A couple of months ago, my family and I attended the Great Yorkshire Show. To be honest, most of the food options were similar to what you’d find at any other festival. The highlight for me, however, was seeing my best mate Johnny Clasper and admiring his sculpture. Nonetheless, there was one food vendor that stood out from the rest – a Kimchi stall.
Kimchi, as many of you may know, is a traditional Korean dish made of fermented vegetables. It’s similar to sauerkraut but with a spicier and more flavorful twist. The most common ingredients include cabbage, daikon/mooli (a long white radish resembling a carrot), spring onions, garlic, ginger, Korean chili powder, and, in authentic versions, salted seafood.
The stall at the show belonged to a company called Kimchi With Everything. Their Kimchi is made right here in the UK. I was taken aback when I discovered that the Kimchi we import is pasteurized, which means we lose all the microbiome benefits.
The Kimchi with Everything stall offered various kimchi options, ranging in heat levels. They also had BBQ sauce, hot sauce, chili oil, black garlic, and black garlic mayonnaise. We had the pleasure of meeting the friendly owner, Tina from Essex, who generously offered us samples of everything. In the end, we decided to purchase the hot sauce made with kimchi juice and the chili oil. Tina shared that the chilli oil is her mum’s recipe made with good quality olive oil. Her mum helps with the business. The kimchi is made is temperature controlled rooms and the PH is tested carefully throughout the process.
Tina’s background is rooted in the food industry, as her family owned a restaurant. However, her journey to starting a kimchi business was a complete accident, having previously worked in IT.
In her own words, Tina told me, “Somehow, I’m just really good at making good old vegetables taste great.”
You might recall my previous attempt at fermenting marrow, which ended up in the bin. Tina advised me to give it another shot using a harder squash or even a pumpkin with it being autumn, as they tend to hold up better and not become slimy.
To be honest, I think I’ll just continue buying my kimchi from Tina at Kimchi with Everything. Here is the link so you can too.
http://www.kimchiwitheverything.com
