Kimchi

Napa Cabbage after sweating all night

Night before Coachella. The food is half bought and packed and everything is almost good to go. I am so excited I can barely sleep, and I probably shouldn't be writing this post right now but I need a break from all the Kimchi making.

I've been having a crazy few days getting everything ready. A few nights ago my folks came to visit and my mom brought me a HUGE BOX of napa cabbage. She's like, "Here I brought you some rabbit food." I laughed so hard. I'm not sure if all that cabbage is even good for the rabbits, but I'd been craving Kimchi lately so I was super stoked.

Too bad her timing was all off. With all the preparation I had to do for Coachella, I didn't really have time to be making Kimchi. But as the old Korean saying goes... "When your mom brings you cabbage you make Kimchi."

I ended up getting too much radish and stuff at the store and didn't have enough red pepper flakes to make the traditional Kimchi so I ended up making three different types: traditional, white, and a carrot & radish white kimchi.

I ended up tweeking two Kimchi recipes I got from "Discovering Korean Cuisine, Recipes from the Best Korean Restaurants in Los Angeles" by Dream Character, Inc.

Traditional Kimichi is called Poggi Kimchi. It's spicy, and a bit stinky at first but once the fermentation peaks it tastes like heaven. The second is Baek Kimchi or White Kimchi. The ingredients are similar, but white kimchi has a cleaner and sweeter flavor. It's eaten relatively fresh.

Baek Kimchi (left) and Poggi Kimchi (right)

Poggi Kimchi Ingredients:

1 napa cabbage
2 ounces mustard leaves, cut into 2-inch pieces (I used 3 cups of Japanese Red Giant Mustard Greens instead)
2 ounces watercress, cut into 2-inch pieces
2 ounces Korean chives, cut into 2-inch pieces (also known as Chinese chives)
2 scallions, roots trimmed and cut into 2-inch pieces
1 Korean diakon radish, julienned
1/2 cup course salt

Sauce (this is where all the magic happens):

3/4 cup red pepper powder
1/2 cup sweet rice paste (recipe at the bottom)
1/4 cup ground salted shrimp
1 tsp finely minced fresh ginger
1/4 cup minced garlic
2 tbsp fish sauce
1/4 cup granulated sugar (Used some raspberry wildflower honey instead)
1 tbsp salt
3 cups water
3 tbsp ground onion (1/4 of diced onion soaked in water overnight)

So Kimichi is a process. First the cabbage must be prepared. Quarter the thick root end of the cabbage half way and rip the cabbage the rest of the way. Wash it under running water. Put the cabbage in a large bowl and sprinkle the salt evenly over the cabbage leaves. Lift up the bigger leaves and sprinkle salt between the leaves. Leave it sitting overnight or 6-8hrs. Drain and wash each quarter of cabbage under running water 2-3 times and then put them in a colander to drain for about 30 minutes.

Prepare the sauce by combining all the sauce ingredients in a large bowl. Stir to mix together then add the mustard leaves, watercress, chives, radish, and scallioins to the sauce and mix well. Put one of the cabbage quarters in the bowl and spread the sauce mixture between each leaf and around the outside. It doesn't have to be too much, but so that every inch of the cabbage is covered. (Just like spreading jam on a piece of toast.) Repeat for the rest of the cabbage.

Put the stuffed cabbage into a clean dry jar with the cabbage facing upward to keep the ingredients within the cabbage. Make sure to fill up only 80% of the container to avoid any overflow when the kimchi goes through the fermenting process. Put all the cabbages and the rest of the sauce in the container and close the lid, but not too tightly.

I stick my Kimchi in the fridge so that it ferments slower, but my mother likes to leave it out for 2-3 days to start the fermentation process before placing it in the fridge.

Baek Kimchi:

1 napa cabbage
2 scallions, roots trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces, then shredded
1 Korean radish, julienned (3 cups)
2 ounces carrot, julienned (1 cup)
1 ounce Korean chives, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 ounce watercress, cut into 1-inch pieces
1/4 apple, seeded and julienned (optional)
5 chestnuts, peeled and julienned (optional)
1/2 cup coarse salt

Sauce:

2 teaspoons finely mnced fresh ginger
3 tablespoons minced garlic
3 tablespoons ground salted shrimp
4 teaspoons granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon artificial sweetener
2 teaspoons salt
1-2 cups water

The process is the same as Poggi Kimchi. I added a bit of julienned cucumbers to my baek kimchi to give it a fresher flavor. I also add a few more teaspoons of salt to the jars of the kimchi I know I won't be eating soon. This helps preserve it longer. According to my mother I shouldn't add as much sugar, and when I serve the kimchi I should pour a dash of seven up on the kimchi.

Sweet Rice Paste:

1/2 cup sweet rice flour
1 cup water

Start boiling the water. Using a whisk, stir in the rice flour slowly to prevent clumping. Bring the mixture to a boil over high heat and keep stirring it with the whisk. Once the mixture reaches the thickness of pancake batter, turn off the heat and allow it to cool at room temperature or comfortable on your skin.

So with all the left over green onions, carrots, radishes, etc I made a very simple carrot and diakon radish kimchi. I used a recipe from Doris and Jilly Cook's blog. It has no fish sauce in it and was very easy to make.

Carrot Daikon Kimchi

Approx. 1/2 lb. carrots, (cut into matchsticks using a mandoline)
Approx. 1/2 lb. daikon radish (cut into matchsticks using a mandoline)
3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1/2″ quarter ginger root, roughly chopped
1/4 red bell peppers cut into strips
Scallions, if you have them
4 1/2 T kosher salt
3 c. water

1) Dissolve the salt in the water to make a brine.

2) Combine all the vegetables in a quart-sized, wide-mouthed sterilized jar. You may think they won’t fit, but push. I pack my jars loosely so that everything will stay submerged in the jars

3) Pour the brine over the vegetables leaving an inch of space. Make sure everything is covered in the brine and close a lid loosely.

4) Put your jar on a saucer (to catch spillover) and let it ferment for 2 to 4 days, depending on your preference, in cool, dark place. You should start seeing bubbles (indicating fermentation) within 12 to 24 hours. Kimchis are happiest when fermenting at 50 to 60°F, but note that the cooler your room, the longer the fermentation will take. Stored in the refrigerator, this will keep at least a month, possibly much longer.

Carrot and Diakon Kimchi

Check out this purple diakon radish I found at the store. It was a lot milder, crispier, and sweeter than the conventional white type. I only wish there were more so I could have made my radish and carrot kimchi out of them.