My Mom's Kimchi: A Recipe of Mystery and Mess

As I stand here in our outdoor kitchen at Han Oak, surrounded by the sights and smells of Korean cuisine, I am reminded of the importance of tradition and family. My mom's kimchi is more than just a recipe – it's a connection to her past, a symbol of love and care that she has passed down through generations.

I'm here today to make some kimchi bibim cucsu, a chilled noodle salad with a tangy kimchi vinaigrette. The process may seem daunting at first, but trust me, it's worth the effort. My mom always says that when you're cooking with kimchi, you need to use something that's over-fermented, and if it starts getting fizzy, you know it's ready to start cooking with it.

As I begin to chop the kimchi through, I'm reminded of all the things we have in our pantry. A sweetening agent like plum extract is essential, but some might say that high fructose corn syrup made to taste like apples is not the best choice. My mom always says that a little bit of everything can go a long way.

The next step in making kimchi bibim cucsu is to add the brown rice vinegar and fishy-infused soy sauce. The combination may sound strange, but it's what gives our dish its unique flavor. If you don't have these specific ingredients, don't worry – honey or white wine vinegar will do just fine.

I'm not going to measure out the sesame oil today; I like to taste as I go and adjust accordingly. This is one of those recipes where the right amount can make all the difference. My mom always says that it's better to taste it and adjust rather than trying to follow a recipe to the letter.

As I continue to prepare the ingredients, I'm reminded of how much my mom relies on her own intuition when cooking. She insists on using only what she knows and loves, and I admire her dedication to tradition. Whether you're making kimchi bibim cucsu or any other dish, it's all about experimentation and finding what works best for you.

So, let's get started! Here are the ingredients we'll be using today:

* A handful of over-fermented kimchi (make sure it's getting fizzy!)

* Plum extract as our sweetening agent

* High fructose corn syrup made to taste like apples (for those who enjoy a sweeter flavor)

* Brown rice vinegar

* Fishy-infused soy sauce

* Sesame oil

And now, let the magic begin!

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: en-We strictly usemy mom's kimchi.She insists on making itand will not give me the recipe.♪♪We're here.My name is Peter,and you're at Han Oakin Portland, Oregon,in our outdoor kitchen.Today, we're goingto make some kimchi bibim cuksu.It's a chilled noodle saladwith kimchi vinaigrette.This is messy business.We're going to eyeballthis thing here.So I'm going to just graba handful of this kimchi.If you're evercooking with kimchior you're makinga vinaigrette like this,you would want to use somethingthat's over-fermented.If it starts getting fizzy,you're ready to startcooking with it.So I'm just going toroughly chop this through.I'm going to show youall this crap that I have here.And you don't needall this stuff,but I'm just going to kind ofshow you all the thingsthat we normally havein our pantry.Some sort of sweetening agent.This is like a plum extract,so that's our sweetener here.And then sometimesI like to use this stuff,which is just basically,like, high fructose corn syrupmade to taste like apples.Is that bad?Is it?Like, I shouldn't use itfor the kids.Oh, okay. Cool.Maybe you can edit that out.No, leave that in there.Alright.It's funny how I do recipesaround here.I go kind of turnsaround the bowl,so two turns around the bowl.And then this isour brown rice vinegar.Kind of gives two sloshes.And then this is justa little fishy-infused soy.And if you don't have these, youknow, Korean-specific things,then you can usewhatever.Like, you can use honey.You can use, you know,any, like, white wine vinegar,apple cider vinegar.So a lot of this stuffis totally interchangeable.It just happens to bethat I haveall this sort of Korean stuffand this high fructosecorn syrup.And then lots of sesame oil.So that's probably,I don't know,four tablespoons or so.I'm not going measure.I'm not going to talk abouthow much this is anymore.Really, this is -- this is justone of those recipeswhere you want to taste itand you want to say,\"Oh, okay, I'm looking forsomething a little acidic,a little funky with the kimchi.\"You want some sweetness tokind of help balance that out.So that's to sayit's all by taste. Right, babe?Here, you want to taste it?This is going to needa lot of adjustment.--Alright. So gonna adda little bit of this.Oh, that's probablya tablespoon of the vinegar.And then every Asian homeshould have one ofthese little toastedsesame seed grinders.If you're not an Asian home,you might not have it.So this is pretty loose.It's more like a vinaigrette.But if you do want itto be a little more saucyso it coats the noodlesa little bit better,this is some chojang,which is just some gochujangmixed with a little sweetnessand some vinegar.-Ah!-What's up?And then what I always liketo add is some fresh scallions.So this is like, you know,this is pretty chunky.If you were to call thisa vinaigrette,I guess you would youwould be able to.But -- And thenwe have our noodles.So these are some super thinand chewy wheat noodles.So I'm going to boil them,and you're going to waituntil they're little pastwhat you think would be, like,a nice chewy noodle,because once you cool it,it's going to firm upquite a bit.Yeah, bud.Yeah, it's steam.Okay.-Go poop. I'll be right thereto wipe your butt.-Oh, my God.Welcome to my life.I'll be right thereto wipe your butt!Okay, so noodles are cooking.And then I think whilewe're doing that,we can cut some veg.We have thesebeautiful cucumbers,got from radishes.I might omit the cabbage'cause I actually havesome beautiful lettuce heartsover here.Can add tomatoes.We have some perilla here.Perilla is minty,slightly anise-y.And then with this death trapcalled the mandoline.So this is a super thin noodle.Doesn't take very long.That right there, it's, like,exactly where we want it,and so I'm going to take itjust like a minute longer'cause I want it just to gojust past perfect donenessbecause it's going to firm upwith the ice.So I just drop this intothis little bucketof water here.I'm gonna let that coolfor a second.And then whileit's in this wire basket,throw some ice in.Make that super chilled.And we'll go backto our cucumber's here.So this part of the recipeis great 'cause youcan pretty much use anything.You don't want to use cucumbers?You can add shredded carrots.You can add cabbage.This is just some scallionsthat we've shredded.All this is, like, ready to go.Just give it a good mix.Alright. So couple of bowls.This is nice and chilled now.Put your noodles down.A little twirl.Put the vinaigretteon top of that.We'll put a good like 2tablespoons of this on here.I think Korean food is funnybecause, like,there's always some elementof you have to,like, do something yourself,you know?Either you're grillingthe meat yourself or, like,you know, bibimbap is, like,this whole thingwhere it's all layeredand you have to mix it yourself.We like to make our guestsdo a little work, I guess.But we'll just throw the saladon top and then serve it.You just got to give ita good -- a good mix-up.And thenfor the last little bitof the umami,we can use this stuff --thinly shredded nori.Asian-y goodness.Bang. That's lunch.You like hot noodlesor you like cold noodles, Frank?-Cold.-Cold? Okay.You got it.-Come here, Franky.-Come here, Frank.Pretend like you like it.-Okay. We're done.-Yay!--Cut!♪♪-Did it from the bottom 'causethat's where all the sauce is.-And then you just spin itaround your chopsticksin the bowl.And then you gota nice little bundle.Mmm.-Oh, my God.Did it from the bottom 'causethat's where all the sauce is.-And then you just spin itaround your chopsticksin the bowl.And then you gota nice little bundle.Mmm.-Good job, babe.\n"