Kimchi in Space 270
rtknox00 writes "For astronauts spending months in space, the smallest touch of home can make a big difference. So when South Korea's first astronaut Ko San boards the International Space Station this April he'll be bringing along a hefty supply of kimchi, the national dish of his native country. While bringing a cherished food on a long journey might seem like a simple act, taking kimchi into space required millions of dollars in research and years of work." Science may never get Thorramatur in orbit.
Ehe Future (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Fresh Kimchi? (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:kimchi (Score:3, Interesting)
Reminds me of the M*A*SH episode. . . . (Score:4, Interesting)
Needless to say, Frank finds one of these bombs and uncovers it. As he's standing there practically gloating to Hawkeye about being right, Hawkeye promptly opens the top, to Frank's evident distress, at which point a pungent odor wafts into the air. Hawkeye then lets Frank in on what's been happening and explains these are kim-chi pots the villagers are burying.
Funny what one can learn from watching t.v.
Re:Awesome! (Score:5, Interesting)
He was blunt about kimchi, stating that Koreans need to stop touting kimchi as their finest example of cuisine and westerners' first introduction to Korean food. Instead, they should focus on other Korean delicacies that are more likely to be agreeable to western palettes. If kimchi is the first Korean thing westerners eat, many will stop there and won't bother trying Korean food again. I know Koreans really love their kimchi, but it really is a very different taste for Americans. Nothing like a bowl of garlic and onion kimchi for breakfast, yum... Not!
Re:kimchi (Score:2, Interesting)
Astronaut sounds like my wife (Score:3, Interesting)
I used to like most kinds of Korean food, but after having so much of it for so many years, I've gotten burned out on it, and now the only things I like are the pul-go-gi and the gal-bi. Imagine the l as sounding more like a single syllable lr, and the g sounding both like a g and a k, and that should give you an idea how it sounds.
How to recycle flat cola... (Score:3, Interesting)
I don't think he's talking about Kimchi (Score:3, Interesting)
And if you'll read the Wikipedia article about it, you'll see what he's talking about. I think I just about lost my appetite for lunch after reading that. Good Lord, what people used to eat when they were poor and had to make use of the whole animal! I mean, it's like reading something out of a Jack Vance book -- and not the gourmet scenes, but the ones where Cudgel has to "make do" with what he can get.
Re:kimchi... Thank you Kakubi (Score:2, Interesting)
I eat gimchi, and I like it, a LOT. I used to like the sweetened version, but after being unable to find it in restaurants in SF/Bay Area (outside of Ran Du, in Stockton, CA, run by a Chinese woman who grew up in Korea), I had to accept the more sour/pungent variety. Now, when I eat my Shin Ramyun, I sometimes put in several spoonsful of gimchi and the spicy tofu or spicy soybean and an egg.
I don't often burp or fart from eating gimchi. If the astronauts eat enough of it prior to blastoff (no pun intended) their systems might acclimate to mitigate expulsion of gas. Probably some antacid, or Mountain Tea (Greek OR Chinese varieties) might soothe the acidic effects and affects.
I suspect many of the "funny" comments here come from those who hardly eat or never tried gimchi. In a pinch, or on a regular diet, gimchi is a massive helluva lot better and more nutritious than most of the chemically treated garbage in our US diet. I'll stake my health on that.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kimchi [wikipedia.org]
I wonder if natto has been to space yet, but:
http://www.japanfile.com/modules/smartsection/item.php?itemid=462 [japanfile.com]
"The natto bean is a nutritional dynamo. For every 100 grams consumed, you are filling your body with 16.5 g of protein, 10.0 g of fats, 9.8 g of sugar, 2.3 g of fiber, and 1.9 g of ash for a total of 2,000 kilocalories. To say nothing of the host of vitamins and minerals you are getting: 0.07 milligrams of B1, 0.56 mg of B2, 1.1 mg of niacin, 90 mg of calcium, 190 mg of phosphorous, 3.3 mg of iron, 2 mg of sodium, 660 mg of potassium, and absolutely no cholesterol. There is more. Natto contains all eight of the necessary amino acids not produced by the human body as well as essential fatty acids like linoleic acid and enzymes that aid digestion. All of this has earned natto the respectful moniker of hatake no niku (field meat)."
More at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natto [wikipedia.org]
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/natto [wiktionary.org]
A Japanese friend introduced me to natto, and he sorta smugly (or I mistook his voice or facial expression) suggested that I won't be able to eat it. I asked if it were meat or some vegetable. He again stated he thought I would not be able to eat it. So, he nuked it, and I ate it with the mustard and soy sauce, and he went "Hmmph", smiled, and was pleased.
However, I would not recommend fry-heating natto on a domed/covered skillet -- unless you don't mind the "aroma" nearly-instantly permeating EVERY garment or cloth in your home or apartment. Well, if you want to offend or seek revenge, then steam/fry or steam-nuke a few small servings. You'll wake up your neighbors in the building...
Gimchi AND natto should should be fast-tracked not only for spacefarer consumption, but also for consumption in more restaurants.
Re:Great idea (Score:1, Interesting)
I eat Kimchee and like it.. Korean food is one of my top favorites.
BUT... once upon a time I worked at Ford and there was this Korean guy one aisle over in cubicle land. When he uncorked his kimchee at lunch it made my eyes water from 20 feet away! It actually made some of us nauseous. We'd go stand at the end of our aisle for a breath and people would walk by and give us dirty looks (I'm sure we had that "I didn't fart!" look).
I guess he had the real deal from home and that it was much stronger than the stuff commonly served at Korean restaurants. So I can understand the confusion when some folks are saying it just doesn't smell that bad. A few of us finally had to complain to facilities because it really was disruptive. They asked me if I'd spoken with him about it and I had to reply "No. Can you imagine his breath?"
Of course now that my palette has matured I'd probably ask him for some...
Re:Awesome! (Score:4, Interesting)
Now, have a slice of vegemite on toast ya girls