My friend told me my kimchi looked like a science experiment gone wrong

So I was really proud of my first big batch of kimchi, you know? I packed it into a huge glass jar, left it on the counter for two days, and sent a picture to my friend who actually knows what she's doing. She texted back, 'Girl, that looks like a biohazard. You're gonna give yourself the runs.' Turns out I was using WAY too much fish sauce, like a whole cup for a 3-pound batch, and I wasn't pushing the cabbage down enough to keep it under the brine. She said it looked gray and sad. I felt pretty dumb. I started over, used only a quarter cup of fish sauce, and got one of those glass weights to keep everything submerged. The new batch turned out bright red and actually tasted good. Has anyone else gotten a brutal but helpful review on their ferments?

3 comments

3 Comments

willow7322mo ago

That fish sauce amount would make anyone's kimchi look sad.

evanfox2mo ago

Ugh, I felt that. My last batch was way too light on the fish sauce and it came out tasting flat, no real depth. It just didn't have that good funk. Getting that balance right is so tricky.

troyjackson9d ago

Huh, I gotta disagree on the fish sauce being the end all be all... I mean yeah it adds that funk but I've made killer kimchi without much of it. Too much fish sauce can overpower the other stuff like the ginger and garlic. Honestly I think people get hung up on that one ingredient when the real magic is in the fermentation time and temperature. A flat batch might just need a few more days at room temp to develop that depth naturally.