Kimchi

Kimchi Recipe - 김치 (spicy fermented napa cabbage) by Kkoching

Ingredients (for approx. 2.5 liters of kimchi):

2 whole napa cabbages

5 tablespoons coarse salt

1½ tablespoons of rice flour

3 tablespoons brown sugar

½ white onion

8 cloves of garlic

a small piece of fresh ginger

3 tablespoons of fish sauce

4 tablespoons of Gochugaru

1 medium carrot

⅓ of a daikon

1 green onion

1 bunch of chives

300 ml of water

Method

1. Score the two napa cabbages lengthwise, only halfway through, starting at the root. Separate them by pulling them apart with your hands. Score them again and separate them by hand once more, resulting in 8 pieces of cabbage.
2. Rinse the cabbages under running water and let them drain for 30 minutes.
3. Sprinkle the cabbage leaves with coarse salt, especially near the base, between the leaves.
4. Place the salted cabbages in a container and put a weight on top. Leave them to salt for 2 hours, turning them over every 30 minutes to ensure even salting.
5. To check whether the cabbage is ready, try folding the white part of a leaf in half: if it bends without breaking in half, the cabbage is ready.
6. Rinse the cabbages thoroughly under plenty of running water to remove all the excess salt, and let them drain for 30 minutes.
7. Cut the carrot and daikon into julienne strips and finely chop the green onion and chives. Set aside.
8. Dissolve the rice flour in a saucepan with the cold water. Heat over high heat, stirring well to prevent it from sticking and to avoid lumps.
9. Once it comes to a boil, add the brown sugar and continue stirring until the porridge becomes translucent. Turn off the heat and leave it to cool.
10. In a blender, combine the onion, garlic, ginger, and fish sauce. Blend until smooth.
11. Add the chili powder, cooled rice flour porridge, and chopped vegetables (carrot, daikon, green onion, and chives) to the mixture.
12. Wearing gloves, spread this mixture over the cabbage leaves, paying particular attention to the inner parts of the leaves.
13. Fold each quarter of cabbage in half over itself and place it in an airtight container, preferably glass. Press the cabbage quarters firmly into the container to remove all the air bubbles.
14. Leave the cabbage to ferment at room temperature for at least 24 hours (in winter, let it ferment for at least 48 hours).
15. The napa cabbage kimchi is ready when pressing the surface with a spoon creates bubbles and releases a lot of liquid.
16. Once fermentation at room temperature is complete, store the kimchi in the refrigerator.