Kimchee or Kimchi, A Korean Staple

Kimchee or Kimchi is a very common dish of fermented vegetables, usually spicy, in Korean cuisine, used as a side dish. In Korean restaurants I have gone to over the years, including in Germany, the server has always put out several small dishes of vegetables. I naturally can't recall every vegetable used at every location, but I believe napa cabbage has always been included, as well as daikon (a type of radish).  Recently I decided to give a try to making my own Kimchi, and it turned out quite well. You can also naturally get it at Korean restaurants, and there are versions sold in jars in some supermarkets nowadays, in the refrigerated section (with varying amounts of 'heat'). Making Kimchi is quite simple, with cleaning and cutting of the vegetables being the only real time consuming part. I made my own version using the cabbage and daikon only, with added green onions. You can always alter the amounts, but here's what I used:

1 head of napa cabbage, core removed and cut into strips about an inch or two wide, then cut these into about 2 to 3 inch pieces
1/4 cup of no iodine sea salt
water to cover
6 cloves of garlic, finely chopped or grated
about 10-12 oz. of daikon radish, peeled and cubed
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
6 green onions, cut into 1/2 inch pieces (I only discarded any wilted green part)
8 oz. Korean red chili paste ("gochujang," available in some supermarkets and Asian specialty stores, the type I buy comes in a little tub-like container, with a flip-top lid) 
1 teaspoon sugar
(I like spicy food, so I added about a one inch piece of serrano chili pepper, finely chopped ...YES!)

First, rinse the cabbage repeatedly a little at a time, then put the cabbage pieces into a large bowl or even a stainless steel pot. Add the salt and mix very well, making sure the cabbage is well coated, if you need a little more salt, use it. Add water to just cover. Let the cabbage sit overnight, do not cover. Mix the cabbage and salt solution around again in the morning and let it sit. The total time the cabbage should be in the salted water is about 8 to 10 hours. Empty the salt water solution and fill the container of cabbage with fresh water. Stir the cabbage around to rinse, repeat this step, then taste the cabbage to be certain it isn't too salty, but if it is, repeat the rinse step and drain the cabbage (it SHOULD have a somewhat salty taste, as the salt is a preservative). Add the ginger, garlic, green onions, the hot chili pepper (if using) and daikon. This is how I made my Kimchi, although many Koreans would likely make the daikon separately and serve it in its own dish, but if you do it this way, I doubt they'll make you have to stand watch on the border with North Korea. Mix everything well. I mixed it by hand. If using the chili pepper, be sure to wash your hands well after mixing and don't rub your eyes. Now gradually stir the sugar into the Korean chili paste (it has moderate heat) and add to the vegetables. Mix to be certain there is a coating on all of the ingredients. I added about a quarter cup of water. Cover the bowl or pot with plastic wrap and place it in a cupboard or somewhere where it will not be in your way. Within a day or two it should start to ferment and you can then store it in the refrigerator. Any bubbling is normal, as it is the fermenting process.* So now you have your own Kimchi with both cabbage and daikon radish together, rather than the likely separate dishes .... ahh, what's this rifle for? What do you mean my watch at the border with North Korea starts in 15 minutes?

* I believe more so in the past, but perhaps some Koreans still do it, and that is, the Kimchi was put in a crock and put into a hole in the ground and buried for a period of time. 

In this picture, I had added some larger pieces of red (mildly hot) chili pepper, besides the serrano.

WORD HISTORY:
Radish-This word, related to both English "root" and "wort" (meaning "herb plant," as in St. John's wort, and also "spice," thus "liquid of the beer making process"), goes back to Indo European "wrehd," which meant "root" (perhaps also "sprout"). This gave Latin "radix" ("root"). This then seems to have been borrowed directly from Latin into English circa 1050 to 1100 as "rædic," which indeed meant "radish." 

"Twelve Angry Men" Touts the Ideals of the Jury System

Very slightly edited 6-27-22

This is one of those films that I cannot say very much about, because it would betray the story of this wonderful movie that touts the jury system. The story is about a jury of twelve men who go into the jury room to decide the fate of an 18 year old Latino man for the murder of his father. With the exception of about five minutes, the entire film takes place in the jury room on a hot, humid day in New York City. The men all come from different backgrounds, from stockbroker to architect to elderly retiree and many things in between. Most of the jurors take their deliberations as a serious matter that involves a decision about whether a young man will live or die, as in those times, the death penalty was fairly common in many murder cases, and that fact is made clear in the movie. Some have very definite feelings about the young man's guilt upon entering the jury room. The jurors discuss what they REALLY know about what happened in the case they must decide, but they also get an insight into themselves and why they feel the way they do about the case and about the boy charged with the murder, a boy likely to be executed, if they say he is guilty. Notice I said "most" take their deliberations seriously, but the thing is, they all have sort of their own agendas, with one, played by one of my favorite actors, Jack Warden, only wanting to get to that night's Yankees' game, a game for which he already has tickets; so for him, it's a baseball game versus a boy's life.

What it all comes down to is "reasonable doubt," a concept that can go out of its way to seek to protect the innocent, although it allows some guilty people to go free. It isn't perfect, but it sure is better than trial by combat, a sign from some deity or the decision of a person of the nobility. If only the world were perfect, but it isn't. In an ideal situation, the jury hears the prosecution present its case for why the person should be found guilty, and then it hears the defense try to refute that evidence. It IS sort of a "trial by combat," but this is a trial by combat with evidence and questioning as weapons. Remember, the judicial system is contentious, and it was meant to be. The jury retires to the jury room and decides if they believe the prosecution case, beyond a reasonable doubt. Again, in an ideal world no juror would be influenced by baseball games, the weather conditions, the defendant's race, ethnic background, religion, or political affiliation, but as I mentioned, the world is not a perfect place. When there is a murder, we want revenge, a perfectly imperfect emotion. We can want revenge so badly, we can forget the very essence of "reasonable doubt" and fairness. That all changes, of course, if WE are the defendant! It is always worth considering, "How would I feel in this situation?"

The film was done on a limited budget, with Henry Fonda putting up much of the money to produce the film. The movie has an absolutely great cast, headed by Henry Fonda, and with Lee J. Cobb, Ed Begley, Jack Warden, Martin Balsam, John Fiedler (later known for being one of the patients on "The Bob Newhart Show in the 1970s), E.G. Marshall, Edward Binns (while you likely don't know him by name, you will recognize him from movies and television shows from the 1950s into the 1980s), Jack Klugman (known for "The Odd Couple" on Broadway and television, and then on televison's "Quincy"), Robert Webber, George Voskovec (a Czech immigrant), and Joseph Sweeney (another guy you will probably recognize from parts in other films or from television). The movie was directed by Sidney Lumet, who was nominated for an Academy Award for his work. The movie was also nominated for Best Picture.

Photo is from 2008 MGM DVD

WORD HISTORY:
Jury-The ultimate origins of this word are uncertain. Latin had "iurare," which meant "to swear, to pledge." This produced the Latin noun "iurata," which meant "an oath, a pledge." This was borrowed by Anglo-Norman in the 1200s as "juree," seemingly "those sworn to decide a legal case." Borrowed into English in the 1300s.