Are eggs good or bad for you? New research rekindles the debate

www.statnews.com ^ | March 15, 2019 | Lindsey Tanner

[Rio]

I looked at mine this morning. Bubbling is slower. I attribute this to cold temperatures at night lately. Mine did not smell “done” so I tasted a bit of turnip. Definitely not fermented enough yet.

Did you use the sugar? Maybe add some more..

On the other hand, if it tastes like it’s where you want it to be,, then put it in the refrigerator and call it good. Mine needs two or three more days.

[Yardstick]

I did use the sugar. But it’s just a couple teaspoons which I suspect isn’t enough to matter. My original thinking was it could add some tartness but think compared to the sugars in the cabbage it’s insignificant.

Visible bubbling has nearly stopped but I’m still getting a hiss when I crack the lid so it’s still fermenting. I tasted a few bites this evening and overall the flavor is similar to the store bought kimchi. Similar tanginess, and quite tasty. Good heat thanks to the red pepper powder which I went heavy on. And a definite seafood note thanks to the fish sauce.

At this point I think I’m going to let it go for two more days and then refrigerate.

[Rio]

I was having some kim-chi for breakfast today and realized that I never heard how yours turned out. Edible at least? You originally asked if homemade was as good as store-bought.
Was it? Did you make more?
I made a batch since with a daikon radish. Really a pretty good vegetable that I had never used for anything before.

Ferment on.

-Rio

[dfwgator]

Oh, brother.

[Yardstick]

Yes, very edible with good fermented tanginess, good heat, and good texture. I went just a little too heavy on the ginger so the flavor fell a little short of the Sanju brand that I buy. But it was still very good and can be fine tuned in further batches. So in this sense it was a success for a first outing I think.

But here’s the funny thing. Two days after eating my first serving of it, I came down with a mean case of gastroenteritis that had me waylaid for nearly a week. It was bad enough that I went to the doctor, which I rarely do for these sorts of things. He thought the kimchee could have been the culprit but said really I could have picked it up anywhere. I will add that the day I ate the kimchee I also ate at a slightly sketchy Subway.

I will also add that I picked up one of my two heads of napa cabbage at an international grocery. This raises a little bit of flag in hindsight especially when we’re talking about something that’s prepared uncooked. On the other hand, it seems like the acid from the fermentation should have killed off any bad bugs that may have hitched a ride due to suspect sourcing or handling, but maybe not.

Upshot is I’ve still got a beautiful batch of kimchee sitting in a jumbo mason jar in my fridge, but I’m scared to eat it. I’ll probably toss it and try again, this time with cabbage sourced from Krogers or something.