Rachel Yang, chef at Seattle's Joule created an ultra-fermented dish for tonight's gala, Korean bean paste-cured and cold-smoked walu (another name for Escolar) with fennel kimchi."My mom didn't teach me to make kimchi," Yang jokes, "but I did learn from my grandmother and some other people. You can make kimchi out of anything, cabbage, fennel and apple, shiitakes." She starts her kimchi with ginger, pear, garlic, onion, and fish sauce. The pears serve a dual purpose: their sweetness balances the spice, and they also start the fermentation rolling.
