Monday, December 02, 2019


Not much has been accomplished. Indeed, what have I done today? I’m still knitting the Dathan hap. I may even do a bit more this evening – we’ve got Prince Andrew on television again, this time in the form of the girl in the famous picture of him with his arm around her, with Ghislane Maxwell in the background. That may keep me awake enough to knit as well as watch.

I watched another episode of The Crown – the Investiture of the Prince of Wales – and found it very dull. And I remain incredulous. But the Princess Anne character is good.

And I’ve got kimchi straightened out – I may even go to Waitrose tomorrow to see if they have any Napa cabbage. Tesco, who delivered today, did not.

The essence of kimchi – if I ever want to look back in future years – consists of the following elements. I find I have written out Brad Leone’s recipe – at least, his ingredients – and kept it in the cookery book where I keep such things. The items marked with an asterisk are essential, and the rest are pretty desirable:

1)    Napa cabbage, brined*
2)    Gloop – pureed garlic* and ginger* and onion*, fish sauce, shrimp paste, Korean chilli flakes (gochugaru)*, a porridge made of rice flour and water.
3)    Other vegetables, in batons – carrots, mooli, spring onions.
4)    (mix together, ferment)

It’s fun. Brad adds an oyster, but I have avoided bivalves since my infirmity on the shores of Loch Fyne at the Back End last year.

2 comments:

  1. The Back End? Is this a euphemism or are you using the old Northern expression for autumn?

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  2. Back End for Autumn? Interesting. And oyster in Kimchi sounds dangerous to me. I'm so impressed that you make it, Jean. I tried fermenting some garden wax beans and they were ghastly. I put them in the compost.

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