CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARBULLETIN.COM Chef Guido Ulmann bites into kim chee imported from Korea for a series of conventions at the Hilton Hawaiian Village: "I'm not really into it, but it's pretty good with rice, I must say."

With kim chee, variations in
heat, flavor and fermentation
make all the difference

---

By Betty Shimabukuro
betty@starbulletin.com

The closest that chef Guido Ulmann came to kim chee in his native Switzerland was sauerkraut.

Cabbage, salt, fermentation.

Korean Festival Featuring: Entertainment, cultural exhibits, sales of Korean products, games and food stands When: 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday Place: Kapiolani Park Bandstand Recipes By Request: Korean side dishes of potatoes and cabbage The Electric Kitchen: How to make kim chee

So close and yet so far.

Mike Irish, on the other hand, despite his last name, has lived a life immersed in kim chee. His mother and grandmother made a huge batch once or twice a month. "There was always a gallon jar sitting in the ice box."

Other kids would come home from school and reach for a snack of candy or ice cream. "I used to eat just kim chee and bread. It was really great."

Today Irish runs Halms Enterprises, which produces the lion's share of Hawaii's kim chee.

We care about these two guys with their diametrically opposed kim chee histories because this week marks the centennial of Korean immigration to Hawaii, and while others may ponder the cultural and historic significance of that event, in this space we consider what is really important. Food.

Kim chee is central to the Korean culinary experience, eaten at breakfast, lunch and dinner in traditional households and appreciated in varying styles, heat levels and with various vegetables as the base.

It is sure to be a featured guest at Saturday's Korean Festival at Kapiolani Park, where 13 vendors will make sure that the crucial element of food is not forgotten.

Ulmann, executive chef at the Hilton Hawaiian Village, certainly can't forget. He hosted Monday night's Korean Centennial Banquet for nearly 1,700 in the Coral Ballroom, but his education in Korean cooking went into hyper drive back in November. That's when six waves of conventioneers from Amway Korea -- 1,000 each time -- began passing through the hotel.

Six chefs came with them, and more than 20,000 pounds of kim chee. That's not a misprint -- 10 tons.

Ulmann ordered huge quantities of specialized ingredients for the chefs, including 1,680 kilograms of red pepper powder. The kim chee arrived in three shipments from Korea.

The second-floor kitchen and a walk-in refrigerator were given over to the chefs, who turned out several traditional dishes for each meal -- accompanied by 300 pounds of rice (six 50-pound bags, per meal) and, always, garlicky kim chee.

The fragrance, shall we say, was quite overwhelming, Ulmann said. "The red pepper powder makes you numb, just the smell, until you get used to it -- and then it's almost like paprika."

He even used some in stroganoff and beef curry and added those dishes to the Korean buffet. "They ate much more that way," he said.

Several cases of kim chee were left over when the final Amway group left in December, but Ulmann used up most of it at the centennial banquet.

The difference between from-Korea kim chee and what you can buy locally in most supermarkets is a matter of flavor and fizz.

"Kim chee out of Korea would probably be a lot heavier spiced, meaning hotter," said Irish at Halms. "They use anchovies and lot more patis in their sauce, and their sauce is a lot thicker."

Kim chee made by local Korean stores such as Palama Supermarket has a similar potency -- not to mention it comes in gallon jars instead of pints.

Kim chee for the mainstream market is lighter, Irish said. "The local people prefer it more fresh and crispy than tart and sour."

There's also the matter of fermentation. Ulmann's leftover Amway kim chee had a tart spritziness to it, the fizz of fermentation that's missing from most Hawaii-made brands. That's partly because of aging -- refrigeration slows but does not stop the process.

Ulmann said the Korean chefs actually removed their kim chee from the refrigerator a day before serving, "so it goes back to fermentation a little before they eat it."

All this kindles memories of sauerkraut for Ulmann: Traditionally it's made from shredded cabbage with salt, onions and white wine vinegar, pressed and fermented in a cold cellar all winter.

And memories of kim chee, for Irish: His Korean grandmother and his mother made up fresh jars, then left them in the sink overnight, the covers slightly open, kick-starting the fermentation process. The vegetables would star to sour, then bubble and spill over.

Halms turns out 2-1/2 tons of kim chee daily under various labels -- Halms, Kohala, Mannani and Highmax Trading. Each has a different formula, unchanged since Halms took over the original family-owned companies. In the case of Kohala Kim Chee, that's a recipe 65 years old.

It's all delivered fresh, Irish said. A couple weeks in the refrigerator, though, and you'll reach the fermentation level of his mom's kim chee.

Irish said he likes all styles. "If I'm sitting down having a beer I really like the Korean -style. If I'm eating a nice dinner I like the lighter brands because they don't dominate the taste buds so much."

Thinking outside the jar, Irish said he believes kim chee has many commercial applications in ready-to-eat foods. Sandwiches, for instance -- he swears he has a hit on his mind: "I keep telling Subway, 'I promise -- a kim-chee-tuna-salad sandwich!'"

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