Migooks?

Posted by Word Camel on September 04, 2004

In Reply to: Migooks? posted by Lotg (OZ) on September 03, 2004

: : : : : : : : : Many years ago I worked for an American company and a Canadian boss (the GM). He had that wonderful off-the-wall Canadian sense of humour that I love. Whenever we were in any sort of bother with clients or whatever, he'd say "we're in deep kimshe here". I'd never heard that before, but he said it so often that we all found ourselves using it.

: : : : : : : : : Eventually it occurred to me that I shouldn't assume that 'kimshe' was a polite alternative to 'sh*t' when I had no idea what it was. When I asked he said that he thought it was a Japanese word for cabbage.

: : : : : : : : : My googling efforts have found numerous references to kimshe and it's obviously food, appears to be vegetable and is obviously used in Asian cooking. However, I cannot for the life of me find an actual definition or description of what it is.

: : : : : : : : : Does anyone know what 'kimshe' actually is please?

: : : : : : : : It's Korean, actually. Here's a definition from a Korean Kimchi site:

: : : : : : : : Kimchi is a product that is fermented through lactic acid production at low temperatures to ensure proper ripening and preservation. It is processed with a seasoning mixture mainly consisting of red pepper powder, garlic, ginger, green onion and radish.

: : : : : : : The spices, etc. sound good, but I'm not too sure about the fermented lactic acid.

: : : : : : Kimchi is often buried underground for a time to let it ripen. And it can get very ripe. SS

: : : : :
: : : : : Whoa..what is this? First, kim chi is compared to pooh. THen, it is discribed as a soured-milk product? No, No, No. Kim chi is ambrosia. It's wonderful. Kim Chi is spiced, pickled cabbage. The cabbage is soaked and aged in a brine solution along with ginger, cayenne, garlic, radish, and celery. It is delicious. Kim chi is as ubiquitous in Korea as ketchup is in America.
: : : : : The phrase "in deep kim chi" has nothing to do with the intrinsic value of kim chi. Rather, it refers to actually stepping in a kim chi pot. Kim chi is aged in large clay pots which are traditionally buried throughout the korean country side. I suspect the phrase came to America during the Korean War after many US GIs had stepped on loose soil covering the pots and found themselves knee-deep in kim chi.
: : : : : Though lactic acid is produced in the process, kmi chi is no more "milky" than sourkraut.
: : : : :

: : : :
: : : : There are two main varieties of Kim chi, the famous cabbage kim chi or "winter kimchi" and the slightly lighter cucumber variety also called Ho bak (this probaby isn't the official spelling I'm doing this phonetically).

: : : : The main ingredients apart from cabbage or cucumbers is hot, red pepper and garlic. Koreans, in fact, have more garlic in their diets than any other people in the world. Some people believe the garlic may have something to do with the very low rate of heart disease, though stomach complaints (probably from poorly sanitised water and all that hot, red pepper)are common.

: : : : I am not sure where the lactic acid referred to comes from but I am almost certain that it does not come from milk. There is virtually no milk in the Korean diet and many Koreans find it repulsive. When I lived in Seoul, our housekeeper threw out many a package of cheese thinking that it was so vile that even we crazy Migooks couldn't possibly really want to eat it. Westerners are know for smelling of soured milk, while Koreans smell strongly of garlic.

: : : : Cho me na o

: : : : Word Camel

: : : The phrase containing the words "lactic acid" was simply cut and pasted from a Korean website, www.kimchi.or.kr/english/ . I don't know where the lactic acid comes from if there's no milk in it. Perhaps the translator could've used some help from the Phrase Finder?

: : :There is lactic acid in kim chi, but it's not from milk. Lactic acid acts as a preservative. It inhibits bacteria growth. It is "prepared by fermantation of cornstarch, molasses, potatoes,etc"(cabbage) -Websters. However, the reference to lactic acid (brain registers-MILK!)was so unappetizing it behooved me to comment. It was like describing wine as bacteria excrement. Sure, it's true, but it a lousy sales pitch.

: Migooks Word Camel? Is their term for us? It's probably derogatory, but I think it's quite cute.

It is...