Basic Fermented Kimchi
My kimchi recipe is basic, as there are many variations of kimchi in the different regions of its origin birthplace Korea.
Equipment
- Ceramic Fermenting Crock
Ingredients
Salt Water
- 1 cup salt
- ½ gallon water
Base
- 2 heads Napa cabbage cut into quarters
- 1 Asian radish peeled and grated
Paste
- 1 bulb garlic cloves separated and peeled
- 3 tbsp fresh ginger root grated or cut into ¼ inch lengths
- ¼ cup fish sauce
- ½ cup Chili powder or dry California chili cut into ½" pieces
- 1-2 onion(s) chopped
Vegetables
- 1 Asian pear grated or cut into sticks
- 1 bunch mustard greens cut into 2" length
- 1-2 carrots
- 1 bunch green onions cut into 1" length
Misc
- 1 tsp sugar
- sesame oil or sesame seeds
Instructions
- Dissolve 1-cup salt in ó gallon water. Soak the Asian radish and cabbage in the salt water for 6 hours or overnight.
- After soaking, or the next day, drain the cabbage and the radish but retain some of the salty water. Leave a one cabbage leaf as a whole (not cut).
- Combine garlic, ginger, fish sauce, chili and onion in food processor, blend until finely minced into a paste.
- Cut cabbage into pieces of 1 ó “ and radish into 2” length of narrow sticks. Cut carrots and Asian pear into the same size sticks.
- In large bowl, combine, green onion, mustard greens, Asian pear, carrots 1 tablespoon salt and sugar and toss gently.
- Add to the bowl the cabbage and radish.
- Add the ginger-chili-garlic paste with and mix together.
- Pack it tightly into the ceramic vessel and use one Napa leaf to wrap the mixture on top. Add a little bit of salty water on top.
- Close the lid on top of vessel, and add water in the trough, add water if trough gets dry. Ferement for 5 days or more.
- Take kimchi out of vessel
- Pack into jars and store
Notes
This recipe uses Ceramic Fermenting Crocks made by Inferment.