Accidentally saved my kimchi with a dirty dish towel

So I was making a batch of napa cabbage kimchi last Saturday and realized halfway through I was out of cheesecloth. I had washed a bunch of kitchen towels the night before and one was still on the counter. Figured what the hell, used it to cover the jar instead. The thing is, that towel had a faint smell of garlic from the dishes I dried with it earlier. My kimchi ended up with this extra layer of funk that actually made it better than any batch I've done in 3 years. Anyone else ever had a random cross contamination turn into a win?

2 comments

2 Comments

robert2487d ago

I mean, @the_abby, it's not really cross contamination in the bad sense since that garlic was already on the towel from being clean and dry, just with a leftover smell. It's more like a happy accident with your ferment getting a little bonus flavor from the fabric.

the_abby7d ago

Used to think cross contamination was always bad but this actually makes total sense now.