A friend’s Korean sister in law was visiting and offered to prepare a traditional Korean meal.
They all went to a movie as she cooked.
On return, he knew there was a problem, the spices were so strong he could detect them at the door.
He said the meal was nice but your eyes would water in the kitchen!
They washed and scrubbed to no avail.
They repainted the entire kitchen to cover the scent.
I made kimchi last winter but did not repaint.
Once made something that required fish sauce added to a hot skillet. Repainting was a serious consideration.
I just acquired a jar of home made kim chi.
Yummo!
Ya, see, youre the kind of person that probably enjoys durian and just doesn’t know it yet. Your Asian grocer has a couple but they aren’t up by the other fresh fruit. Its in the freezer case to both maintain freshness and control smell. I imagine youll have to buy a whole one which can be a bit expensive but Im pretty sure that youll like it even if its just to say you had it once.
I’ve been in over 100+ Vietnamese homes over the years and found that even after the owners moved out and the house was vacant the stench from fish sauce was overwhelming.
A few were smarter than the rest and had a stove in the attached garage for cooking the stinky stuff.