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Making Kimchi


My kids love kimchi. I know it sounds strange but they love the crunchiness, saltiness and the sourness. Actually they are all crazy about everything sour. Sour green mangoes, green apple, saurkraut and overfermented kombucha.

I normally use this recipe by Maangchi, but the kids dont really like the spiciness.

So, I have been making a white kimchi now, without the chilli flakes.

Same recipe, just omitting the Chilli flakes and some of the funky stuff (like squid).

Ingredients

1 large chinese/napa cabbage (wombok)

salt

rice flour

sugar

water

5 cloves garlic, minced

1 tb ginger, minced

1/2 onion, chopped finely

1/4 c fish sauce

1/2 leek, julienned

4 green onions, julienned

1/2 carrot, julienned

3/4 c white radish/daikon, julienned.

Instructions

1. split the cabbage into quarters lengthwise, and then into 5cm chunks

2. In a large pot or sink, soak the cabbage peices in cold water. Drain. Return to pot/sink.

3. Sprinkle 1/2 cup of salt onto the cabbage and gently toss through. Leave mixture to drain for 1.5 hours, tossing every 30 mins or so.

4. Rinse the salted cabbage, 3 times in cold running water, to extract all the salt from the cabbage. Drain in a colander and set aside.

5. Time to make the sauce.

In a small pot, add 1 cup water to 1/4 cup rice flour. stir through and bring to a simmer, stirring. Once the mixture has thickened to a porridge consistency, turn off heat. Stir in 2 tbs sugar, and set aside to cool.

6. Making the kimchi paste:

Using a food processor, blend together fish sauce, garlic, ginger and onion with the cooled rice porridge.

7. In a very large mixing bowl, mix together the kimchi paste, julienned vegetables and the drained salted cabbage. I like to use gloves to do this but some silicone tongs and spatula will also do the trick.

8. In a clean airtight container, place the kimichi mixture in and seal. A large container with a snaplock lid works well.

9. Leave to ferment in a dry, dark place for 3-7 days or until your desired fermented taste. In Phuket weather, this can take 1-2 days, but in a cooler environment such as Sydney, it may take 5-7 days.

You may also eat this kimchi right away, "fresh", which is also delicious but it wont have the lactofermented goodness yet.

10. You know its fermenting when you see bubbles in the mixture and sourness developing.

What do I eat this with?

We love it with some grilled fish, such as salmon or mackeral, served with japanese brown rice and a miso soup chaser.

Fermented goodness.

Enjoy!

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