Granny Choe's Kimchi Company For the REAL DEAL in authentic traditional Kimchi
"It's been many years since I was in Korea and plan on returning for a long desired visit to my favorite attractions.
I returned home with fond memories of Seoul and other parts of So. Korea but left behind the authentic Kimchi flavor that only a Korean Grandmother could make.
That's changed since I've discovered Granny Choe's Kimchi !"
Randy Stewart
www.lovethatkimchi.com
As webmaster and owner of www.lovethatkimchi.com I'd like to mention that I am in no way affiliated with Granny Choe's Kimchi Company and neither I nor this site receives any financial incentive for endorsement of any of Granny Choe's products. I just happen to love and recommend her great Kimchi. - Randy Stewart - www.lovethatkimchi.com
On January 20, 2009 Google alerted me to a new site that offered Kimchi for sale. My first thought was if there's no Korean Grandmother or recipe behind it, it's not worth looking at. But the brand name "Granny Choe" caught my eye and I skeptically went to the site. Pictured there was Grannie Choe, Connie, and Baby E.
The young company just launched this past '08 claimed to have a authentic flavor. Having been stationed in Korea back in '91 I know the REAL DEAL which I fell in love with and consequently make my own to this day. Can't live without the stuff - literally! Maybe Health Magazine's finding Kimchi one of the top five healthiest foods in the world has a bit to do with it.
Since I launched www.lovethatkimchi.com back in '07, I've received e-mail from all parts of the world asking me to recommend a "brand" or where to find the stuff. This can be a shot in the dark as I don't even know if these folks are near a Korean/Asian market that prepares and sells the stuff fresh. Connie mentions below that it's so unfortunate when a newcomer is served a low quality version of Grandma's Kimchi and they are put off by the experience forever.
I've recommended a couple of brands that, despite being mass-produced, are good, at times great, but don't reach that fresh, beautiful, and consistent flavor of Grandma's batch.
I contacted Connie and asked if she would send me a small sample of Granny Choe's Kimchi recipe. Today, Jan. 30, 2009 I received the Kimchi. It was very well packaged with the ice packs and I placed the Kimchi jars in the fridge to get colder.
From Connie at Granny Choe's Kimchi Company
"We are a small California based company run by a Korean-American mother/daughter team, and we are spreading the love of kimchi to people of all ethnicities. It's a shame when people try a low-quality kimchi once, and it puts them off kimchi for life. And it's a shame when kimchi addicts can't get real kimchi to satisfy their cravings. We are one of the very few companies that sells kimchi online, and among those, we are the only ones who sell kimchi that's carefully and laboriously prepared by hand with fresh ingredients.
Love That Kimchi.com
highly recommends
Granny Choe!
UPDATE: 3/24/10 - A year later....
When I sampled the Kimchi...................... "We have a winner!"
These are the Kimchi flavors that Korea introduced me to! Absolutely everything is perfect about the batch. All of the ingeredients and texture are present and front and center.
The batch is made fresh and ferments enroute! What a concept! The Kimchi was crisp and so full of flavor and life that I almsot passed out. I talk like that when I have the best of the best - bare with me.
I sat there and looked at it, smelled it, checked for all the visual elements of authenticity, and was so very, very, very pleased to admit, hands down, this is the variety I had back in Korea as I never forgot. Granny Choe is licensed, as far as my experience in Korea showed me, to include "THE REAL DEAL" on her label. This is it!
If you'd like to watch and hear more about my opinion of Granny Choe's Kimchi, watch the video clip below.
After working on this site for two years, I'm sure glad to have found a brand I love and WILL recommend to anyone who seeks authentic Korean Kimchi.
Like all great foods baby, it takes Grandma's touch.
Real people behind a real authentic product - baby Eve Harikul plays with Granny Choe’s Kimchi labels on the lap of her grandmother, Oghee Choe, and with her mother, company co-owner Connie Choe-Harikul, nearby.
Tell them www.lovethatkimchi.com sent ya!
Photos by Joseph A. Garcia
Love That Kimchi.com
A Site dedicated to Kimchi and Korean cuisine
About our kimchi... If you don't have your own Korean grandma to make kimchi for you- this is the next best thing :) Our kimchi is all natural (no MSG, no preservatives), and it's made from scratch for results that are noticeably more flavorful than other brands of kimchi. For example, we could save time by using pre-chopped garlic, or even powdered garlic, but instead we get whole cloves of garlic and crush it ourselves. "
From Randy at www.lovethatkimchi.com
I expected Connie to mention their use of the freshest ingredients when I tasted my sample batch of Kimchi. The serving was beautifully fresh and crisp. The flavor I almost don't have words for. You can't make traditional Kimchi like this by cutting corners !
It's been a little over a year since I was alerted by Google about the one in a million GRANNY CHOE'S KIMCHI CO and decided to order another six pack of the variety mix. For those of you who haven't been to Granny Choe's website or Connie's Blog, their Kimchi has been showcased on magazine covers, made television appearances, won contests, and remained a true and consistent provider of the best Kimchi delivered to your door above and beyond the rest!
Just as my first box, this batch arrived promptly and safely here in Dallas. The mailman delivered a bit wide-eyed and asked if the contents were going to be OK as it appeared to contain perishables. I smiled and told him it was doing better by the minute - literally! That's the great thing about shipping kimchi as it's a fermenting food and although shipped with an ice pack, the pack is just a preventative against extremely high temperatures. But yes, it is getting better by the minute during shipping - gotta leave it to Kimchi to be so grand.
While eating Kimchi in Korea back in '91, I had no idea that almost twenty years later I'd be running a site called www.LoveThatKimchi.com and corresponding with the likes of Connie at Granny Choe's Kimchi Co. and all the contributing Korean cuisine cooks included at my site. I had no idea! I did know the cabbage and radish variety I ate every day did for my body what no other food ever did. I was daily eating the most common and preferred kimchi varieties and loving every minute of it. My Army company baracks were located about ten minutes from a Korean bar and grill and I made arrangements with the owner to have my steamed rice and kimchi delivered nightly. Word got around quick not to mention the heavenly smell - Hahahaha.... My company commander who was stationed on his third year in Korea said he had never seen such an arrangement. And on weekends I had other entrees added to the delivery. Once a month I'd walk in and take care of the bill tip included for every single delivery. They were beautiful people who at the very least were amused and amazed that an American was so obsessed with their culture and food. Well have you tried this stuff? You should!
My latest batch of Granny Choe's Kimchi delivered to my door!
I washed the jars as I removed them from their bag and box. I've always liked the Granny Choe label on these jars. You can tell they've invested a good chunk of time, design, and money into this brand. And for those of us who know our Kimchi, the true test when opened, that flavor. Can ya picture AND smell it now? Yes you can. Granny Choe - You're one in a million....
Original Cabbage Kimchi
White Cabbage Kimchi
Radish Kimchi
