Easy Kimchi

Prep time: 1 hour                                Fermentation time: 3-7 days                     Add to MyFitnessPal

Ever wonder what goes into that sour, sweet, hot, salty, umami bomb known as kimchi? You look into the jar at the grocery store and see red, orange, yellow cabbage, carrots, maybe a bok choi or two and think, how do they make that stuff? And why is it so disgusting/amazing? And if you can buy it in the store, why on earth would you bother making it? And why does it get eaten so much in the hottest part of the summer.

Hot, yet strangely cooling. It looks a little funky, but there' no better condiment on the planet

I know, I know, fermented foods are kind of polarizing. You either love them, hate them, or are too scared to try them. But get this, not only are they tasty, but the National Institutes of Health recently published several studies in which they concluded that Kimchi has the benefits of being "anticancer, antiobesity, antoconstipation, colorectal health promoting, probiotic, cholesterol reducing, fibrolytic, antioxidative, antiaging, brain health promoting, immune system promoting, and skin health promoting." In short, forget everything you've heard about goji and acai berries, kimchi is the ultimate superfood! Not only does it have the lactofermentation benefits, but the each of the main ingredients carries its own suite of incredible nutrient. Too bad a lot of the storebought stuff has been pasturized and cut the benefits, according to the folks over at Livestrong, in half.

As for eating Kimchi in the summertime - it turns out that spicy fermented foods stimulate a cooling homeostatic response in the body, leaving you feeling (and actually) significantly cooler after you've eaten it.

Oh, and it tastes pretty darned good too :). I'll be posting a kimchi soup recipe here in the next few weeks, and it's indispensable on Bibimbop. Can you tell I love the stuff?

Ingredients:
Napa cabbage - 3 lb
Carrots - 1/2 lb
Daikon Radish - 12/ lb
Garlic, minced - 1.5 Tbsp
Ginger, peeled and minced - 1/4 cup
Fish sauce - 1/3 cup
Gochujang - 2 Tbsp
Sambal Oelek (chili sauce) - 4 Tbsp
Sugar - 1.5 Tbsp
Water - as needed
Rice vinegar, unseasoned - as needed

Preparation:
First, prep your cabbage. Begin by peeling away the outer leaves, anything that looks ragged or wilted, feed these to your chickens or toss in the compost - you don't want to waste jar space on these.

Then cut the cabbage in half, lengthwise before halving each half to yield 'hotdog' quarters.

Then slice across all four quarters to remove the bottom fifth and the hard core.

You can toss those bottom portions to the worms, you won't be using them. Now get out a large bowl or flat-bottomed dish and sprinkle with about 1 Tbsp of salt, you want an even layer. Over the top of this, spread one layer of cabbage leaves, broken up as you prefer - I tend to leave mine anywhere between 3X3 and 5X5. Sprinkle this layer with salt, then another layer of leaves, then salt, then leaves, and so on until you finally top the last of your leaves with salt.

Step 1

Step 2



If you come across any nascent bolting near the core, toss the buds, they're bitter

Done

Be sure to cover when your done to keep any unwanted protein from entering your Kimchi

Once you've got your cabbage stacked and salting, leave it, covered, for about 2 hours. This draws out some of the moisture and bitterness from the cabbage and leaves your final kimchi crisp and sweet! Maybe 5 minutes before your two hours of salting is up, it's time to make up some sauce and prepare the rest of the veggies for your kimchi.

Cut the daikon, carrots, or other desired vegetables into matchsticks - this size will help account for the otherwise overbearing sweetness of these foods in the final product. Don't believe me that large chunks will leave these pieces too sweet? Try it, I dare you, then you'll have to start all over. Now set these matchsticks aside.

In a small bowl, combine the ginger, garlic, gochujang, fish sauce, sambal oelek, and sugar into a thin paste. Depending on the brand of sambal and gochujang you use (or if you're super fancy and use rice flour and gochugaru instead), you might get a different color. And don't worry about the sugar, it's to help the fermentation and will be all digested by the yeasty beasties long before you eat any.

THIS is the good stuff. And it's good for you, go figure

 In a large mixing bowl, combine all of the vegetables and your pepper paste. This is easier if you use your hands, but if you do WEAR GLOVES. The final product will be only mildly spicy, but the paste on its lonesome is way to hot for your tender mitts at this point.

Notice, not a whole lot of paste compared to veggies

Barbecue gloves are perfect for taking the heat - whatever the kind

Fully mixed

 Once you've thoroughly mixed your kimchi, pack it into a jar/jars. You want glass, don't use plastic or metal or your kimchi will taste funky as the acid produced reacts with the container. This recipe almost perfectly fills a half-gallon jar. Notice in the photo below that the cabbage mixture is about 1/2 inch above the level of the fluid.

Nearly done with the prep

Once you've got everything packed away, fill your container with unseasoned rice vinegar to cover all vegetables. Submersion is key to the fermentation process and the vinegar itself is antibacterial (excepting lacto-bacteria, the good stuff) and anti-mold.

Bail top jar - perfection

Cover and store in a warm spot for 3-7 days, depending on your climate and taste.If you can get a container/jar with a bail top, it will make the whole process a lot easier and guarantee that you won't have any explosions on your hands. Be sure to vent your jar twice a day or so to prevent excess build up of gas. You'll notice bubbles forming - these are desirable. If you can find a bail top jar or bottle, use that as it's both a great safeguard against exploding jars if you forget to vent and it makes the entire process cleaner and easier to manage.

Periodically taste your kimchi - use a clean spoon to ladel out just a smidgeon of the fluid and, if you must, a bit of cabbage. Once it reaches your desired sourness/mellowed heat, cover and pop into the fridge. This will slow down the fermentation and help lock in flavors. You'll still need to vent every so often, but you're set at this point.

Enjoy! It's not the prettiest cake in the box, but it's delightful on the tongue.

Nutrition (per 1/4 cup):
Calories: 16
Fat: 0g
Carbs: 1 g
Protein: 1/2 g
Sodium: 122mg