Dill103: Quick Kimchi
I recently sent a friend and her fiancé home with a large take-out container of kimchi. This sour and spicy ferment is one of the easiest and quickest vegetable ferments that I’ve encountered. It’s the condiment to add to grilled meat or can be considered a full-on side dish.
The Tradition
Kimchi is a Korean ferment, now famous for the funky flavors imparted from fermented shrimp paste and fish sauce and bold red pepper spice. In history, known as Ji (지), Dihi (디히) or timchɑi (팀) — which literally means submerged vegetable — kimchi (김치) has appeared in documentation as early as 37 BC. Red pepper flake (gochugaru), which now feels synonymous with Kimchi, was introduced in19th century[1]. Before that, I can surmise that salt was used in abundance, but the vegetable flavors were sweet and mild.
Traditionally, Napa cabbage is halved or quartered and the brining mixture is delicately spread between each leaf. Because of the seasonal timing of Napa cabbage and daikon radish, kimchi was stored outdoors or partially submerged underground in earthenware onggi. Put away with the late summer and early fall harvest, Korean families would have access to fiber, nutrients and lactobacili through spring.
The Recipe
In tweaking other recipes I’ve found, my goal is to make kimchi more accessible by making it easier for Western chefs to find the ingredients they need and more simple to prepare.
Having sampled Korean kimchi, I am confident that this recipe will deliver an experience that honors the tradition as well as satisfies your itch for inexpensive kimchi (has anyone else noticed how freaking expensive store-bought kimchi is?!). With that, I beg the forgiveness of my Korean friends.
Ingredients
Veggies:
- 3 medium heads of Napa cabbage
- 1 tablespoon Kosher Salt* per 680 grams (or 1.5 lbs) of cabbage
- 1 cup daikon radish, cut into matchsticks
- 3 large carrots, cut into matchsticks
- 1/2 cup green onion, cut into matchsticks
Gochugaru Paste (eventually puréed):
- 1 cup water
- 1 tablespoon glutinous or “sweet” rice flour*
- 1 tablespoon sugar (optional)
- 1/4 cup garlic
- 1 tablespoon ginger root, peeled, cut into rough chunks
- 1/2 whole sweet onion, cut into rough chunks
- 1/4 cup fish sauce
- 1 cup red pepper flake (gochugaru)*
Supplies:
- Half-gallon wide-mouth jars* (optional)
- Airlock lids* (optional)
Directions
Preparing the cabbage and vegetables:
- Wash, trim and weigh the cabbage. Calculate and weigh out your kosher salt. It’s a tablespoon of salt for every 680 grams or 1.5 lbs. of cabbage.
- Slice the long heads of cabbage into 1–1.5 inch strips “hamburger style” — across the length, rather than along it.
- Pull the sliced pucks of cabbage apart and drop them into a large bowl (I use a large cooking pot), adding salt in layers. Your goal is to coat the cut cabbage in salt.
- Leave the salted cabbage aside, overnight is best.
- Slice the daikon radish, carrot and green onion and set aside until you’re ready to pull it all together.
To make the gochugaru paste:
- Add the glutinous or “sweet” rice flour and water to a small sauce pan. Heat this mixture on low until the flour is dissolved.
- The following ingredients can be puréed in a bowl with an emulsion blender or in a proper blender: sugar (optional), garlic, ginger root, onion, fish sauce, red pepper flake and rice flour / water mixture. Blend until smooth.
Pulling it all together:
- Mix the cooled gochugaru paste and other sliced vegetables into the soggy cabbage. Mix well. If you’d like to use your hands, I highly recommend nitrile gloves.
- Lastly, pack the mix into jars leaving quite a bit of headroom. Pack the solid vegetables such that they are covered with liquid. This salty brine will prevent any yuck (see disclaimer below) from growing on the surface of your kimchi.
- This ferment only needs to hang out on your counter for a couple of days. For this reason, I don’t think you need to invest in jars or airlock lids*. But, if you have them on hand, use ‘em! If you use any other type of container — I find that clean yogurt containers work well— be sure to leave your lids loose to vent air and fluid.
- After a few days, move your ferment to the fridge to keep indefinitely.
Pro Tips:
- It’s helpful if you can mix and smash the cabbage a few times as you let it sit — until liquid begins leaching from the leaves in earnest.
- Kimchi can be a vigorous ferment. That means it will bubble and spill out of your containers. For that reason, I recommend leaving an inch or two of headroom in your containers. You can also place your jars in a roasting pan or on a cookie sheet to catch any liquid.
- After dishing yourself a serving, use the back of your spoon or serving utensil to tamp down the veggies into the brine. Exposure to air is what makes kimchi taste stale and musty.
Resources
If you’re interested in learning more about fermentation, check out my first post: Dill101: Intro to Pickling.
If you’re looking for a more traditional recipe, I like this one by Maangchi (and love the videos): Traditional Napa Cabbage Kimchi.
Sources
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kimchi
Disclaimers
You are the arbiter of the safety of your food. Even under the best conditions, things can go wrong with your pickles or ferments. The best advice I ever received was that the “nose knows.” Fermentation is an acquired taste, but if it doesn’t smell like something you want to put in your face, don’t eat it.
I recommend visiting the resources at Cultures for Health or check out the scum appendix in Fermented Vegetables by Chris and Kirsten Shockey* for more information on ferments gone rogue.
*This site is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Though I earn a commission for any sale generated here, I will only recommend books I’ve read or products I’ve used in my kitchen.
