Whats your take?

[chefdg]

Recently at work I had a brief discussion with my boss about the "true" meaning of the words "Tempura" and "Kimch'i". I know that, as with every other cooking term, there can be an entire book written with contradictory meanings. Although I would appreciate a link to any previous discussions on these subjects, I would also like for some of the more recent members of the egullet world to have a chance to discuss what their take is on the matter. I'm sure we have a master or two out there, so don't be shy.

[Suzanne F]

Here's a fairly recent thread on Tempura with vegetables.

And here's The Kimchi Thread.

[chefdg]

O.K. maybe I should clarify (like butter). My boss in question said the word "tempura" means "golden" and "kimch'i" means "cabbage". Anyone else ever heard this?

Edited July 11, 2004 by chefdg (log)

[torakris]

I can tell you tempura does not mean golden, here is a really great thread we had on the origins of tempura a while back:

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=36984

wish I knew more about the meaning of the word kimchi.....

[worm@work]

Here's what a google search about one of my favorite things turned up!

Origin of Kimchi

-worm@work

[yushoe]

kimchi definitely isn't limited to just cabbage, it can be a variety of other pickled vegetables including radish and cucumber

[Pan]

Non-vegetable kimchi also exists: Octopus kimchi, for example.