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Super-simple kimchi
Apr. 6th, 2020 09:23 amEASY KIMCHI
I based this recipe on https://www.feastingathome.com/how-to-make-kimchi/ but have simplified it somewhat.
Ingredients:
It's really a very easy thing to make, and the resulting product is (at least, I think so) really tasty. It's also not precise at all. As long as you have enough salt in your brine and you have some sort of breathable-but-keeps-random-kitchen-inhabitants out for the fermentation jar, it's going to work, and don't worry about the proportions much.
DAY ONE
First, wash your hands.
Start with the head of cabbage. Peel off the outer two layers of leaves and discard; those are the ones that other shoppers have touched with their filthy COVID-19 hands. Peel off another layer and set those leaves aside (you will need them in a day or so, so a Ziploc bag in the fridge is a good idea).
Chop the cabbage into 3/4" or so chunks. The way I do it is this: cut the head in half. Cut out the solid core at the base. Then take each half, put it flat side down, and just slice it, on one pass vertically and on the other horizontally, with the cuts 3/4" or so apart. Then kinda bash at the stacks thus created to separate them out into individual leaves.
Take a big bowl, and add 1/4 to 1/2 cup of salt and two quarts of water. Stir until all the salt that's going to dissolve dissolves. Put the cabbage in the salt water, and then put a lid over it. It doesn't have to fit the bowl, just make sure that almost all the cabbage chunks are under the water.
Leave this on the counter overnight. At least 8 hours, as much as 24...or probably more. When I make it, this is Day One, and then I come back sometime the next day to continue.
DAY TWO
First, wash your hands.
Peel your garlic and ginger. I use a whole head of garlic and about six inches of ginger for a head of cabbage, but this makes for a very pungent kimchi. If you live with another human, or don't like garlic as much as I do, you might want to ease off the throttle a little. Once peeled, chop them coarsely--you're about to blend them so no point in going crazy here.
Put the chopped ginger and garlic in a blender or food processor, and add the chili flakes. 2 Tbsp is pretty mild, a whole 3/4 oz. package is fairly aggressive. You could also add fresh chilies or whatever here. Dip a little brine out of the cabbage bowl and put it in the blender so that everything will blend. 1/4 cup is probably enough.
If you want to add fish sauce or shrimp paste for a little funk and _umami_, this is the time to do it. It'll be fine if you don't; I like a couple tablespoons of fish sauce in it.
Blend it to a fairly smooth, pungent paste.
Drain the cabbage. Take your other bowl, put the colander in it, and strain out the cabbage into the colander. Once you've done that, press it to squeeze the brine out. Take the collected brine and pour it into the first bowl, and put the cabbage into the second bowl.
If you want to add any other things to the kimchi, this is the time to grate or chop them and put them in the second bowl. Carrots, radishes, celery, whatever. All totally optional, as much to make it look more interesting as to flavor it. "Nothing" works fine here too.
Add the paste to the cabbage (and other items if you added them) and toss it around, getting everything all coated.
Now, take the chili/ginger/garlic-covered cabbage and put it into the jars. When it's mostly full, pour enough brine in to cover the cabbage. You may need to shake the jar to let the brine get all the way through the cabbage. Once you have the cabbage submerged, put one of the saved cabbage leaves on top--this will keep the kimchi from floating up and not being submerged.
Now put the paper towel or cloth or whatever on top of the jar and secure it in place with a rubber band, so fermentation gases can get out and air can get in, but flies/dust/fingers can't get in. Set it on a counter or somewhere out of the way, and leave it there for three days (or more).
Now, wash your hands before you touch your eyes. Trust me on this one.
DAY FIVE
Put a lid on the jar and put it in the fridge. It's ready to eat at this point, but don't feel like you have to be in a hurry.
Kimchi keeps pretty much forever. If you have stuff on top that isn't fully submerged, it might get slimy or even moldy. If that happens, you don't have to throw away the whole container. Just fish out the nasty stuff and throw it away--everything that's still under the brine is fine. It is fairly unlikely, if you like kimchi, that you're going to have it long enough for that to happen.
I based this recipe on https://www.feastingathome.com/how-to-make-kimchi/ but have simplified it somewhat.
Ingredients:
- head of cabbage
- garlic (I use a head per head of cabbage, but that is a lot of garlic for most people)
- ginger (I use maybe a 6" piece for a head of cabbage; that's a lot of ginger too)
- chili flakes (use whatever; pizza-pepper red pepper works fine, or you can use something Asian. I use El Guapo Chile Queberado because it's cheap)
- And then optional stuff: carrots, radishes, fish sauce, shrimp paste--all things you can add to flavor or color the kimchi, but all totally optional and it will work fine without any of them
- Two large bowls
- Colander
- Jars or bottles (one head cabbage is going to make 3-4 quarts of kimchi)
- Paper towels/clean T-shirts/something that lets air but not much solid through
- Rubber bands, one per jar/bottle
- Vegetable peeler/paring knife
- Chef's knife
- Strainer or slotted spoon
- Blender or food processor, or a knife and a lot of patience
It's really a very easy thing to make, and the resulting product is (at least, I think so) really tasty. It's also not precise at all. As long as you have enough salt in your brine and you have some sort of breathable-but-keeps-random-kitchen-inhabitants out for the fermentation jar, it's going to work, and don't worry about the proportions much.
DAY ONE
First, wash your hands.
Start with the head of cabbage. Peel off the outer two layers of leaves and discard; those are the ones that other shoppers have touched with their filthy COVID-19 hands. Peel off another layer and set those leaves aside (you will need them in a day or so, so a Ziploc bag in the fridge is a good idea).
Chop the cabbage into 3/4" or so chunks. The way I do it is this: cut the head in half. Cut out the solid core at the base. Then take each half, put it flat side down, and just slice it, on one pass vertically and on the other horizontally, with the cuts 3/4" or so apart. Then kinda bash at the stacks thus created to separate them out into individual leaves.
Take a big bowl, and add 1/4 to 1/2 cup of salt and two quarts of water. Stir until all the salt that's going to dissolve dissolves. Put the cabbage in the salt water, and then put a lid over it. It doesn't have to fit the bowl, just make sure that almost all the cabbage chunks are under the water.
Leave this on the counter overnight. At least 8 hours, as much as 24...or probably more. When I make it, this is Day One, and then I come back sometime the next day to continue.
DAY TWO
First, wash your hands.
Peel your garlic and ginger. I use a whole head of garlic and about six inches of ginger for a head of cabbage, but this makes for a very pungent kimchi. If you live with another human, or don't like garlic as much as I do, you might want to ease off the throttle a little. Once peeled, chop them coarsely--you're about to blend them so no point in going crazy here.
Put the chopped ginger and garlic in a blender or food processor, and add the chili flakes. 2 Tbsp is pretty mild, a whole 3/4 oz. package is fairly aggressive. You could also add fresh chilies or whatever here. Dip a little brine out of the cabbage bowl and put it in the blender so that everything will blend. 1/4 cup is probably enough.
If you want to add fish sauce or shrimp paste for a little funk and _umami_, this is the time to do it. It'll be fine if you don't; I like a couple tablespoons of fish sauce in it.
Blend it to a fairly smooth, pungent paste.
Drain the cabbage. Take your other bowl, put the colander in it, and strain out the cabbage into the colander. Once you've done that, press it to squeeze the brine out. Take the collected brine and pour it into the first bowl, and put the cabbage into the second bowl.
If you want to add any other things to the kimchi, this is the time to grate or chop them and put them in the second bowl. Carrots, radishes, celery, whatever. All totally optional, as much to make it look more interesting as to flavor it. "Nothing" works fine here too.
Add the paste to the cabbage (and other items if you added them) and toss it around, getting everything all coated.
Now, take the chili/ginger/garlic-covered cabbage and put it into the jars. When it's mostly full, pour enough brine in to cover the cabbage. You may need to shake the jar to let the brine get all the way through the cabbage. Once you have the cabbage submerged, put one of the saved cabbage leaves on top--this will keep the kimchi from floating up and not being submerged.
Now put the paper towel or cloth or whatever on top of the jar and secure it in place with a rubber band, so fermentation gases can get out and air can get in, but flies/dust/fingers can't get in. Set it on a counter or somewhere out of the way, and leave it there for three days (or more).
Now, wash your hands before you touch your eyes. Trust me on this one.
DAY FIVE
Put a lid on the jar and put it in the fridge. It's ready to eat at this point, but don't feel like you have to be in a hurry.
Kimchi keeps pretty much forever. If you have stuff on top that isn't fully submerged, it might get slimy or even moldy. If that happens, you don't have to throw away the whole container. Just fish out the nasty stuff and throw it away--everything that's still under the brine is fine. It is fairly unlikely, if you like kimchi, that you're going to have it long enough for that to happen.
