Not for everyone

I had a dental implant (my third :yuck:) put in yesterday---along with pulling the roots of my tooth---so I'm a bit hobbled dietary wise at the moment.

Thus--last night I made myself soup---and I did not consider my wife as joining me in that--she was on her own.:hatoff:

I looked to the west for inspiration and it became a Korean/Asian night. The pot included, red miso as a base, kelp noodles, nori (about 6 of the large sheets), Korean dried hot pepper leaves, fish sauce, dry porcini mushrooms and garlic.

It was comfort food when I needed it :clap: :hatoff:

I'll likely repeat something similar today since the kelp noodles, which are "wet packed" in a hermetically sealed package have to be kept in water and refrigerated after opening.

Oh---and my wife---in a way she joined me---she "made" instant ramen in the microwave :stir: :date:

As an aside, and what I was just thinking about---I was very lucky in Korea because I could move about through the country, pretty much unhindered, a fact that was aided by my having learned the language. That resulted in a much broader experience than I had in Vietnam. There (and the time was far less as well) wondering around the village wasn't something I was able to do. That limited, to almost zero, my exposure to the Vietnamese people, the culture, their customs and their food.

Dan, on the other hand, I believe, was mostly around and in Saigon. It was possible to move about Saigon with a much greater degree of freedom and experience far more of the Vietnamese culture.

Back to the soup for a bit, I am lucky to have these "components" in my pantry. One that I wished I had but am currently out of is kimchi---my soup (and me) would have benefited from a healthy dose of kimchi juice-both for taste as well as gut health which is now under assault by the antibiotic I am now taking. I am lucky to have an Asian grocery store about 25 miles away and also Amazon has a wide range of specialty foods--the kelp noodles and dried porcinis were from Amazon.

After reading your post , I completely agree with the title. :flip:

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Originally Posted by Independent Voter

After reading your post , I completely agree with the title. :flip:

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:flip::flip::pimpgrin:

I made Pho with rare Brisket last night.

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Originally Posted by Phillbo

I made Pho with rare Brisket last night.

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Thanks Bo---I guess you chewed it too---go ahead---rub it in :wah::uhuh:

Sounds like you were going for something uniformly soft and made it. I am not familiar with Kelp noodles or pepper leaves, but they sounds interesting and more nutritious than the usual. Generally, I much prefer rice noodles to the more usual wheat kind of Ramen. When your teeth heal up, I recommend first removing the white centers and then chopping the green part of the leaves of some fresh Napa Cabbage and finish the soup by pouring the broth & mixture over the crisp Napa at the time of surviving. The Napa stays a nice firm texture unlike it becomes in kimchi and gives me a better mouth-feel.

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Originally Posted by wacojoe

Sounds like you were going for something uniformly soft and made it. I am not familiar with Kelp noodles or pepper leaves, but they sounds interesting and more nutritious than the usual.

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You are right on all points.

Kelp noodles are translucent and without color. They hold up well with cooking, unlike pastas that would simply dissolve if cooked to long. The ones I get are small diameter, about the diameter of angel hair pasta. They draw from the soup their flavor, on their own they are neutral.

I will have to try your suggestion about NAPA cabbage. I can get it locally but it is far fresher at my Asian market---a trip I have been avoiding.

As for Kimchi, I just ordered more from Amazon this morning--but I could not get my favorite that the Asian market carries. The commercially available Kimchi here is a far more "sophisticated" Kimci than the Kimchi I learned to love in Korea----there is a significant funk missing in what we get here. That probably is a good thing---my wife would not like that smell permeating the house (and me for that matter). Real Kimchi is not unlike curry to Indians----the odor is pervasive---which is one thing if you are a "user", another if not! When it is part of your daily diet, as it is to most Koreans, you begin to sweat and breath that funky earthy odor. My GI buddies did not always appreciate my "going native".

I am not a fan of kimchi, but I have to admit not giving it an honest try, and I doubt ever having the real stuff. I was reading an article last week that was about the current Napa Cabbage crop failure in South Korea, which has driven the price to exorbitant levels there and causing great consternation in S. Korean households, which are heavily into making their own. I assume what we get out of a jar here is a pale imitation of the real thing...about like cheese enchiladas in Chicago.

For the most part you are correct about the domestic product. That cabbage shortage has created a problem far beyond Korea--and it is akin to us being faced with a shortage of bread. Kimchi is THE staple in Korea and is commonly eaten at all three meals.

Some homemade winter Kimchi in Korea did, at least 55 years ago, contain dog meat. Anyone having a dog had to be very careful not to let them out. The Kimchi they made in the winter was more spicy (hot) than the Kimchi they made in the summer (which did not contain dog meat).

Also in Kimchi in Korea was Daikon radish and prodigious amounts of garlic in addition to the red pepper, which I am sure was cayenne. They also had on the table, as a condiment, which was used on most everything, hot pepper paste that was reconstituted cayenne pepper powder. My first foray into the world of Kimchi was in the winter. The Kimchi was kept outside, either in a semi-heated anteroom or buried in the garden--which is where most was aged. It was made and stored in large (maybe 5 gal) earthen crocks. Back to my indoctrination, I was served (this was in a private home) a small bowl of Kimchi. I was instructed to add a little of the "red paste" (which looked strangely like ketchup) on top of my Kimchi. The memory of that first bite remains vivid in my memory. I took a piece of the cabbage stem that had a good amount of the red paste on it and put it into my mouth. My first impression was that it was very cold--close to freezing---and then the heat began to invade my palette.

At that point in time that was the hottest thing to ever have entered my mouth---I'm not sure how I managed not to eject that thing across the room :bleh: Out of a self imposed obligation, I continued eating the kimchi--while not really enjoying it---but avoided anymore contact with that "ketchup crap". A year latter I was a fully converted hot head and Kimchi lover. :bowdown:

As a post script: I have Korean hot pepper paste in the frig which appears the same as what I remember in Korea---but now doesn't seem very hot to me. I checked the contents and it only says "red peppers"---there is no species mentioned. This is not to be confused with the more common Gochujang, which is not hot at all and actually contains sugar. I also have chili oil and black bean paste---excellent flavor but only moderate heat.

Update on the cabbage shortage---Korean made kimchi is now about 2.5 times the cost of domestic---and both are rising :wah:

A couple of years ago disruptions in supply caused the price to spike to $30/head, I read. I remember because I thought that phenomenal at the time I read it.

We produce a lot of Napa Cabbage here in Texas right down the road from me.

I am curious, common white head cabbage grown around here has a very strong putrid odor. The only good thing I can say about that is there is no need to worry about deer catching your sent anywhere down wind of a cabbage patch.
Does napa cabbage have the same "quality "?

The only scent produced by any cabbage in my experience is that normally produced by ordinary white cabbage and Brussels sprouts when cooked. I’ve never cooked Napa cabbage, so I do not know if that is true of that veggie, nor did I know some cabbage was odoriferous in the field. I’ve grown both Napa and Brussels Sprouts and never noticed any issue.

Here is one account.

It happens after the harvest and there are a lot of leaves that remain in the field and begin to rot---trust me---it is foul :wah::down: