Recipe: Kimchi

A bunch of folks have been asking me about my kimchi recipe (as well as others) and I'm trying to get around to posting them. (Here for now, since my foodblog is dormant at the moment.) In case you missed it, last week, I posted Greens and Peanut Stew.

Kimchi

Ingredients

• 3T Sea Salt [Kosher salt or pickling salt work, too. Just avoid anything with additives: no iodized salt or anything with "free-flowing agents" or the like. Which is a good policy in general. Throw away all your iodized salt!]
• 6 cups Water
• 1-2 heads Cabbage, chopped into 1-2" squares [Chinese cabbage (such as bok choy or napa) is ideal, but I've used green cabbage and it's been fab.]
• A handful of Scallions, chopped into 1-2" lengths and slivered [Any other type of onion will do, too.]
• 1 1/2 T minced ginger
• 1 1/2 T minced garlic
• 2T Korean ground hot pepper [You can sub in any other hots such as cayenne, paprika, rooster sauce, etc, if you must, but add slowly and taste. Korean powder is much milder which is why you put in so much.]
• 1t Sugar

  Other vegetables:

• Carrots, sliced thin in rounds or small sticks
• Asian Turnips (or standard white), sliced thin
• Radishes, sliced thin
• Anything else you'd like, sliced or chopped

What to do:

1. Mix salt with water and pour over cabbage and any "Other vegetables" in a large non-reactive vessel. Use a plate to keep the veggies submerged. (Mix additional brine if needed.) Let it sit at room temp all day or all night (~12 hours).

2. Drain the veggies, saving some brine if possible. You can taste for saltiness here -- if it isn't comfortably salty, sprinkle in a little more, if you feel it's way too salty, you can rinse them briefly. Mix with remaining ingredients.

3. Pack into a large jar (I usually use 1-3 quart jars because it's what I have), tamping it down until all the food is below the level of the liquid. If this is too difficult, you can add a bit of the brine to help. Weight it down with a smaller water-filled jar or a ziplock filled with brine, and cover with plastic wrap or whatever you'd like to keep the bugs away.

4. Keep in a temperate location (preferably no warmer than 68deg, but I've done 80 with good results) for 3 days to a week or more. Start tasting after 3 days and when it gets to where you like it, remove the weight and store in the fridge.

5. Questions? Wanna taste some? Ask me! I've got three quarts in my fridge right now. :)

All of these amounts can be adjusted to taste, of course, and I confess I don't measure much of anything. The results are just amazing, and of course it's also a super-healthy raw food. For me, it was also worth the expense of getting actual Korean pepper, which results in a lovely red color and a taste that is just right.