Health Department rules have long been the bane of charcuterie makers and Chinese restaurants who hang their ducks by the window. Now New York health officials are getting tough on the kimchi makers. Several online sources have reported that there's been an inherent crack down on the quintessential fermented Korean foodstuff in the Big Apple.
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The complaint among the Korean restauranteurs who get citations and
fines because they are, according to the authorities, not keeping
their kimchi at a proper 41 degrees, is that the inspectors just don't
understand what kimchi is. The kimchi makers argue that the rule is
unfair because kimchi has an acidity level
below 4.6, which they say should make it safe to keep at room
temperature.
The compromise offered by one health commissioner was for the producers to prove the pH-level was below the 4.6 level by testing each
batch; but the owners say they don't have the time or money to do this.
My my, what a pickle!
Before becoming an award-winning restaurant critic for OC Weekly in 2007, Edwin Goei went by the alias “elmomonster” on his blog Monster Munching, in which he once wrote a whole review in haiku.