made in MyKitchen | spicy cabbage kimchi
i usually buy my kimchi stock and other Korean food stuff from this Korean minimart in Sri Hartamas.. it’s right below Dao-Rae Korean BBQ Restaurant.. the owners make kimchi to sell in their shop (along with plain rice cakes, other types of banchan, etc) and the price is slightly cheaper than the other commercially packed kimchi which are also available..
however, when you count the cost of vegetables and ingredients used in making kimchi, it’s definitely much more worth it to make your own.. especially when you eat it regularly, like me, it really does seem silly to pay so much money for a small tub of kimchi when you can cut the cost by preparing it yourself, right in your own kitchen..
kimchi is a banchan, or side dish for most korean meals.. there are many, many types of kimchi made year round, depending on the seasons in Korea.. spicy, non-spicy, watery, with or without seafood in it, etc..
spicy cabbage kimchi is one of the most widely known kimchi in the Korean cuisine.. it’s spicy and usually made to be consumed during the colder months in Korea.. traditional cabbage kimchi or baechu kimchi is fermented whole in earthen pots, while the modern version is cut into bite size pieces and known as mat kimchi..
i found a recipe for spicy cabbage kimchi online, from koreanfood.about.com which i tried and found to be a keeper after a few batches of kimchi later.. the original recipe uses ripe apples and pears for sweeteners, but i later substituted those with honey instead.. personally, i prefer to use honey, as sometimes the apple or pear used are a little mild in taste..
for more kimchi and other Korean dishes recipes, mangchi.com is a website i like to visit as well.. the recipe below is meant for a small amount of kimchi.. i only make small batches of kimchi at a time since i’m the only one at home eating it, and hubs will only touch it if it’s added into a stew (kimchi chi gae) WITH meat.. you can double or triple the recipe if you wish to make more..
SPICY CABBAGE KIMCHI
Ingredients :
- ½ a chinese / napa cabbage
- 1 bunch spring onion, chopped
- ½ cup fine sea salt, placed in a bowl
- 1 tbsp garlic, finely minced
- 1 tbsp ginger, finely minced
- ¾ cup gochugaru / Korean red chilli flakes, mixed with some water to form a thick paste
- 1-2 tsp fish sauce
- 1-2 tbsp honey
Method :
- place cabbage in a flat tray. there’s no need to rinse the cabbage beforehand
- rub the insides of all the cabbage leaves with the salt. don’t use too much salt or it’ll end up too salty, just enough to spread evenly on each leaf (about ¼ teaspoon of salt per leaf will do, give or take. reduce amount for smaller leaves)
- once you’re done, place the cabbage cut side down in a deep tray
and cover it. set the cabbage aside to ‘sweat’ out its juices for about 4 hours
- after the 4 hours are up, prepare the marinade. in a bowl, mix the gochugaru paste, garlic, ginger, fish sauce and honey. taste as you mix. add more fish sauce or honey if preferred. (taste a small piece of cabbage to gauge the amount of fish sauce needed. the cabbage is already salted, so do exercise moderation, otherwise, you’ll end up with kimchi that’s too salty) set aside. #don’t even bother using any other types of chilli flakes other than the Korean one. the resulting kimchi won’t taste the same
- throw away the collected liquid in the tray holding the cabbage. the cabbage should look slumped in or wilted considerably
- rinse the cabbage 2-3 times in a basin or under running water
- once done, wring the cabbage dry like a wet cloth. the cabbage should feel rubbery at this point
- next, cut the cabbage into small pieces and place in a bowl with the chopped spring onion. you can use other vegetables too if you like, i.e sliced carrots, radishes, etc
- add in marinade mix
- using your hand (if possible, wear a plastic glove as the chilli mix can sting your skin), mix the cabbage, spring onion and marinade mix together
- finally, scoop the kimchi into a container, cover it and leave it in room temperature for about 24 hours to begin the fermentation process. after 24 hours, there should be clear liquid pockets and bubbles in between the kimchi pieces. this indicates the fermentation process is well underway. store the kimchi in a fridge to continue fermenting slowly. if you want sour kimchi fast, leave it out in room temperature for a few days up to a week, and then store it in the fridge
you can eat the fresh kimchi right away, with steamed white rice and other dishes.. kimchi tastes great with instant noodles too, believe it or not.. for dishes like kimchi fried rice (kimchi bokumbap) and kimchi stew (kimchi chigae), it’s best to use matured kimchi of at least a month old..
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
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