Thank you! I don’t eat it often, and first time making it. Found the easiest recipe I could find, and I knew Maangchi has a good reputation, so thought I’d give it a try. I’d do it again for sure!

Noted, thanks! I just called it kimchi because Maangchi called it kimchi throughout the recipe.

https://www.maangchi.com/recipe/yangbaechu-kimchi

Good question. I’m not sure about the smell of ants because in public health, we don’t consider them to be a concern because the ones that we find in restaurants and such don’t carry diseases that concern us. (AFAIK, anyway.) They act as indicators that they’ve found unprotected (spilled, spoiled, etc.) food. I haven’t encountered such a huge population of ants that I can smell them, so refer to the other person’s comment.

Cockroach smell: It’s really hard to explain well because it’s so unique. I liken them to the smell of a grease trap (old oil mixed with detergents, spoiled food, sewage-y kind of smell. This does not bother me whatsoever), except with a distinct meaty, animal kind of smell that makes it horrible. It doesn’t smell like spoiled chicken, beef, pork that’s been in the fridge for too long, kind of meat.

The words that come to mind are: Heaving, warmth, animal and spoiled… I can usually sense them when I walk in, but when I can smell them, the place is infested = massive heebie jeebies.

This, and cockroaches are associated with allergies and respiratory issues. I can 100% confirm this because whenever I go in to a restaurant, if I start sneezing, I know they’re there. Then I go looking, and I will find them because I can also smell them. 🤢

Also, I was reading this a few weeks ago: The Cockroach and Allergic Diseases.

Living in Australia, they are unavoidable, so yes, they do come inside the house sometimes. The American and German ones are the ones that reproduce very fast and can take over very quickly.