It has a strong "aroma" that will put some people off. I'm not going to predict how you would like it, but I will tell you how I was first exposed to it. I enjoy reading about things like the making of fish sauce and kimchi, but had never tried it. I worked with a guy that I became good friends with. His wife is Korean. One day I was visiting and I asked her if she ever made her own kimchi, which she often did. She whipped up a batch of kimchi fried rice in what seemed like 5 minutes and put it down in front of me and I liked it very much. We make the hour each way trip to Hartford every month or so and I read about a big Asian market there (A'Dong), that I began to visit. I could write all day about the things I enjoy seeing in those markets! Things that upon visual inspection, you don't know if they belong in a salad or the fireplace, but I digress. At first I would buy little one pint jars and chop it up to use on hot dogs instead of sauerkraut, then made the jump to sandwiches and was chopping it up to make a spicy tartar sauce, that Deb even likes (she likes kimchi fried rice too). The little jars would be empty before I knew it. I then made the leap to quart jars and began to crave it every few days. I began eating it as a side dish or just right out of the jar. Now I buy it in two quart jars (2 at a time) and get nervous when I start to run low. I began locating little hole in the wall markets that I could buy kimchi in that were nearby and crossed many of them off after looking at the use-by-date. If I am running low, I will make a special trip to nearby (1/2/hr) Cranston, where I know I can get the size and brand I like. Plus I like the cleaned up empty 2 quart jars for home made refrigerator pickles. I would be interested to read how you felt about it, if you do decide to take the plunge. (The kimchi in the picture is not my favorite, but pretty close and the only one I can get on my normal shopping excursions).
HC
