kim chi: the Staff of Life?

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(daniel @ Jul 1 2007, 06:54 PM) [snapback]471201[/snapback]</div>

Huitlacoche, the couple of times I tried it, is yummy (you just don't eat it by itself; it's an ingredient). And as someone who doesn't like cooked mushrooms, that's something.

And kim chee does smell funny. It's fermented cabbage and smells like it.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Jack Kelly @ Jul 2 2007, 12:45 PM) [snapback]471227[/snapback]</div>

Yes, carnivores smell smell different than vegetarians & yes, spices make your sweat smell different -- asian spices, italian spices, spices from the south, spices from the north etc etc. You guys really gotta get out more! But now this whole thread is reminding me of that new-car smell thread in the main forum.

[edit to remove server burp -- sIa]


PS remember, all smells are particulate.

 

OMG I love kim chi. I was introduced to it by a Chinese man I used to work for. He loves the stuff, and so I tried some too. It's so goooooooddddd....! *mouth is watering badly*

 

No offense, and I shouldn't knock it until I've tried it, but it sounds horrible! (I had heard of it before, but only from an episode of M*A*S*H, which of course, was set in Korea.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Stev0 @ Jul 1 2007, 05:05 PM) [snapback]471207[/snapback]</div>

I had huitlacoche soup, and my friend, who is insane, had huitlacoche soup followed by huitlacoche tacos. I had enchiladas for my main course. This was at a good restaurant in the center of Querétaro.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Starbug @ Jul 1 2007, 06:59 PM) [snapback]471247[/snapback]</div>

Hey Angela. Good to hear from you again! I have not seen you posting here in a year. How have you been?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(KD6HDX @ Jul 1 2007, 06:19 PM) [snapback]471180[/snapback]</div>

I'm amazed at how squeamish people have become. If it doesn't come prepackaged and shrink wrapped they won't eat it. If you are afraid of eating Kim Chi from some ladies bathtub (which is just a large stationary basin that she most likely scrubs furiously) then you better not eat any meat. Being married to someone with an animal science degree has opened my eyes to the crap, quite literally, that is in our commercially produced food.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jhinton @ Jul 2 2007, 06:55 AM) [snapback]471454[/snapback]</div>

Apparently the FDA or the Ag Dept or whoever regulates these things sets limits on how much extraneous matter (rat droppings, dirt, etc.) is allowed to be in our food. So the food companies test, and if a batch has less than the allowed quantity of extraneous matter, they sweep the floor and dump it in because in the end it's sold by the pound or the ton and if it's cleaner than it has to be, they lose money.

But usually they sterilize it, so it won't hurt you, or they tell you to cook it thoroughly before eating it, and wash your hands and utensils after handling the raw stuff.

I'd trust something an experienced private person made in her bathtub more than something from a big company, because the lady making kim chi in her tub probably depends on regular customers who will quit buying from her if they get sick, and many of them are her neighbors, who will become personal enemies if they get sick. But a big company has minimum-wage employees handling the food, and they don't care if the customers get sick. And if the foreman is a jerk, they are liable to get angry and intentionally introduce disgusting things into the food.

Mostly I try not to think about where my food comes from, though I buy from the organic producers at the farmers market when it's in season.

 

I really like kim chi. I've eaten it a half dozen times or so in my life.

If you've never had kim chi, you should try it. Korean food is pretty good.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(daniel @ Jul 1 2007, 10:44 PM) [snapback]471359[/snapback]</div>

Yeah, I know I didn't post for a year+...was very busy at the hobby shop. But I did occasionally lurk, and did think about the club every so often.

The hobby shop closed ( ), so now I'm an interior/exterior house painter. Been with the crew for nearly a year now, and the hours are just too short (I need 40), so I"m looking for a new job. Know anybody hiring? I don't take up much space, I'm friendly, and I drive a Prius! :lol:

Other than work, the only other news that consumes my life is my dad's loosing battle with cancer. It's...not cool. For his sake, I'm hoping the 3mm anurism in his brain kills him first: no pain, no suffering, just instantanious death. Cancer is a horrible way to die.

Oh, and I got a new cat! My Siamese died at 19 years old (about two years ago), so now I've got a 3 year old male orange tabby (like my previous one, but weighs 16 pounds, is mouthy, stubborn, klutzy, and awesome). He's adored by all who lay eyes on him....he's actually painfully cute. He could send anyone into insulin shock. LOL. (That's him in my avatar)

How have you been? I read mention that you have a Zebra car now. That's cool. I've got a whole folder in my Favorites that is devoted to electric vehicles.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jhinton @ Jul 2 2007, 06:55 AM) [snapback]471454[/snapback]</div>

No one cares how amazed you are.

I could care less about your marital problems...

You want me to believe you when you say she MOST LIKELY scrubs her bathtub furiously? Maybe she doesn't want any of that Kim Cheese-bacteria in her coochie when she uses the bathtub as a bathtub.

But she probably furiously scrubs the bathtub before she squats in it for a bath(besides - no one pees in the shower or bathtub or jacuzzi....right?) I won't buy tamales from a door to door guy either. Same for folks that sell fruit on the corner and piss and crap in the bushes. Then wash their hands on their pants. Patronize a real business that pays for county health food inspections. I know it does not guarantee your food is safe, but at least we can support the home team when we try and follow the rules of this country.

I have worked in the media long enough to know that several stories I worked on were because of listeriosis from bathtub cheese in the poor hispanic immigrant communities here in Los Angeles.

I'll eat what I want, you eat the crap your wife tells you to eat.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Starbug @ Jul 2 2007, 02:50 PM) [snapback]471814[/snapback]</div>

That's a beautiful-looking cat. I'm sorry about your dad. I think he was already struggling with that when you were posting before. I've had an eventful year: two operations, both successful and I'm back to normal and getting ready to head to Canada to spend most of this month and next hiking in the mountains of B.C. Last I knew you didn't have a Prius yet. I'm glad to hear you finally managed it, even though I now think of my Prius as the gas guzzler for when I can't use my real car. Pics of my Xebra are here. The Prius sits in the garage 27 days out of 30, but of course the Xebra can't make it to Canada, so I'll be driving the Prius. Welcome back to Prius Chat!

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(KD6HDX @ Jul 2 2007, 05:15 PM) [snapback]471911[/snapback]</div>

My first semester in Mexico I was in Monterrey. I went to the flea market in the dry riverbed and it was about 115 degrees and zero humidity, and I was beginning to feel like I was going to die. They were selling fresh fruit, and even though people had warned me not to buy food out in the open, I figured it was fruit or heat stroke.

I ate the fruit, and boy was it ever good! I was careful which stands to buy it from. I only patronized stands where they were cutting the fruit, never ones where it was already cut, and only where they had a jug of purified water to wash with.

In 4 1/2 years in Mexico I ate fruit from street vendors all the time, and only got sick twice: once from movie-theater popcorn that was probably made with bad oil, and once when I went on a chocolate binge. Nothing wrong with the chocolate, but a pound of it did a number on me.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(daniel @ Jul 2 2007, 10:02 AM) [snapback]471484[/snapback]</div>

Exactly B)


<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(KD6HDX @ Jul 2 2007, 07:15 PM) [snapback]471911[/snapback]</div>

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

You crack me up man!

Who said I have marital problems? I certainly didn't. By martial problems do you mean that I'm man enough to value the opinion of smart and highly educated woman? :huh: If so then yes, I have problems.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(KD6HDX @ Jul 2 2007, 08:15 PM) [snapback]471911[/snapback]</div>

Man, that is fudged up. You got a King Kong Attitude, me boy.
I mean, this is just the internets. No need to jump down on that person...

Relax, and you will live longer...

 

I'm fine, I know how to purge stress and its effects on the body and mind.

Daniel you are lucky. In this world I have seen things that will make king kong squeemish. My Mother who is from Mexico, told me never to drink the water or eat from roadside vendors. I'll listen to her thanks.

Calling someone squeemish is like calling them a sissy.

No argument with educated women here.

But I hope she serves you a big bowl of the bathtub cheese with Kim chi and listeria.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(KD6HDX @ Jul 3 2007, 02:52 AM) [snapback]472134[/snapback]</div>

There are germs everywhere, man! I remember how horrified my dad was when a friend of mine picked up and ate a kernel of popcorn that had fallen on a clean floor, and yet he thought nothing of my eating carrots right out of the ground in my garden. There is nothing inherently more unsterile about a bathtub than about a mixing bowl in a restaurant. What matters is how they are handled. And the proprietor of a small business is likely to be much more careful and sanitary than a minimum-wage worker in a big company. And why do you assume that the woman is using the same bathtub to make kim chi that she bathes herself in? My guess is that she does not. My guess is that "bathtub" in this context is a figure of speech.

Mexico cannot afford to purify tap water to the standards of drinking water. In the U.S. we flush our toilets with drinking water. In Mexico tap water is purified to wash-water standards, rather than drinking-water standards. As a result you either buy purified water, or you boil water before drinking it. But refusing to ever eat street food is an excessive precaution, much like refusing to leave your house. The food in Mexico is so good, and the fruit so fresh and delicious, that you are depriving yourself unnecessarily, because street vendors are not all equal, and with reasonable care you can reduce your risk to insignificant levels. You look to make sure the stand and the vendor are clean; you see if he has a 5-gallon jug of purified water, and make sure he is using it to wash his hands and his knife and cutting board after slicing each piece of fruit; you look to see if the locals are buying from him. You avoid stands where the vendor is not washing, or where the fruit is not being sliced as it is sold, or anything about the vendor or stand looks dirty, etc.

I encountered lots of Mexicans like your mother, who told me never to eat street food. They told me there are germs in the air that settle on outdoor food. But germs are everywhere, indoors and outdoors, and a door does not make the difference between safe and unsafe food. And Mexicans, like people everywhere, have their prejudices. Lots of middle-class Mexicans are prejudiced against lower-class Mexicans (just as with Americans and people everywhere) and lots of light-skinned Mexicans are prejudiced against dark-skinned Mexicans (just as with Americans and people everywhere) and so lots of Mexicans are prejudiced against street vendors.

Life always has risks. But if you take reasonable precautions, eating street food in Mexico is as safe as eating restaurant food in the U.S. but a lot better tasting. And while I have never eaten kim chi, I'm sure the same applies. (Though I have my prejudices, too, and given a choice I like Mexican food more than West Asian.)

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(KD6HDX @ Jul 3 2007, 02:52 AM) [snapback]472134[/snapback]</div>

You are a very sick man to wish illness upon someone, simply for enjoying a home-made food rather than buying factory food.

 

Come on Daniel...my brother from another Mother...The debate is not about homemade food versus factory food. I eat mostly homemade food, and none of it is prepared in a bathtub. Maybe the bathtub reference was only that, but I have seen the results of listeria, not a pretty sight.

I know there are germs everywhere and it is impossible to not consume them from time to time. I have eaten food from street vendors after slammin brewskis at Hussong's in Ensenada...and I did not get sick. Although this was years and years ago when I was much younger and somewhat inebriated from Tecate beers. I have also enjoyed several meals in restaraunts in Guadalajara, Mazatlan, Cabo San Lucas, La Paz and towns along the way in Baja.

As I get older, maybe I am more cautious. Couple that with the fact that my sister works in epidemiology reporting for a local county government and you can see where the fear comes from. I just do not believe that every street vendor puts purified water in the jar marked purified.

I went on a 7 day cruise to southeast Alaska, I got a G I illness on the 6th day. This was aboard a brand new cruise ship from Haulin (sic) America. It was not bad enough to report it to the ships doctor, but I had read about the food born illnesses resulting from the corona virus or norwalk or something like that? A few hours on the throne playing the bathroom baritone and all was well after that. Maybe it was the abundance of fresh salmon aboard? Who knows?

As for the lessons about light and dark skin rivalries, please spare me the lectures. When I work in the sun, I get dark. When I am out of the sun and working indoors, I lighten up so to speak.

En mi corazon corre la sangre de mi tierra natal.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(KD6HDX @ Jul 3 2007, 05:52 AM) [snapback]472134[/snapback]</div>

Okay, you are a sissy for saying such a mean thing. Wishing someone ill is uncalled for.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(TJandGENESIS @ Jul 2 2007, 11:25 PM) [snapback]472110[/snapback]</div>

Say what you mean preacher. I almost confused fudge for the F-word. Maybe he speaks out of both sides of his mouth. Typical.

Takes one to know one.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(KD6HDX @ Jul 3 2007, 11:38 AM) [snapback]472281[/snapback]</div>

What I mean, is simple. As to saying it here, on PC, I can not. But you know what I mean; if not, then oh well. The f word is just a word. Who gives a crap? I will speak with the same language of the world, and not hold back. Sorry if that offends you.

You talk a strong talk, for the internets. However, as I am not your typical preacher, and not afraid to say what I mean; in fact, your attitude is mean spirited. Furthermore, I suspect that in public, face to face, your bravado would not be as bold.

I have been accused of many things, but speaking out of both sides of my mouth is not one of them.