What is Korea without Kimchi? It is a staple in many of their traditional dishes, it is so common to find it in all their meals as a side dish. It is usually made out of Napa cabbage, radish, some carrots and fused together with the red hot chili flake known as Gochugaru.
Here we learn the most basic kimchi, it is a great introduction to fermentation and a great dish to make for any meal. So get your jars out and clear out a shelf because your whole kitchen is going to smell like kimchi soon.
Ingredients
2 Napa Cabbages
1 Onion & Spring Onions
1 Cup of Garlic
1 Cup of Fish Sauce
20g of Gochugaru
2 Pears
Korean Raddish
4 Carrots
2tb of Glutinous Rice Flour
2tb of Sugar
Opt: Ginger
INGREDIENT PREP
Begin by slicing your Napa cabbage into about 2 Inch or bite size pieces.
In a LARGE BOWL throw in all your chopped up cabbage and Heavily season with salt. You want to bury these guys in salt. Then add water to cover up the cabbage. This helps draw out moisture from the cabbage allowing them to safely ferment.
Allow the mixture to sit for at least 2 hours. Till you have softened pieces of cabbage.
Peal and finely chop your carrots, pears and radish. You want them to be in thin sized match sticks. Roughly chop your spring onions.
In a pot add in 2tb of glutinous rice flour, 2 cups of water and 2 tb of brown sugar. Put it on medium heat and gently simmer till a thick paste forms. Set aside to cool.
In a blender add in 1 whole pealed and quartered onion, 1 cup of pealed garlic (yes its a lot but you will need it), a thumb sized piece of pealed ginger and 1 cup of fish sauce. Blend till well combined. Pour it out into a large bowl.
Add in about 1.5 cups of gochugaru if you want a medium spiced kimchi. Add more if you want it to be SUPA SPICY.
Combine well with your glutinous rice flour mixture till a bright red paste forms.
Combined the paste with your chopped carrots, radish, pears, spring onions and combine well. Now you have made kimchi paste.
Drain off all the salt water and give your cabbage a nice wash, rinsing all the salt away and squeezing it dry. Make sure to wash all the salt away if not it will be SUPER SALTY. You will have to repeat the washing at least twice.
Combine your washed cabbage with the kimchi paste and mix well. You want to coat every single piece of cabbage you have and make sure it is evenly coated. RECOMENDED to wear gloves when doing so as the chili may irritate your skin.
In jars start to bottle up your kimchi pushing it all the way to the bottom and making sure that there is no air. Gently cover making sure not to screw on the lid (If not you got yourself a Kimchi Bomb just waiting to blow)
Place your jars on a tray as they will leak during fermentation. Leave it to ferment in a cool dark place for however long you wish. Recommended 3-4 days for your regular kimchi experience.
MAKE SURE TO CHECK FOR MOLD AND DISCARD IF PRESENT.
Happy Cooking,
