Kimchi is a fermented Korean dish that is really good for you, super simple to do and incredibly yummy. Add into the mix that it’s packed full of good yeasts and bacteria, making it a really healthy probiotic dish, that helps balance the flora of the gut means there’s no excuse not to get your kimchi on!
There are many different recipes for making up kimchi, but here is my favourite:
Ingredients:
- 1/2 head of white cabbage
- 2 carrots (parsnips also work well)
- small bag of red radish
- 1 small celeriac (optional)
- 1 small yellow onion
- 2 inch square of fresh ginger
- 4 cloves garlic (optional)
- 1 teaspoon dried chilli flakes
- 1 tablespoon of salt
- 1/4 to 1/2 cup of filtered water or sauerkraut juice
- one large or two smaller jars
Directions:
- Using the shredding/grating function on your food processor, or using a hand grater, grate all the vegetables.
- Place all but the water into a large bowl and massage the salt thoroughly through the vegetables.
- Using either a kraut pounder or the end of a rolling pin, pound down the vegetables until the juices are released, this should take around 10/15 mins.
- Put the vegetable mixture into your chosen jar(s).
- If the brine mixture from the vegetables does not completely cover the vegetables then top up with water until it does.
- Add a couple of cabbage leaves to the top of your vegetable mixture and weigh down with a stone (making sure to boil it first) or a kitchen weight, make sure everything is just under the water/brine level, so that it does not go mouldy.
- Put the lid on the kimchi and place in a cupboard for a minimum of 2 weeks, preferably more like a month. The longer you leave it the better, but if you leave it longer than 6 weeks you will need to ‘burp’ the jar (open it to let the pressure out). It will taste stronger the longer you leave it.
- Once opened, leave in the refrigerator and add to the side of just about any hot or cold dish for a super-charged meal.
Note: You can use just about any vegetables in this recipe, so it’s a great way to use up veggies! Waste not, want not! =)
Now go get your Kimchi on! =)
This sounds really good would like to add beansprouts and peppers to it would these be okay to add do you think?
Yes by all means, you can pretty much add anything. You also might find it easier to get your hands in the kraut and squeeze it to produce the brine rather than pound it. It’s actually easier and quicker and is something I now do all the time as pounding can be hard work.
Good I would imagine it being quite therapeutic too doing it by hand. I think I may try this recipe before the sauerkraut one as I got some yesterday that should last me till this is ready. Thankyou.
Yes it is rather. Win win! =)
When first made do you leave the clips on the lids of the jars open so the gas can escape I have heard that you shouldn’t seal them fully whilst fermenting as they could explode is that true? Must admit am a bit nervous to get it right don’t want to poison anyone:O
Yes you need to seal them otherwise you’ll likely get mold in the jars. What you need to do it burp them after about a week. By this a mean you open the jars to let the gas escape and this way they won’t explode. You may need to repeat this after another week or two depending on how gases your mix is. I find it you fill the glass up very high you need to burp more often and also if you do not squeeze the juice from the veggies enough this can make the mix gases also. Hope this helps. PS – You won’t poison anyone, you are more likely to get mold than anything else sinister. Good luck.
Thankyou that’s great 🙂