kimchi
I was not expecting kimchi to be my favorite ferment so far. I love my herbal krauts and can be sensitive to spicy food, so it was never my go-to.I found the brands from the stores to be too spicy for my palate as well. The following recipe (from Summer Bock) goes a little light on the chili and allows the ginger to shine through. I have been eating a small amount every day and this is the first time in a few years that I have stayed healthy and resilient when around others who are sick. I am also feeling more energy and mental clarity overall.I don’t think I will ever go without home-fermented kimchi again.
I made 2 batches of kimchi. I used Napa cabbage for the first batch and since I had extra green cabbage from my CSA, I made another batch with it. Both are delicious, but I do favor the texture of the Napa cabbage.
Ingredients:
1 large Napa Cabbage (725 grams)
1 Daikon radish (209 grams)
1/2 Carrot (80 grams)
1 Onion (261 grams)
3 cloves Garlic (16 grams)
½ bunch Green Onion (43.5 grams)
2 Ginger toes (26 grams)
Chili Flakes (2 grams)
Himalayan pink salt (20 grams)
Yield: 1 quart and 1 pint
Notes:
I was so excited to see purple daikon radish at the grocery store, so I could not resist using a little of both in this recipe. I sliced the daikon, cut the carrots into sticks, the green onion into 1-inch pieces and coarsely chopped the cabbage. That was gently tossed with 1/2 the salt. The remaining salt was added into the blender with the remaining ingredients and pureed to make the brine. I ended up making 1 quart and 1 pint. After it fermented for 5 days, I put the larger jar in the fridge and kept the smaller jar fermenting on the counter, pulling 1-2 fork fills from it every day. At the 3-week point, I decided to taste compare the two batches and found the jar that fermented for 3 weeks was even more delicious and sour but with more complex flavors. I enjoyed the experience of being able to slowly graze and adapt with the ferment as it continued to change over those 3 weeks.
Date Prepared: August 27, 2017
Date Harvested: September 1, 2017
Length of Ferment: 5 days
The second batch of kimchi was made similarly but with green cabbage and only white daikon radish.
Date Prepared: September 17, 2017
Date Harvested: September 24, 2017
Length of Ferment: 7 days
Modifications/Troubleshooting:
None.
What Would I Do/Try Differently Next Time:
Make larger batches as I will attempt to test the theory that there is no such thing as too much kimchi, especially when you can hand it out to family and friends. This recipe is basically perfect for my palate and AMAZING!!
Chopped/sliced cabbage, carrots, daikon and green onions tossed with a brine paste made by pureeing salt, onion, garlic, ginger and chili flakes.
Ready to be packed…
I used a pickle pipe air lock and a pebble rock to weigh down the smaller jar and a water air lock and a pint-sized mason jar as a weight for the quart sized jar.
Delicious kimchi….4 days into ferment but I decided to take it a little longer.
Kimchi batch 2.
I doubled up on this batch and made a 1/2 gallon and quart sized jar using water air locks. I used whole cabbage leaves to cover with 2 pebble rocks as weights for the quart sized jar and a small jar to weigh down the 1/2 gallon.
Having love for kimchi before tossing it all together.
The kimchi in the picture has been fermenting for 7 days. I gifted the quart sized jar and kept the larger one for myself.
I made 3 more gallons for holiday gifts to keep my family, friends and colleagues healthy this season.
