.: evil jungle prince :.

I'm not one to waste kimchi or let fresh ingredients go to waste, so what choice did I have but to try making something a little different tonight? Absolutely none.

Sure, I know what I'm setting myself up for. People are going to comment, cringing at the thought of the marriage of kimchi and pizza. But to plead my case, consider for a moment how similar the use of kimchi topping is to other common ingredients such as sun dried tomato (salty/pungent) or sardines (salty/fishy/pungent). Yeah, I hear you: you're not convinced. But believe me, the coming together of kimchi (the world's tastiest condiment) and pizza (the world's most popular guilty pleasure) is an inevitability. In 2020, kimchi pizza will surely be as common as pepperoni.

Here's how it started out -- freshly prepared dough oiled with a small amount of olive oil. (No, I didn't throw it up in the air and no, it didn't land on my face.) On top of this went a small amount of garlic, fresh tomato, Korean perilla leaves, fresh mozarella, and of course... kimchi!

This was baked on a pizza stone at 425F for 10-20 minutes until crispy.

My use of perilla was purely experimental but I felt in the end it was a wild success. Already so basil-like in taste, and yet different and so distinctly Korean, I thought it would make a great candidate as a pizza topping. I was right! The peppery taste complemented but did not overwhelm the salty/pungent tastes of the kimchi.

By the way, kimchi pizza wasn't my idea. I first heard about it from my Jewish friend in New York who sent me this article back in 2002. I've been playing with the idea of making it since that time, and here we have it. Who wants a slice?