Kimchi, Fermentation that you should eat every day
Kimchi is a Korean dish that is served with every meal. The eat “mounds” or rice for breakfast, lunch and dinner. You would think they would have an obesity issue in Korea but they do not. They serve Kimchi with every meal and it is believed that the fermentation helps to breakdown the Carbohydrates and help with assimilation and digestion. Fermentation is a key to a healthy gut -biome. The great thing about fermentation is that it is cheap to make and not very complicate. If you omit the spices you have a simple form of sauerkraut. Give this recipe a try and remember to serve it at least with one meal every day.
Kimchi
ferment 3 days or months
6Tbs sea salt
2 pounds Napa cabbage (1/2 to 1 head
1 Tbs rice flour (optional)
2-4 Tbs Korean Chili powder, gochugaru and /or fresh or dried chilies
1 bunch scallions or 1 onion or leek or a few shallots
3-4 cloves garlic
2 tbs fresh-grated ginger root
Coarsely chop the cabbage and place it in a bowl or pot along with any other vegetables you might wish to include, but not the spices
Mix a strong brine of about 4 cups water and salt. Stir well to thoroughly dissolve the salt. The brine should taste very salty. Think of seawater
Pour the brine over the vegetables. Firmly press the vegetables down with your hands a few time to get them submerged. If it seems like there’s not quite enough water to cover the vegetales, don’t worry, the salt will pull more water out of the vegetables and there will be plenty . Cover the vegetables with a plate, place a full jar or other weight on it and press firmly every few minutes until the vegetables are fully submerged. Leave the counter a few hours or overnight
Make a paste. This step is optional. It gives kimchi a red pasty saucy quality, but you can make great kimchi without it if you want to keep it simple. In a small saucepan, mix the rice flour with 1/2 cup of cold water. Stir thoroughly to dissolve the flour and break up clumps. Gently heat, stirring constantly to prevent burning. Keep stirring as the rice flour mix starts mix starts to cook and thicken. Cook for a few minutes until the mix achieves a gluey patiness, but remains thin enough to pour. If it seems too thick, add a little hot water and stir well. Once its cooled to body temperature (it will thicken a little more) mix this with the chili powder into a bright red paste, and then incorporate the rest of the spices described below.
Prepare the spices. Grate the ginger, chp the garlic and onion; remove the seeds from teh chilies. chop or crush, or throw them in whole. To make korean-style red pasty kimchi, use the korean-style chili powder. Kimchi can absorb a lot of spice. Experiment with quantities and don’t worry too much about them. Mix spices into a paste. If you wish add a small amount of fish sauce to the spice paste (not vegan), I omit this
Drain the water off the vegetables. Really let them drain, and even press them lightly to force water out. Taste the vegetables for saltiness. That initial salting mosley pulls water out of the vegetables, but not much of it absorbs into them. If you cannot taste salt, add 1-2 tsp salt to the spice paste. In the unlikely event that the vegetables are too salty, rinse them.
Mix the vegetables with the spice pate. Mix everything together well.
Pack the kimchin into a jar. Use a clean liter jar. Pack it tightly into the jar pressing down until paste or liquid rises to cover the vegetables. Fill the jar almost all the way to the top, leaving a little space for expansion. If there is extra spiced vegetable mix, use it to fill a smaller jar. Press down repeatedly to get the vegetables fully submerged. Screw the top on the jar
Ferment in a visible spot on the kitchen counter. Be sure to loosen the top to relieve pressure each day for the first few days.Use clean fingers to push the vegetables back under the brine, and taste after a few days. Once it tastes ripe to you, move it to the refrigerator. Or if you have a cellar of other cool spot, ferment kimchi more slowly and for much longer.