'Dreamin in the Forest' ~ Self Portrait # 3

Self-Portait Challenge #3 in the bank with the ever so lovely Mandolyn McConaha!.. I decided to get up in the wee morning hours, hop on the subway at 5:45 am and take an excursion to a farm town about 30~45 minute from my town. I was donned in a dress, gloves, boots and was carrying my tripod and camera gear as I boarded the train. I believe I gave my fellow sleep-deprived train riders a little morning entertainment.But by the time I arrived, and I hiked up into the orchard, I guess I was too exhausted to do much more than nap. Ah well, perhaps next time I'll consider sleeping in. :)

The City of Ants

I did a little Seoul excursion this past Saturday, and I was greeted by one of the most beautiful places I've yet to know in Korea. This is officially my new favorite place in Seoul. It's called Gaemi Mauel, directly translated as the Ant City because it is a little town set on a hill. I probably love it so much because it feels nothing at all like the big, gray city of Seoul. It is full of color, hidden in the hills from the madness that Seoul is so well known for. I met some high school girls on my way down who escaped the city life and their nasty high school exams to take a day's vacation. We chatted about how much we disliked exams and how much we loved, loved, loved all kinds of food! It was such a lovely Saturday.The sun was setting, and it was threatening to rain, so I didn't get to explore all the nooks and crannies, but perhaps next weekend? I am itching to do a portrait session there. It would be amazing! 

So long Kimchi, Hello Sauerkraut!

Meet the Harbert family. They have been living in South Korea for almost 2 years, and they've loved it, but they are currently packing their bags and saying goodbye to Korealand and their favorite food, a Mr. Kimchi (hahaha). I lie, them and Mr. Kimchi are well, you see, they just haven't found the beauty in all the garlic and months of fermentation. I don't understand personally, what is not to love about a food that is full of rotten garlic? I mean, it makes your breath rancid for days. It's fantastic! ;) They much prefer Guacamole, which you all know, the Mexican in me applauds.But before they said goodbye to our little country of bitter winters and fermentation and head off to their next adventure, they asked me capture a bit of their family in Asialand. I am so happy they did. It was a perfectly sunny day, and it didn't feel like work at all, much more like I was hanging out with friends and taking pictures of their cool kids., who happen to like mohawks, skateboards, Ben - 10 and tutus! A photographer's dream! (yes, I admit, I did a little happy dance when I heard that Noah had a mohawk) Thank-you guys for the opportunity to photograph your family and best of luck on your next adventure! May it be full of many blessings.view my portfolio here 

Levitation is like Good Cheese, Fantastic!

Self-portrait #2 with my bestie Mandolyn McConaha . This time I took to a little practice with levitation. It was a bit rough to begin with, and I have massive bruises on my bum to attest to the difficulty of levitating in a thunderstorm. But after a few dives on the concrete, it suddenly clicked and the body just began to float up, up and away! It must have been all the static electricity in the air. Benjamin Franklin would have been proud. If you're interested in become the next Harry Potter of Levitation just let me know. I'll give you pointers.Tip #1 Stuff a 200% down feather pillow in your backside. view portfolio here

A Beautiful Fungus :)

I was off on another fantastic Korean food challenge! Ready to go! All the ingredients were prepped like soldiers ready for battle. I was going to make all sorts of fancy dishes and become the next Superwoman of Korean cuisine but then something happened.... I got distracted by the glorious fungus know as the mushroom. He called my name, and I melted. Such a charmer! I'll become a superwoman next week, but for now I am enjoying mushrooms.... in the most legal way possible, of course.  :)

Spring's Arrival ~ The Challenge

My friend Mandolyn McConaha and I are off to challenge ourselves to a little self-portrait assignment for the month of May and maybe beyond. This is how it works. 1-2 self-portraits are due a week. All of which must be blogged to keep our quality up, up, up! The whole point of this assignment is not because we're super narcissistic and can't get enough of our faces, though some might disagree. In theory, it is to practice conceptualization and taking the crazy ideas in our heads and seeing how far we can push them.So in the future when we have scores of talented models at our disposal, ::cough, cough:: We'll be so good that we'll know not only how to design a scene, take the picture, but also how to tell the model how to pose and direct a photo shoot. Bam! That easy. Like an easy bake oven or the Showtime Rotisserie JUST... Set it and Forget it! Rotisserie chicken sounds delicious right now... yum. with a little bit of roasted garlic, sun-dried tomatoes and goat's cheese? oooh and lay it on a nice bed of balsamic vinegar dressed spring greens.Ok enough about food that I can't eat for another 8 months! ::Inge picks up her chopsticks and continues eating her kimchi and seaweed breakfast:: Here's my first portrait of the project. Entitled 'Springs Arrival' I've never had so much trouble focusing a camera in my life. Being the subject and the photographer is rough work. I should get paid double or at least eat double. Oh wait, never mind, that night I ate like I was a  lady pregnant with twin elephants.Also check out Mandolyn's picture here --> http://mandolynm.blogspot.com/

 

view my portfolio here

100th post... Ni-Suh!

It only took me foooorever and year to get here, but woot, woot to being 100 posts-old! You can send your congratulatory presents to my personal assistant in Asialand, a Mr. Lee. He's super cool, he lives on all things rice, and he hates, hates, hates, fruit and chocolate. He eats all my rice gifts and gives me any fruit or chocolate that comes his way. It's a perfect working relationship. If only he had an avocado tree, I might marry him.Well in all my excitement of being 100, I decided this was a perfect opportunity to cook a feast for myself (but who do I kid? Like I really need an excuse to eat). The celebratory menu?Spring Banchan, Spicy Mackerel Stew, Spicy Squid Muchim, and Candied Lotus Root! Spectacular. Breathtaking. Marvelous. Excellent.. So, So Awesome. Euphoric!. Ok. you have the permission to punch me now, but punch the left eye please, because the right one already has a nice bruise that came from my last annoying blog post. And it would just make my face look so much more level, if I had 2 black eyes instead of one. I really look like the dog from the little Rascals today. It is just not a very attractive look for me. I much prefer the raccoon-look. More chic., stylish., and you know, I am very chic. ;)But back to cooking. Well, I've been knocking out so many of these recipes that I'll be done with my Korean Cooking List in no time. Or more likely, I'll just get hungry and then I'll have to extend my list longer and longer.. oh darn!Here are the recipes and I have again modified some of them, and taken them from delicious to uber delicious land :) Yes, humility is not my strongest of suits.The Spring Banchan, Candied Lotus and the Squid Muchim (O jingo Chae Mu Chim) were not very modified. I have just a little extra garlic here and there, but the bigger heresy came from the recreation of the Spicy Mackerel Stew the recipe's below.Spicy Mackerel Stew ~ the original with my modifications is below... My modification? I've added chopped pumpkin and carrots along with the radish and I put 4x the amount of fresh ginger and put extra garlic. Next time I'll add  mushrooms to the mix to see what happens!

1 can (14 oz) Mackerel, strained and the juice reserved
1/2 lb Korean radish, diced into 1/4" thick slices
1/4 lb pumpkin
1/2 large carrot
1/2 onion, sliced
2 garlic clove, chopped
2 Tbsp low sodium soy sauce
2 tsp Korean soy sauce
1-2 TBS minced fresh ginger
1 tsp Korean chili flakes
1 Tbsp Korean chili paste (gochu jang)
1 Tbsp rice wine or Mirim
1tsp honey
8-10 cabbage leaves for wrapping, optional
Put radish, pumpkin, carrots and onion slices in the shallow pan, and place mackerels on top.
In a small bowl, combine the reserved canned mackerel juice with garlic, soy sauces, ginger, rice wine, and chili flakes. Sprinkle the sauce all over the mackerels in the pan.
Bring them to boil and reduce the heat to low. Simmer for 10 minutes, covered, until the radish gets tender. Serve hot with rice and steamed cabbage leaves.
For the cabbage, Tear some leaves from the cabbage and cook them in the boiling water with some salt for 3-4 minutes until they get soft. Drain and rinse. Use these leaves to wrap around the mackerel, radish, and some rice.

Happy Cooking Everyone! And yeah for my 100th birthday! I look pretty good for 100, eh? That's what cheap plastic surgery does for you! and you wondered why I've stayed in Korea for so long? The surgeries, of course. They're cheap and fast!Oh and for those of you curious here is how the list is shaping up :) √'s mean I've successfully cooked it1) Kimchi (√cucumber, √cabbage, and spinach)2) √ KongNamul Banchan (Bean Sprout stir fry)3) √ Yuk Gae Jang ( Spicy Beef Stew) Probably my new favorite soup!4) Kamja Tang (Pork Back and Potato Stew)5) Dak Dori Tang (Spicy Chicken Stew)6) √ Kimchi Jjigae (Kimchi Stew)7) √ Seaweed Salad8) √ Sauteed Sea plant 9) Soondubu Jjigae (Spicy Soft Tofu Stew)10) √ O jing chae muchim (Seasoned dried Squid) So delicious you don't even know!11) √ Pan-fried Tofu12)√ Spicy Mackerel Stew13) JangJoRim (장조림)14)√ Spring BanchanLet the cooking continue!view my portfolio here

Just Fail.. It's cool ;)

Fail!!! What!?!? Yes, just do it! Fall flat on your face! Why? WHY would I say a terrible thing like that?? Well you see, I have had this realization recently that the world (well, maybe just me) is so terrified of falling on our faces or doing something not quite perfect that we don't try or we don't jump as high as we could, we hold back, and don't challenge ourselves to go for those all the things we love because we are just scared of failing.And this is frankly, dumb. What's so wrong about failing? Really? I mean what is going to happen, if one day my pictures are crap, if I look stupid on the dance floor, or if I get a 'B' on my exam (yes, I admit, I was one of those annoy 'A' student)?If I fail, the world won't end, everyone won't hate me. I won't have to give away my camera, burn my dance shoes, or ride the short bus for the rest of my life. No one wakes up just taking amazing pictures or composing musical masterpieces. You have to learn, and you learn by trying. If you try hard enough to learn you will fail many times, and that is OK. It's awesome actually. It means you have pushed yourself so hard that you could fail and when you fail you have this incredible opportunity to grow! Just like when you lift weights. The goal is to push your muscles so far that your muscles can't lift anymore, and in that instance when your muscles are too weak to lift any more, when they fail you, they are too tired for any more, this is the point when your muscles actually will become stronger.So I know we're in April, and the whole new year's resolution is so 4 months ago, but who cares? There are still 8 more beautiful months of this year left.. So this year, I want to propose a challenge to myself and everyone who is holding themselves back because of fear of failure.. Please just let go and fail!!!!Push yourself, scare yourself more and more, take yourself to that point of failure and let yourself fail. Then do it again. We'll still love you. Go learn to dance, cook a souffle, travel to Europe, or better yet invent a pineapple tree that grows in the arctic (OK, that last one was my selfishness coming through). You'll probably be terrible at first, and your souffle will look like I jumped on it, or you'll look as graceful as an elephant with four left feet on the dance floor, but you'll get better and better and then you'll be Fred Astaire. So Just Fail!So my first point of this challenge? Well I only have 4~5 months left in Korea and I have made a list of what I want to accomplish in these next months of my life... All of these are scary things for me to attempt, and even scarier to put them online. I tend to keep my goals all locked up in my journals, so if I don't ever get around to attempting them, I only know. However, this is a new year of going toward my fears. No more excuses!Challenge #1 Be more open!So here is the dastardly list. Short, Sweet and Scary. What would your list look like?1) Submit my pictures to a magazine that I like2) Collaborate with another artist(fashion designer, make-up artist, etc.) on a Photography Shoot3) Do a Fashion Shoot in Seoul4) Start a CREATIVE bi-weekly self-portrait series (all turn the camera around/in the mirror pictures are banned!) with Mandolyn McConaha in May.5) Finish learning to cook all of my favorite Korean dishes.6) Continue and Finish a Medium Format Portrait Series on my little Orphan Boys (Much more on them later)Finally this is my first attempt at using a Medium Format TLR Camera! I got a lot of uh blurry, underexposed, fail pictures, but I got some that I liked too. Using the camera was such a challenge, a totally foreign experience, but really fun all at the same time. Expect more TLR Pictures in the next few months. :)

Father, I have Sinned..Kimchi Jjigae My way!

Yes, it took me 3 whole weeks of cooking Wednesdays to finally deviate from God give Perfection or in other terms, the Korean recipe! I did it my way this time AND because I did, I have committed a sin, and I shall never be forgiven. No matter how much Kimchi I eat or how many times I finish my entire rice at school. I have committed the ultimate sin. God will have no grace for me.This sin is almost as bad simultaneously walking under a ladder, opening up an umbrella indoors, throwing away your rice and then cursing your mother to her face. Ohhhh! it's bad.. but OH! it was worth it!. I'm surprised it took me this long to sin. ;)So I have deviated from the right way to make Kimchi Jjigae, a most sacred fermented stew that is sipped all around wintry Korea, day in and out. Legend has it that it keeps you not only healthy and happy, but it also gives you mad chopsticks skills so that you can attract the proper mate and then marry in 2 months time. I swear it's true!How did I manage to mess this soup of the matchmakers up? You see, I have not only added mushrooms, but I also added Pumpkins! Yes, I'll never marry! I'll be an old maid for life. Gasp, yes! You have permission to Gasp again! ::Inge, pauses to hear the crowd gasp, again and again:: I should be slapped in the face, thrown out of the country or worse, be forced to clean a Kimchi factory with a toothbrush.Expect more delicious unholiness from me in the future. What will I do next? Perhaps make riceless bibimbap..?  ::all the Koreans in the room gasp and say "You wouldn't dare, Inge!" "Ha, just watch me! Muahahaha!" So here's the Traditional Kimchi Jjigae recipe from www.maangchi.com and just throw in some delicious Pumpkin and Mushrooms to take it up a notch!Ingredients:* 200 grams of Pork belly (about 1/2 pound)* 4 or 5 cups of chopped kimchi* 1 tbs sugar, 1 tsp of hot pepper flakes, 1 tbs hot pepper paste* onion, green onions* half a package of tofu* sesame oil and waterOk, let’s start!1. In a shallow pot, put some chopped kimchi and juice.2. Add sliced onion, hot pepper paste, and hot pepper flakes, sugar, and green onions.3. Pour water until all ingredients are submerged.4. Close the lid of the pot and boil it 25 or 30 minutes. (first 10 minutes will be high heat and then turn down the heat over medium heat)5. Add some tofu and boil it 5 minutes more and put some sesame oil right before serving.Ta Ta for now!

Famous in Seoul

Sunday afternoon in the middle of the Yeouido Cherry Blossom Festival a mass of Koreans began to form, mouths were gaping, hundreds of cellphones were out, all busily snapping pictures, and they weren't looking at beautiful cherry blossoms.. Oh no, they cared nothing for the millions of flower-filled trees, they were more enthralled with the massive blue eyes of all the Taylor children. You would have thought that the Olsen twins had arrived or perhaps Hannah Montana had just come on stage... All the grandmothers wanted their pictures taken with the beautiful waygooks (foreigners) and the grandfathers wanted to shake their hands. And the funny thing is that all this madness is just a normal Korean day for the Taylors. Korean made celebrities. :)Want your Korean life documented? contact me @ ingekathleen@gmail.com view my portfolio here

My Crazy Cooking Mission ~ Part 2!

 

It was a mad Wednesday morning! I had had no coffee; I had just one hour before I had to go to work to create 3 different Korean masterpieces; and I hadn't even gotten out of my pajamas!This  Wednesday Cooking Mission? Bean Sprout Panchan, Sauteed Seaweed and Fried Tofu.Could I, would I make it? or would I fail and be miserably late for school and be sent to the principle's office to stare at his white concrete wall? Please God, NOooooo! ::inge shudders as she thinks of the last time that happened!:: I had no time to dilly dally, fart around, smell the roses, nope. none of that crap!. There was no time to quench my thirst or to run to the loo! I barely had time to swallow my own spit, but lucky I managed that task because drool is just gross.So as I was furiously washing, chopping, frying, and crossing my legs and jumping up and down so I wouldn't need to go to the water closet, my computer rang! Low and behold it was my sister Emmy calling all the way in Amer-i-ca land. She was making an Indian curry for dinner at that very moment!Sigh, my heart melted! In fact, it melted straight onto the floor. What a mess! So as I was cleaning up my heart from my floor, thank God it's linoleum!, she proceeded to ask me of life and how to cook her curry.As I made up fantastical stories of my Korean life full of daisy picking and the proper method to follow her recipe (basically recipes are dumb), I scrambled to chop pounds of garlic, onions, bean sprouts, sea plant and whistle in order to distract myself from using the powder room..Somehow in that hour, I managed to not only talk to her,  but make all of these dishes perfectly (ok, ok, you're right, one dish was over salted~it tasted like I a glass of sea water ~ but sea plant is supposed to taste like that, right? ), then I managed to eat everything in record time.  I'm a champion food chewer, but my jaw is still sore from all the bean sprout chewing, I put my shirt on frontward and got to work on time! It was a rock star kind of Wednesday. Well except I never found time for the whole bathroom break...Ok, so here's my list of Korean food that I have committed to cook before I leave the land of Kimchi and Visors.. And my progress so far!My next mission? Well my Napa Cabbage Kimchi is getting quite fermented. In fact, it is almost 2 months old... I am so proud, my little baby is growing up! So I am thinking about a nice pot of Kimchi Stew.. What do you think?1) Kimchi (√cucumber, √cabbage, and spinach)2) √ KongNamul Banchan (Bean Sprout stir fry)3) √ Yuk Gae Jang ( Spicy Beef Stew) Probably my new favorite soup!4) Kamja Tang (Pork Back and Potato Stew)5) Dak Dori Tang (Spicy Chicken Stew)6) Kimchi Jjigae (Kimchi Stew)7) √ Seaweed Salad8) √ Sauteed Sea plant 9) Soondubu Jjigae (Spicy Soft Tofu Stew)10) O jingo Chae Mu Chim (Seasoned dried Squid) So delicious you don't even know!11) √ Pan-fried Tofu12) Spicy Mackerel Stew13) JangJoRim (장조림)14) Spring BanchanLet the cooking continue!view my portfolio here

French Toast and Funny Faces

Sunday Morning, just as we were getting ready to eat massive amounts of French Toast at BUTTERFINGERS, the best breakfast place in all of Seoul, Seo Yeon marched up to us, a group of 6 very funny, very strange foreigners, and decided to join us for an hour long chat about life., Well actually, all she really wanted to do was laugh at us and our funny faces. :) I can't blame her because our faces are ..eh...Well. there IS a reason, I don't put my face up on this blog very often. I'm protecting the little ones. You should thank me and send gifts to show your appreciation. *Don't worry, the gifts don't need to be in the form of money, just fruit. I have a gift registry at fruitisamazing.com ~ I'm not picky, Pineapples, Pears, Mangos, let your imagination run wild! :)view my portfolio here 

A Magic Salad Invention!

My favorite thing in the world to do is open up my refrigerator, grab all the ingredients that look and smell somewhat edible, wash, chop, shred, tear, and beat them silly, throw everything in a bowl, put some oil and vinegar it and then Say Abracadabra!, Open Sesame!Then! I walk behind a black cat, glue together a broken mirror, close an umbrella indoors, sprint under of a ladder, and unspill milk. I do all of this while praying to the salad gods that magic will occur. This morning it did! Woot, woot!It was a crazy concoction, and it actually workedA Coconut, Sesame and dried seaweed salad topped with two delicious eggs! Amazing. Who would have thunk that it all these flavors could be such fabulous friends? not me. I should unspill milk more often!

For all of those curious here are the magic ingredients : Amounts subject to personal taste. More of what you like, less of what you don't or in my case a lot of everything! :)1) your favorite greens: lettuce, spinach, etc.2) chopped cucumbers3) halved cherry tomatoes (optional)4) the secret ingredient (look in your international grocery store) --> crumbled dried seaweed (Korean name: Miyok)5) sesame seed oil6) toasted sunflower seeds or sesame seeds7) toasted unsweetened coconut flakes8) 2 perfect sunny side up eggs

Korean Spring Portrait Session Sale!

Spring is FINALLY here in Korea and that makes me super giddy and happy, inside and out! And in the spirit of all things springy and new, I am having a big 15% off sale, off everyone of my Lifestyle Portrait Sessions! So you can send fresh Korean photos of your adorable kids or you and your sweetheart back home to the family.All you must do is contact me @ 010-2572-3905 or email me at ingekathleen@gmail.com before April 22nd, mention this blog post, and I will give you 15% off the portrait session of your choice!Oh, and to help you enjoy the Korean spring to its fullest, here are a couple of links so you can have a spring full of cherry blossom picnics, and strawberry picking extravaganzas!view my portfolio hereview my portfolio here

Only 5 little months left.....

Can you believe that it is the second to the last day of March and that spring will be gracing it's lovely face on South Korea very soon? Yet, what is much more crazy is that I only have 5 months (really 4.5 months) left in Korealand! I can't believe it. I have been here for over 1.5 years and now I only have 4.5 months to go! Part of me can't wait to bust a move and leave the land of fermentation and urbanization in the dust as I head for some tiny, whole-in-the-wall countryside town, where I'll know my next door neighbors by name, speak the local language and run to the sounds of birds and crickets. But then there is that other part of me that has started tallying and making lists of all the things that I have left to learn and all the places yet to go and most importantly all  of the food left to try.So in my haste to fill up the next 4~5 months with as much learning as possible before I head of to...??? (I'm thinking I might close my eyes and pin the tail on the world map and see where the pin gets stuck. No dart throwing for me, I would for sure miss the map, or hit Russia dead center, because you see, my throwing capabilities are probably on par with how good Richard Simmons is at straightening his hair. So I prefer the pinning proposition, that way I'll be sure to aim somewhere in the world that is both warm and tropical. Join me for Christmas in the tropics anyone? ) But back on task. So one of my goals before I pack my backpack? Learn to cook Korean food.I have decided that every Wednesday night I am going to cook at least 1 Korean dish that I don't know how to make yet. So tonight, which was a Wednesday. What was in order? Cucumber Kimchi and Seaweed Salad.. Yes, yes they sound terribly gross and disgustingly healthy, but really all Korean food sounds this way. So don't worry about the name, just taste it and your mouth will thank you and do a happy dance, and then you will know why I have been able to live in this arctic zone for the past 1.5 years.And of course, here are a few pictures to prove the validity of my cooking mission :)

Here are the links to the recipes if you want to taste the amazingness.Cucumber Kimchi ~~> Tip : I added a splash of sesame oil to finish the Cucumber Kimchi, the oil really takes the kimchi to the next level by mellowing the spices a bit and nuttifying the dish. http://www.maangchi.com/recipe/oisobagi-kimchiSeaweed or Seaplant Salad ~~> Tip: I added julienned cucumbers and carrots, and quartered cherry tomatoes for an extra burst of flavor... http://www.maangchi.com/recipe/miyuk-gukAnd Finally here is the list of the Korean foods that I am determined to learn to cook before I leave.. (all the √ ones I have completed) These shall be conquered with the help of the Korean cooking master of www.maangchi.comYes, yes, I admit that almost all of these foods sound really weird and icky, but just wait until you taste them, then you will stop all your wasteful doubting.1) Kimchi (√cucumber, √cabbage, and spinach)2) KongNamul Banchan (Bean Sprout stir fry)3) Yuk Gae Jang (Spicy Beef Stew) Probably my new favorite soup!4) Kamja Tang (Pork Back and Potato Stew)5) Dak Dori Tang (Spicy Chicken Stew)6) Kimchi Jjigae (Kimchi Stew)7) Seaweed Salad √8) Sauteed Seaplant9) Soondubu Jjigae (Spicy Soft Tofu Stew)10) O jing-go Chae Mu Chim (Seasoned dried Squid) So delicious you don't even know!11) Panfried Tofu12) Spicy Mackerel StewLet the cooking begin!

Three Cheers for Fermentation!

This past week I moved one giant step closer to becoming Korean! No, I didn't dye my hair black, and I haven't suddenly become good at math. It is much more serious than that! I am both proud and ashamed to say I am have made Kimchi all by myself. Kimchi for those of you that don't know, is Korea's miracle food. Akin to Manna from Heaven, butter on bread, hot fudge on cake, but in a very healthy, garlic breath sort of way.They (the Koreans) say it (kimchi) will cure any aliment from a cold to the worst of cancers. This is perhaps why Korean hikers pack in pounds of kimchi from Korea when they go on treks up the Himalayan Mountains? You know just in case one of your limbs falls of due to frostbite or the werewolves, you can always rub some kimchi on it, then you'll be fine! This stuff will regenerate limbs! Incredible. Watch out doctors, you'll be out of business once the Kimchi mania spreads to the West!Every Korean meal by law.. er practically... must, I repeat MUST have kimchi.. So what IS this 'kimchi'? Well simply put, it is a mixture of Garlic, Chile Powder, Onions, Soy Sauce all smash together and then slathered onto a poor unsuspecting head of Napa Cabbage. The cabbage is then promptly thrown into airtight Tupperware, refrigerated for weeks or months on end in order to properly ferment and sour. The more fermented it is, the better chance of re-growing limbs and having 10/14 vision.. Errr.... on second thought due to the massive amounts of bi-focals I see in Korea, kimchi must not help the eyes. You think maybe they should consider fermenting carrots instead?p.s. If you're up for the Fermentation challenge here is the recipe --->http://www.maangchi.com/recipe/kimchi-kaktugi it's so easy and delicious, in a special fermented kind of way.