On my recent trip to Sydney, I picked up a bag of chong gak kimchi. I don’t like buying kimchi in Singapore since my last purchase (it was covered in fungus – see my previous post on this) so I buy it now either from Korea or Sydney. A well known brand in Sydney is called “Paldo” and it tastes just like the homemade type.
I tried to do some research to find out why this particular kimchi is called chong gak kimchi but didn’t get very far. The direct translation is “bachelor kimchi”. Perhaps, it’s ideal for bachelors to have it as a side dish on those lonely nights at home? 🙂 It can also be referred to as 열무 김치 or young raddish kimchi.
Anyway, I am waiting for my chong gak kimchi to become sour so I can make neng myun (cold noodles-냉면). This type of kimchi is perfect for neng myun and neng myun is perfect for the hot weather in Singapore. In Korea, neng myun sells like hot cakes in summer.
Unfortunately, I have not seen this chong gak kimchi anywhere in Singapore so I am going to have to ration this lot very carefully to make it last for next few weeks! 🙂