10495 Sun Jan 06 20:08:04 -0800 2002 7 4 Pacific Northwest 0 12303 can anyone point me to a store where i can get kimchi cheaper than uwajimaya? the offerings in viet-wah, hoho and the like are smaller (and therefore more expensive) than the 1/2 gallon "lee's" jar in uwajimaya. the latter is not bad at $8.49, but i am going thru 3 or 4 jars a week. i wonder whether paldo or boohan or some such place has a 5-gallon tub on offer? i don't have a car, so i'd rather not take the bus way out to those suburbs just to investigate (i called, but the language barrier was a problem). of course i don't mind making the trip once if i actually know where to head, tho. alternately, i'd be glad to get it online, but i can barely find ANY kimchi, let alone cheap/bulk/good ones! ethnicgrocer.com doesn't even list ONE, for example. btw, pls. don't tell me to make my own...i've tried, with miserable results. i will keep on trying, but in the meantime, i need the cheapest source for my "fix". thx! Sun Jan 06 20:08:04 -0800 2002 0 basil 1 12304 I'm in California, and I have two one-plus-gallon jars of the stuff, one cost $12 and the other $7.50. Got them at local Korean grocery stores. One place I can think of up there, off the top of my head, is the Hyundai market in Federal Way. Good Korean restaurants in that city also. Have fun searching! Link: http://www.chowhound.com/main.html Sun Jan 06 22:24:44 -0800 2002 12303 0 Nikel 2 12307 are u saying for a fact that hyundai has large jars, or should i add that to the "maybe" list with paldo and boohan? again, i would like to narrow the field before i go making a lot of bus trips to fedway/tacoma/aurora/etc. and YES i should have stocked up while i was in LA (just last week)! but i was afraid that 10 gallons of kimchi in my luggage might kill those sniffer dogs at the airport! Mon Jan 07 00:28:01 -0800 2002 12304 0 basil 3 12309 Sorry, I didn't catch that you don't have a car. Hyundai has the big-size jars, but what's there is not worth a long Metro ride from Seattle. You're right -- those poor narc dogs wouldn't be able to do their jobs, or worse! Link: http://chowhound.safeshopper.com/ Mon Jan 07 01:46:38 -0800 2002 12307 0 Nikel 4 12310 I am not a kimchi devotee (don't know what's good) and my information source is somewhat dated (places may have closed). So please consider this as just giving you some leads: I understand that Aurora Oriental Market, 15202 Aurora Ave. N, Seattle, 206-362-5575 is supposed to have large tubs of kimche (both cahbage and other vegetables). Also possible is Lee's Produce, 9435 Delridge Way SW, Seattle, 206-762-5220 which readers of Seattle Weekly voted best kimchi in town (homemade but no idea how large the containers). Other hounds who are familiar with either source please comment. There seem to be serveral Oriental stores along Aurora North between about 145th and Shoreline so there may be others. I would also check with PFI (Pacific Food Importers) where language will not be a problem. They are off of 6th (1001 Sixth Ave. S; 206-682-2022), behind the Immigration building and at the very end of the long warehouse building, about a long block from Uwajimaya.(Very Short Saturday hours, closed on Sunday). Re Transportation: I have exchanged a good homemade meal with a friend or co-worker for driving me around on a weekend to find a source for something I wanted. I also used the trip to locate bus stops and route numbers so I could return for refills on my own. Mon Jan 07 02:37:19 -0800 2002 12309 0 decker 1 12344 thanks nikel & decker. actually, i spent some hours on the telephone, sorted out the details on 20 shops, wrote it up into a lengthy post, and prompty LOST it before hitting 'send'. ugh. bottom line is: lee's 1 gal/$12, boohan "big jar" (1 gal?)/$11.99, hyundai, aurora oriental, paldo & others 1 gal/$12.99 and up. noone has anything bigger than 1 gal, altho a few offered to make it custom order. didn't offer any great savings to do so, tho. PFI and similar bulk places don't carry. seaasia does, but won't sell retail (how much need i buy to talk them into it?). anyway, boohan seems to be the cheapest, but i think i'll splurge the extra $.01 and try lee's, if indeed it is the "best in seattle". i'm long overdue for a lunch in white center anyway. thanks again for your help. and i'm still all ears if anyone knows other places, especially online. i'm going to go ask the general board, actually. Thu Jan 10 10:10:27 -0800 2002 12303 0 basil 2 12350 Since I know very little about kimchi, but want to learn, I would love to know your opinion as to what is the best kimchi (and why) when you've had a chance to taste some of these. I don't care about the cost, just the quality and what characteristics I'm tasting for. Thu Jan 10 23:58:54 -0800 2002 12344 0 decker 1 12420 Boy, am I glad to see that someone else has got the kim chee (kimchi,whatever) monkey on their back. I have been eating a big dish of it every night since I gave up Ben & Jerry's (that's another story). I buy it by the gallon at a local (Eugene)asian food store. Their brand is shipped in from LA. I have yet to try the Viet restaurant next to the Rite-aid on 29th st., but I shall soon. I did make it myself at home for a while with pretty good results. The hardest part was adding enough of the red stuff to make it HOT!!! without killing me and making my then-spouse agree to let us stay in the house until it was ripe. This took up to 2 months some times and boy, was the house aromatic by then (he was not a kim chi fan, but he was a jerk anyway). Blessings to all you kim chi fans out there, you are not alone. :-)) bobbie Sun Feb 03 01:14:16 -0800 2002 12303 0 Bobbie