Everyday Easy Fermented
KIMCHI
This is the simplest and tastiest Kimchi recipe that we have found. It’s got an enjoyable heat and is not super-hot but you can make it spicier if you wish by adding some chopped chilli or Daikon Radish. Makes for a good family mix that everyone can eat and enjoy. If you can’t be bothered salting down the cabbage then often the Korean shops have already salted cabbage to buy. It’s also where I source the Korean Chilli Pepper Powder. You can substitute the Fish Sauce with Anchovy Sauce if you want a more dramatic punchier result.
Ingredients:
2 Chinese Cabbages
2 large bunches spring onions
3 large carrots peeled and thinly julienned
½ cup kosher, pink Himalayan or sea salt (only need this to salt your cabbage down and draw out the moisture)
½ cup Korean Chilli Powder (also called Korean Red Pepper Powder – use the coarse one)
12 cloves of garlic (we use the Chinese garlic)
10cm approx. of fresh ginger root peeled and rough chopped
1 Tablespoon Fish Sauce
4 Tablespoons Miso Paste
Unsweetened Pear or Apple Juice (if in season I just juice fresh pears or apple and use that- I prefer to use pear)
This recipe makes three to four 1 Litre jars (sometimes I get 3x large and 1 x 500ml jar depending on how big your cabbage was)
TO MAKE:
Cut the cabbage lengthways and in half again – cut out core. Pop in a large bowl with the carrots and 1/2cup of the salt. Massage so everything is coated in the salt so that it starts to soften and wilt. Fill with chlorine free cold water to cover mix and soak for about 2 hours. (if you bought pre-salted cabbage then you can skip this step and just add carrots to jars as they are)
Strain the liquid off the cabbage mix and give it a quick rinse. (if you bought presalted then wash the cabbage with fresh water to remove any salt or dirt)
Lob off the White bits of the spring onions (keep the green tops to one side) and put them in a food processor with the garlic cloves, ginger, miso paste and Korean pepper chilli powder. Blitz it on high till its smooth in texture. Add in the fish sauce and a couple of drizzles of the pear or apple juice and blitz some more until it looks like a pancake batter consistency or a bit thinner.
With your cabbage & carrots in a big glass or enamel bowl (important to use a non-reactive bowl) add the green parts of the spring onion that you have roughly chopped. Pour in the paste you have made and massage everything together to cover completely.
Have your clean 1Litre glass jars ready to pack into. Really cram the mixture into the jars and use a chopstick or your preserving stick to release any air bubbles down the sides by poking around carefully. Make sure to leave a little headroom at the top of the jar so it doesn’t bubble over when fermenting starts (if you need to add some more juice to it then use your pear or apple juice to top up – sometimes I will use a small stone on the top to hold it down but find that it’s not really necessary). Place on your GoodLife Fermentation Self Burping Lip and screw on the metal band tightly to hold in place.
Stand your finished jars in a rimmed baking dish or similar to catch any spill-over that may occur during the fermenting process. Let the jars sit at room temperature out of the sun on your kitchen bench for around 4 days (until the kimchi is bubbly and fragrant) – you should see it ‘self-burping’. Just keep an eye on the vege mix to make sure it is submerged under your brine. There should be no need to open the lid and I would avoid doing so. The lid is just allowing for the perfect environment to ferment everything and turn into yummy goodness.
Store on a rimmed tray in the fridge. I find that you can remove the tray after a week and add a screw on lid to store in the jar you made it in. The older this product gets the stronger it becomes – I usually can’t resist cracking open a jar of Kimchi after 3 weeks. It will be good to keep for about 6 months in the fridge.