# Kimchee with lemon, anyone make it like this??



## larry_stewart (Jan 9, 2010)

I went to an asian restaurant today.  While waiting to order, they placed a dish of kimchee or a kimchee-like dish.  It was kind of a pickled cabbage, sweet, vinegar, spicy red pepper and to my surprise, thinly sliced lemons.  It was very good, i was just surprised to see the lemons in there.  Is this common, or specific to a certain region of korea or Asia?  or was this the restaurants way of just mixing things up a little bit ??


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## powerplantop (Jan 9, 2010)

larry_stewart said:


> I went to an asian restaurant today. While waiting to order, they placed a dish of kimchee or a kimchee-like dish. It was kind of a pickled cabbage, sweet, vinegar, spicy red pepper and to my surprise, thinly sliced lemons. It was very good, i was just surprised to see the lemons in there. Is this common, or specific to a certain region of korea or Asia? or was this the restaurants way of just mixing things up a little bit ??


 
I have to say Kimchee with lemon is new to me.


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## larry_stewart (Jan 10, 2010)

It was new to me too,  and wouldnt have believed it, until i bit into one piece,  then scouted through the rest ( thinking the one piece was a mistake)  and found a few others.  And the pieces had acquired the kimchee flavor, so i knew they were in there for awhile ( not something that just kinda fell into the pot).


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## GrillingFool (Jan 10, 2010)

Neat idea! Was this the basic, red kimchee, with cabbage and greens and daikon threads?
I got the Kimchee Cookbook for Christmas, but don't remember a recipe with lemon.
Will have to check again.


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## larry_stewart (Jan 10, 2010)

I didnt notice any daikon in it.  It seemed to be mostly, if not all, cabbage.  Seemed on the sweeter side.  Although it was a chinese restaurant, they also have dishes from other asian countries ( thai, bangladesh, japan, malaysia...)  so im sure there is a lot of fusion going on there.  Also a vegetarian restaurant ( i know , i know, but i can assure you, that they are very creative with their menu.  In the past there were carrots in it too, but i didnt notice any last night.


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## GrillingFool (Jan 10, 2010)

Well, my cook book has no lemon recipes.
A quick net search found a couple recipes with lemon in the mix, and
a chef named Alan Susser was mentioned in an article. He says lemon in the
mix makes it need less salt....interesting!!



> Now Chef Susser has invented his own, known as "Lemon Kimchi", a one-of-a-kind that adds lemons in the process of fermenting the cabbages. "By using lemons one does not need to use too much salt in seasoning", he explains, "and it creates a refreshing taste as well."



Now I am intrigued... less salt is a good thing!


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## powerplantop (Jan 10, 2010)

larry_stewart said:


> I didnt notice any daikon in it. It seemed to be mostly, if not all, cabbage. Seemed on the sweeter side. Although it was a chinese restaurant, they also have dishes from other asian countries ( thai, bangladesh, japan, malaysia...) so im sure there is a lot of fusion going on there. Also a vegetarian restaurant ( i know , i know, but i can assure you, that they are very creative with their menu. In the past there were carrots in it too, but i didnt notice any last night.


 
Fusion and veggie this may be it. 

Ultimate Kimchi


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## GrillingFool (Jan 11, 2010)

Well, my first attempt was not at all bad! It needs a little tweaking, I think,
but overall, nice lemon highlights, bit of sweetness, touch of heat...

2 cups Napa cabbage, chopped into 1 inch pieces Salt lightly, let brine for 1/2 hour, rinse well.
1 medium carrot, shredded
2 green onions, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 inch fresh ginger, minced
1 shallot, minced
5 red radishes, shredded
1 English cucumber, sliced
4 fresh hot peppers
1/2 lemon, peeled like orange
2-3 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp fish sauce
2 tsp rice vinegar

I ground the garlic, ginger, chilis and shallots into a paste, added the other seasonings and mixed into the vegetables with about 3/4 cup of water. 
The lemon I cut very thinly and separated into sections and mixed it in as well. 

This would be like a summer kimchee, not meant to ferment, eat within a week,
I would think.

Thanks for the new idea!


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## Claire (Jan 22, 2010)

Hmmm... Have been eating and making kimchee for years, and have had it made with almost any vegetable you could name (a Korean mom&pop place we went to in Hawaii actually made potato kimchee, and it was delicious).  But I can't remember every having it with citrus ... but I suspect I'd like it, and I may try it.  

My husband, who was assigned to Korea and before that, to Thailand, used to say that if he had all the money in the world he'd have ships that would take citrus from southeast Asia to Korea, then apples and similar fruit back to southeast Asia.  The Korean people we knew in those days loved citrus in all forms, it just wasn't available to them, so I'm not surprised that, although I've never seen it, that someone enterprising would incorporate it into the kimchees.  

Heck, the next time I make kimchee, I think I'll give lemon or lime a try!


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