I grew up on the stuff and was never a fan of the "new," barely fermented bleach-white kimchi. It has to be at least a couple of weeks aged, until it's more sour than salty, with an effervescent bite from the fermentation. Though I know even some other Koreans prefer the "fresh" kind over the old.

My family back to my grandparents prefer the "fresh" kind. I had an encounter with very-very fermented very-very spicy stuff many years back. It even had some squid in it. I didn't care for it, but my friend of Japanese extraction raved about it.

The video on how to make soy bean paste and soy sauce is amazing too!

Haven't seen mention of this channel in a long time. I've spent many, many hours watching her show, and trying out the simpler recipes.

Is this available commercially anywhere else? (e.g. in SF?)

You should be able to find some in a Whole Foods or the like. Not as good as a homemade one following her recipe though. I just made a batch of hers and had some today. Nicely fermented and hot and and sour but the veggies are still nice and moderately crisp. Well worth the effort if you do it.

Seconding this.. Homemade kimchi vastly outranks anything store bought, even Whole Foods premium products. The same goes for most pickling and brining, as there are more additives in any pickled product to keep it stocked on the shelf. If it isn't sugar added, those additives can add bitterness, which takes away from the crisp tartness you want from a fermented food.

^ Indeed -- the homemade article is in a different league. A guy in our accounting department brings in a jar from his mom once in a while, and it is revelatory. The fermentation lids for mason jars [linked in an earlier comment] are great -- they permit results comparable to earthenware crock method but far easier to manage -- and work even for the neophyte. For even the casual kimchi or pickle consumer, in my experience, it's worthwhile to give it a shot oneself.

H-Mart in Houston had something like a Kimchi bar. What about H-Mart in the Bay Area?

If you're willing to go to Sunnyvale, the HanKook Supermarket has like a kimchi/marinated meat bar, and is really, really good.

Location: https://osm.org/go/TZML~TMik--?m

I live on the east coast, but my local Costco sells kimchi, so the SF Costco probably should too.

https://www.costcobusinessdelivery.com/Cosmos-Spicy-Nappa-Ca...

Kimchi itself is pretty commonly available. I think they're talking about 2-day-old kimchi

IMHO the best readily available commercial kimchi is Sinto Gourmet. Spicy napa cabbage and radish versions. You can get it at Whole Foods in SF.

(Yes, yes, not as good as homemade.. but it's very good.)

Rainbow Grocery has some great Kimchi in addition to lots of other bulk fermented food like pickles and sauerkraut.

Kimchi? You can find it at any Asian market that is located pretty much everywhere there are Asian immigrant communities.

Trader Joe's has the best consumer-packaged kimchi I've tried outside of Koreatown.

That's not high praise, though.

I can’t speak for SF, but some Korean groceries make their own on site.

Yea, your local asian market will definitely have it.

This channel is awesome, thanks for sharing!