So apparently evolution has left me some tail. It is quite obvious that all believers of intelligent design have never hit their tailbone. Any designer with common sense would not have put a bone in the spot that you sit on. At least not a bone that can get so easily injured and that can cause this enormous pain to its owner.

Embarrassingly I managed to hurt my tailbone playing go-cart during team building. I love go-carting! It really brings out the competitiveness in me and I was quite proud when I managed to be the only girl that made it to the final. This despite being hit quite hard early on in the race by some co-worker that didn’t know how to drive.  I could feel right then and there that something happened to my tailbone but the severity of it didn’t really start syncing in until I sat down afterward.

I literally had to pull the hooks of my bra out of my back afterwards. My back had quite a few blue spots and I couldn’t sit down, sit, get up, walk or stand without being in severe pain. Almost two weeks later I still feel like I am sitting on a sharp knife and I have learned by painful experience that there is no way to sit comfortably on a train with an injured tailbone.  I simply have to suck it in for the 2×40 minutes train ride each day.

Being able to sit comfortably reminds me of my business trips to Asia few years ago. Believe it or not I got lucky and got upgraded to business class three times in a row on a long distance flight. What a luxury! I just wish the train seats were as luxurious.

This brings me to today’s recipe. I read an article (Norwegian) at the start of the year that stated that this was one of those tastes to look out for in 2014. I am talking about kimchi, which is spicy fermented cabbage that is used as a side dish for almost everything in South Korea.  It is difficult to describe it. Spicy, crunchy, sour, and sweet all at the same time. Great as a side dish to Korean barbecue like bulgogi.

Kimchi

Adapted from Dr. Ben Kim

1 head of Chinese or Napa cabbage
0,75 dl sea salt
Water
0,6 dl Korean Chili flakes (Gochugaru)
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon minced ginger
3-4 green onions, sliced
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1/2 yellow onion, chopped
1 ripe apple or pear, finely chopped
1 tsp sugar

Measure the salt and add enough warm water to cover it. Stir and wait until it dissolves at least a little. This requires some patience.

In the mean time wash and chop the cabbage into bit sized pieces. Pour the salt water over the cabbages and make sure it is somewhat evenly distributed. Let it sit for 4 hours to let get the salt get rid of some of the water in the cabbage. It will look a bit shrivelled at the end of the 4 hours.

Rinse the cabbage with cold water to remove the excess salt

Combine the red chilli flakes with enough warm water to cover it. Stir until a red chilli paste is created. Add the chilli paste to the cabbage.

Now add minced garlic, minced ginger, green onions, and fish sauce.

Blend the apple or the pear and onion with 3 dl water and add to the mixture.

Now blend well with your hands. I recommend a pair of plastic glove. Transfer everything to a large glass bottle. Make sure there is a little bit of room at the top in case it expands a bit.

Now leave at room temperature for 24 hours. After this transfer it to the refrigerator and after few hours it is ready to eat. According to online sources this can be stored for at least couple of weeks in the fridge.

Note: I bought my Korean chilli powder in South-Korea and I have yet to find it in Oslo. I am sure it can be bought online somewhere.