Give a shout out here if you like KIMCHI!

[StraightDope]

I love the stuff. I eat a 32oz jar a week, sometimes more. GO KOREAN FOOD!

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

1. I once had a really traumatizing kimchi experience.

I'll never go near the stuff.

[StraightDope]

2. If you don't mind my asking...

What was your traumatic Kimchi experience? I must say, you've piqued my curiosity...

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

3. One of the many bizarre experiences I had at the health food store...

We had a full case of kimchi come in short-dated. Anyway, since the distributors screw the retailers, we couldn't get credit on it. We put it out for sale, but almost all of it hit the expiration date without selling. So I dumped all the big jars of kimchi into a box and stuck it in the walk-in refrigerator until I had a chance to throw them out.

When, I went back, I picked up the box and the whole bottom fell out. All the bottles of kimchi smashed on the tile floor. The smell was powerful beyond belief. I ended up getting a stockboy to clean it up but the smell was on me. It permeated the whole stockroom and the recieving area outside the stockroom. I tried air freshener but it did nothing. Everything just smelled like vanilla and rancid kimchi.

I couldn't even eat anything for the rest of the day because everything I ate tasted like the kimchi smelled.

[StraightDope]

6. Oy!

I thank God and all that is holy that I've never had to deal with rancid Kimchi. It's pungent enough when it's fresh, let alone when it's on the bad side of rotten. Ewww! Gross!

In any event, try some fresh Kimchi some time. Who knows, it just might grow on you (no pun intended!)

[KamaAina]

4. Out here you can get it as a burger topping!

I've never had it, but it definitely fits with the local East-meets-West vibe:

http://starbulletin.com/2004/05/02/features/eater.html

Menu and decor evoke nostalgic memories of ice cream parlors and burger joints. In Hawaii, that nostalgia also embraces such family favorites as pulehu steak and kim chee. "Grandma's Incredible Kim Chee" turns up on BCD's menu stirred into "Uncle Danny's" fried rice ($8.95) and topping a half-pound burger ($7.95). It's hard to get your hands around that one, with the chili pepper water splashed over pattie and bun. It's one of the rare burgers that requires you to do the civilized thing and use a knife and fork, and is well worth the effort.

edit: the preferred local spelling is "kim chee" (two words). You say kimchi, I say kim chee, let's call the whole thing off!

[Throd]

5. I absolutely love it.

Korean food is by far my favorite foreign cuisine.

[StraightDope]

7. I had never tried it until recently...

I have always been hesitant about fermented foods, aside from beer, of course. ;)

Kimchi might be the greatest vegetable product that I've ever eaten. Chop it up finely, and fry some rice with kimchi, garlic, ginger, soy sauce, pressed tofu, egg, and diced chinese sausage. Best. Meal. EVER!

[Nicole]

8. I love it

Served with Bulgogi & rice.