Kim Chi recipe
Posted by: empalo <empalo@...>
Pat in texas
You will need:
2 Chinese cabbages
5-10 spring onions
Sea salt or other non-iodized salt, at least 100 g
4 heaped tablespoons (about 20 g) Korean chili powder
2-3 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tablespoonfuls sugar, any kind
Tablespoonful kimchi sauce
Small piece of ginger (5 g), crushed, or teaspoonful powdered ginger
Half an onion (optional)
So let's begin...
Sang Mi's classic kimchi recipe calls for two Chinese cabbages. (This is
kind of a stupid name for a Korean recipe, but that's what they're called.)
Rinse the cabbages, then quarter them lengthwise, discard the stems, and
then chop the cabbages laterally, which should leave you with the largest
pieces measuring perhaps 5 cm on a side. Don't get too carried away while
doing this.
Now that we have lots of little bits of cabbage, it's time to salt them.
Place the cabbage in a clean plastic bag or equivalent (with no holes) and
sprinkle salt over each layer. The best kind of salt is sea salt, although
non-iodized table salt will do. This will create a brine solution with the
cabbage juice.
To ensure the cabbage is properly salted, sprinkle salt onto your wet hands,
then rub it into the cabbage pieces. You can't use too much salt. Press the
leaves in your hand to squeeze as much water out of them as possible. Once
finished, tie up the bag and set it aside for 5-6 hours. Check it after
three hours to ensure that everything is all right, stirring the mixture if
necessary.
Take the cabbage out of the salt solution and rinse it if necessary. It
should be a lot softer than it was. Again, remove surplus water. Place
cabbage in a sealable plastic box. Add the spring onions, chopped into small
pieces. Crush the garlic and ginger in a press and mix in. You may also add
half an onion, finely diced, if you wish.
It is also recommended to add kimchi sauce. This is the only ingredient that
you can't buy at a supermarket. (You might prefer not to know what's in it.)
There are several different kinds, many of which contain fish or other
seafood such as oysters. You only need one tablespoonful - that's 15
milliliters. This bottle contains 500 ml. Even for kimchi addicts, that's a
lot of kimchi.
Add the chili powder. Unsurprisingly, the best chili powder for kimchi can
be found at a Korean grocery store, which has a bright red color. It is
possible to use other kinds of chili powder, or puréed chili peppers if this
is unavailable. If you use hot chili powder, you might want to reduce the
amount. Add two tablespoonfuls of sugar.
Mash the chili powder into the leaves as you did in much the same way with
the salt. If the color doesn't seem dark enough, add more chili powder. It's
a good idea to wear gloves while doing this. (Safety goggles optional.)
Koreans use special kimchi gloves.
This can be done as a cooperative effort. In fact, it's a smart idea if you
want to avoid carpal-tunnel syndrome. Squishing cabbage can be hard work.
You can make kimchi from many other vegetables. This batch of kakkdugi is
made of cubed white radish, prepared in the same way as cabbage kimchi.
Put the containers aside for three days. No snacking.
Finally the kimchi is ready. It should be soft in consistency, but not too
mushy, with a little crunchiness left in the larger pieces. You can eat it
as is, or use it in your favorite Korean recipes. If you don't have a
favorite Korean recipe, get one. Like I say, it makes a great stir fry.
Someone wrote in to tell me he puts it on hamburgers.
Remember this is only one person's recipe for kimchi, and there are many
more - try this excellent Korean kimchi site. You can add all sorts of
things to the mix. The most common additional ingredients include 50-100 g
of finely shredded salted fish, scallops, or oysters.