Hei Hei Friends,
I hope you’re staying cool.
Tomorrow we are making a big batch of fresh cucumber kimchi for the farmers market and it has me reminiscing.
Nearly 20 years ago I met Irene here in Ohio during college. Shortly after she invited me to visit her family in Hawaii. That trip was the first time I tried kimchi— real deal kimchi made with tiny fermented shrimp and anchovy fish sauce. I did not dig it. Nothing from landlocked cuisine à la Columbus correlated. I liked the idea of kimchi more than the taste.
Everything changed when Irene’s mom brought out a plate of glistening fresh cucumber kimchi— my gateway to loving funkier, fermented food, as it is for many young children in Korea. Cucumber kimchi is the training wheels, the T-ball of kimchi.
Crunchy, spicy, salty. Refreshing. Amazing with rice, cold beer, hot dogs, etc.
Cucumber kimchi is a fresh pickle— eaten right after being made. It will begin to ferment after a few days in the fridge, which is delicious as long as the cucumbers are still crunchy, but it never lasts long enough to get that far in our house.
Ours is made with fresh picklers grown down the road at Shade River Farm, who never ceases to amaze us with the quality of their produce. We are very lucky.
We will also have napa kimchi made with cabbage from Cowdery Farm, turnips and green onions from the OU Student Farm, and garlic and honey from Morning Dew Hop Farm. It’s a delicious batch and the last of the spring/early summer napa, which sadly means it’s the last napa kimchi until the fall.
See you at the market!
-Kurt
P.S. I am planning on delivering some cucumber kimchi to Kindred Market tomorrow in case you can’t make it to market Saturday.