editorials and in the choice of columnists. News reporting is different. Her readers expect objectivity from quality papers. They get that in the WP and the WT.
A country where half the voters are conservative Republicans? Where would that be?
Isn’t the Washington Post owned by the head Moonie (A Korean)?
“In due time, urban dwelling hipsters will be walking around with kimchi breath.”
LOL! When everyone smells of garlic, nobody smells of garlic.
If Eric Johnson was making a 갓김치, 무오신채 김치 or 동치미, then it’s WaPo’s fault for inaccurate reportage. Otherwise, Johnson had better have a good fire insurance.
# 29,
That would be the WT, not the WP.
i didn’t think i would live long enough to see kimchi become somewhat semi -mainstream acceptable…
@ jw # 22
I find a Korean nationalist who doesn’t like seafood an interesting concept, apparently the world is all rife with new human specimens, i for example kinda dislike pasta
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