Beauty mishap: Eating fresh kimchi
Have you ever been convinced by a gorgeous-looking friend who tells you her beauty secret and you go straight home to try it? It happened to me.
I wouldn’t say I’m gullible to the point that I would go to any lengths to get better skin and lose more weight. Pills — no. Starving — a firm no.
But, a few weeks ago, a girlfriend of mine in Tokyo was waxing lyrical about how natto (fermented soybeans) is great for skin and maintaining your weight.
Natto in a styrofoam pack
Natto with okra and squid
Packed full of protein, natto is eaten by many Japanese in the morning with white rice and miso soup. But some folks are more imaginative: some eat it with raw squid and okra (I was in Hokkaido when I encountered this scary, sticky concoction); some tuck into it with spring onions (scallions) and soy sauce; others on toast with melted cheese on top; and for my friend, she mixes it up with kimchi, a Korean beauty secret, and eats it with rice.
Natto on toast with melted cheese
My girlfriend also swore that this nutritious meal keeps her going for as long as six hours and has no need to snack before her next meal. Low in calories and helps you not be hungry — wow, I’ve got to try this! I thought to myself.
Natto with kimchi
But natto is not for the faint-hearted. It’s pungent and slimy and even some Japanese people dislike it. It’s one of those things you either love or hate.
And I wanted to love it very badly. I had been doing some research on fermented foods and it seems they are great for keeping your intestines happy and your digestive system will rev better, which means better overall health and skin.
The Japanese and Koreans must be onto something — many of them have gorgeous, smooth skin and svelte figures. But I believe that there must be more behind just sheer genetic luck.
I set about making my own kimchi because I didn’t like store-bought kimchi that is loaded with preservatives and fish sauce. After watching this video, I ran out of the house to buy all the ingredients. It was so easy to make.
I knew I had to wait for the kimchi to ferment for a few days, but by the second day, I was impatient for magic to happen on my skin, so I ate it straight from the bottle with natto on brown rice.
Did I like it? To be honest, it made me want to gag less than the squid and okra version I had. I told myself fervently, “This is for good skin. This is for good skin.”
Unfortunately, I suffered a bad headache a couple of hours after and retired early. In the middle of the night, I had to rush to the toilet. Oh noooooo, was it the kimchi? I asked myself. It certainly was because the boyfriend had none and he was fine. I jumped onto Google, and of course, I found out it’s “dangerous” to ingest fermenting kimchi but it’s okay to eat it after it has been fermented.
Lesson learned: ferment your kimchi for four whole days, then refrigerate for a day, and it’s ready to eat.
Now, I want to know: what’s your extreme beauty mishap?
Photo credit: here, here, here, & here
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its unfortunate that you got ill, but… just fyi, lots of ppl eat what u call ‘fermenting’ kimchi. Its really always fermenting…doesn’t really stop. You can slow it down…but…anyway my point is, that it shouldn’t have caused that reaction in u, so that totally sucks
(maybe it was the combined effect of eating two fermented foods?? or maybe u just bought bad kimchi?)
but the main point is…PROPS to you for eating kimchi with natto! I just CANT do it.
It is everything you said about it, but even knowing that…nope, the smell deters me from the goodness that it could do, and…I crumble, cowering away to the other side of the room XD
I will have to try and venture back into it in a few years lol.
Anyway I just found you today, and it was a great read (despite your unfortunate event) hope to read many more great posts from you~
Thanks for dropping by. I am puzzled by the length of time needed to ferment the kimchi, but I think what’s key is, you should refrigerate for a while before you dig in.
But you know, even the promise of skin as smooth as silken tofu still doesn’t make me want to try this again too soon. Perhaps I will eat natto with other ingredients. Miso paste and green onions seem safer and more appealing.
Natto tastes great! So I don’t understand why people find it pungent. I don’t think it smells at all.
I love kimchi too. But make them myself? Err, maybe not. You’ve to ferment them properly otherwise instead of being beneficial, they become dangerous!
Hi,
I am a big fan for kimchi!
I am curious if is ok for me to eat kimchi now as I am 6weeks pregnant.
Yes! Kimchi is awesome for pregnancy – it’s a great digestive aid and full of vitamins — great for baby too!
It’s never dangerous to eat fermenting or fermented kimchi.
Just depends on strong spices like red pepper, if you’re not used too.
You can make kimchi without red peppers or ginger, if you don’t like.
Never heard of the danger of taking kimchi before, during or after fermentation.
I have been making my own kimchi (sporadically) for 3 years. I can honestly say that there is no time period for which you have to wait for your kimchi to be ready to eat you could eat it right out of the mixing bowl if you really wanted too. I can however attest that some peoples stomachs just can’t handle some spicy foods, like a friend of mine loves spicy food but a couple hours later, like clockwork, it hits him hard and he spends the night in the bathroom.
I wouldn’t be too worried, go ahead and eat it whenever you want
Hi May, thanks for the advice. I’ll not fret about how many days I need to refrigerate my kimchi.
Hello May, i just bought freshly made kimchi from Takashimaya. Is there any difference in health benefits as compared with those kimchi made few days ago? Txs.