Korean Kimchi - The superfood? 150grams - 40 Calories

KIMCHI STEP-BY-STEP

If you ever eaten spicy tuna maki and you liked it, it's probably because of the kimchi that is used as an ingredient in that sushi.

Kimchi for me is like an addiction. Sometimes I wake up and I just know I must make it. Making your own kimchi requires some patience and planning, but the reward when that taste sensation hits your mouth is a BOOM.

In Korea, kimchi is a staple ingredient. I use it often to spice up foods like ramen. An easy and lazy dinner for me would me some fried chicken, rice, kimchi and some roasted seaweed.

If you want to spend more time, I suggest making the traditional bibimbap; spiced rice with assorted veggies
http://mykoreankitchen.com/2013/07/12/bibimbap-korean-mixed-rice-with-meat-and-assorted-vegetables/

bulgogi; marinated grilled beef in lettuce wraps: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/beef-bulgogi/

Sometimes I can’t help myself when I need that scorching heat and have kimchi all by itself. Yes, kimchi is on the Top 10 list of foods that are recommended as healthy by WHO, mostly cause of the probiotics.

I taught myself how to make kimchi by googling and watching vids on youtube. By the way I like really sour and spicy kimchi. So reduce the amount of spices if that’s an issue. You can easily cut this recipe in half, it stores in fridge for weeks. I’m a big kimchilover, so making a big bulk seldom makes more sense to me. I’m always a bit sad when I realize that I only got a tablespoon left.

Ingredients 7-8 liters
Time needed: 3-8 hours salt water soaking. 1 hour active preparing

3-4 Napa cabbage
1 bundle spring onion
2-3 Rettich/daikon roots, peeled
1,5 cup coarse sea salt

Sauce:
15-20 tbs of oyster fish sauce
1-2 fresh ginger pieces, peeled
6 Chinese cloveless garlic, peeled, root inside removed
8-10 tbs Korean red pepper powder
1 tbs brown sugar

Tools:
2 buckets or dishwashing bowls
Plastic gloves
Airtight containers/glass jars

Step 1:
Boil a big pot of 10 liter water or two smaller pots with 5 liters each. Stir in 1,5 cup of salt when boiling. Let cool a bit. Cut the cabbage into chopstick friendly pieces, not too small. Rinse well in strainer. Divide the cabbage into each bucket. Add the salty water into each container, half into each. Then add 2-3 liter of cold water into each. Taste the water, if it’s like tasting your blood, you got the right amount of salt. Let the cabbage rinse in salt water for minimum 3 hours, overnight or when at work.

Step 2:
Rinse the cabbage well in cold water. Now the cabbage has lost a lot of water and it's quite flabby in texture, but still got some spring in it when you try to squeeze it;) This gives that perfect crunch when you eat it later.

Step 3:
Prepare the vegetables. It's prettier if you julienne the daikon with knife, but it will take much longer time. I just coarsely grate the daikon in food processor and finely chop spring onion by hand. I use a lot of daikon, cause it’s the ingredient that make the kimchi taste fresh. If you fancy, you can vary with carrots and Pak Choi. Just remember Pak Choi is more fibrous, so you need to cut smaller pieces than the Napa.

Step 4:
Make the sauce. I’m a modern woman, I use blender for this. Put pepper powder, ginger, garlic, fish sauce and about 2 dl of water and blend. Divide the sauce into each bucket of cabbage. I like my kimchi very saucy, so I can use the sauce as a spice in other dishes, so I usually add even more water.
Tip: Wash the blender with soap and then rinse or soak in bottled lemon water after making kimchi. You really DON’T want garlic taste on your smoothie.

Step 5:
Time to get dirty. Put on the gloves and start working the sauce into the cabbage. It’s almost like kneading bread. Make sure every bit of cabbage has some sauce on it. Rinse your gloved hands and put the containers ready on the bench. Ladle some kimchi into the box and press down with ladle to prevent air bubbles. Repeat this until the container is about 80% full. Ladle some kimchi juice on top to cover cabbage. Clean off any spilt sauce along the rim of the container, if you’re gonna ferment indoors. Distribute leftover sauce. Close lids. Swipe underneath containers if greased. Wash and rinse the buckets where you salted the cabbage and pile the containers into them. If the lids burst during fermenting, the sauce will just grease the buckets, not your floors.

Let ferment for 3 days in room temperature. If you use containers that can’t be locked shut, check the boxes once a day. Press cabbage down if it’s too exposed to air inside the container. Shut them again. I can never hold myself and start cheating at day 2. If you like that sour, pickled taste, wait until day 3.The wait is over! Seal each container into it’s own plastic bag and store in fridge. The smell is pretty intense, and you don’t want the kimchi to ruin more delicate foods in your fridge.

Enjoy :happy:

I couldn't care less if it melts off pounds, cures cancer and does your taxes. It's salty fermented cabbage, which is three times nasty, plus, it stinks. No way in hell. There is no way to make cabbage remotely enjoyable, and as for fermenting it.... gaggggg........

Sorry, your personal opinion is incorrect

OMG! I love KIMCHI!!! SUPER LOVE THEM!!! - and sauerkraut too...

I just finished reading a book called The Microbiome Diet, which talks about both fermented foods and fiber and how crucial they are for feeding the good bacteria in your digestive system. Nearly all cultures (no pun intended) eat some type of fermented food. So much of what we typically eat feeds the bad bacteria (excess sugar and starch-- they thrive on those). Apparently (and I'm taking this doctor's word for it here) when the bad guys start overpowering the good guys, you get inflammation, leaky gut, bloating, lethargy, even diseases of different types.

I know lots of people on here like to scoff at the good foods/bad foods concept, because of course you can lose weight eating anything at all, but those of us who've come up against cancer and other health issues aren't just looking at weight loss.

As far as fermented foods, the doctor who wrote this book recommends a brand of sauerkraut and dill pickles called Bubbie's. They're one of the few brands that are actually fermented, and are totally delicious. Most grocery stores have them in the refrigerated section. Have been meaning to try some kim chi soon, too-- I think Trader Joe's sells it.

Thanks for the recipe!

Don't believe in super foods but yes kimchi is AWESOME!

I've made my own but it was no where near as good as the Asian grocers. And it is pretty cheap to buy anyway.

I was first introduced to it in Japan so I thought it was pronounced ki-mu-chi for ages :laugh: