::A Geek in Korea::

My wife pilfers kimchi whenever we visit relatives houses. Of course, it’s not technically pilfering when they offer it to us, but when we go to relatives houses specifically because we might be offered some fantastic side dishes cooked by the hosts, it’s nearly the same thing.

Last week, we got some spicy tofu, sweet fish jerky with peanuts, and some yul-mu kimchi (turnip leaf kimchi). Yul-mu kimchi is now my new favorite summer kimchi. We got a bag with the red soupy spice that contain the crunchy green leaves in a plastic bag. When we got back to the house, we transferred this into our own personal containers and refrigerated our new food stocks.

We don’t own a kimchi refrigerator, but I now understand why it’s something of a necessity for a well supplied kimchi household. The smell of really potent fermented vegetables has penetrated our refrigerator completely. Opening the refrigerator anywhere in the house will spread the smell across every room. None of the containers have been found faulty or leaking. It’s just an overwhelming funk that rolls out of the fridge these days.

I like kimchi, but it’s something that has a distinct smell that puts you in a mood to eat Korean food. When I have a craving for ice cream, or want to eat some yogurt, smelling some spicy fermented leaves really throws my senses for a loop. Some smells just don’t mix well.

The solution to the problem is either eating all the kimchi as fast as possible, replacing all the containers and cleaning out the refrigerator, doubling or tripling the baking soda inside, or simply buying a kimchi refrigerator designed to mitigate this sort of problem.

I’m awfully lazy, but until we start making our own kimchi and have these problems, I’ll probably delay putting off that big purchase for a while.