Iam a Bohemian girl, through and through. My ancestors came from theCzech/Slovakia area and traveled to Ellis Island long before my time tosow their roots in the wonderful United States. They came from a placecalled “Paa Town”, so when they arrived here in the US and were asked asurname, they removed town and went with Paa. I sure do get a lot ofquestions about my last name….it is very unique. If I get married someday, my plan is to change my middle name to Paa so I am able to carry itwith me forever. I grew up in New Ulm, a small, full fledged Germantown along the Minnesota River in southern Minnesota. It surely is abeautiful place that is packed with history – Hermann the German, The Glockenspiel, Faschinand Schell’s Brewerythe second oldest family run brewery in the United States! As a littlegirl you could often find me wearing a drindl and requesting just aplate of sauerkraut for dinner, maybe a couple of my grandma’s pillowysoft potato dumplings as well. I am still in love with sauerkraut as anadult and recently made my own through lacto-fermentation for the firsttime. It is so yummy and full of probiotics! I even find myself eatingit for breakfast some days.
My adventures in fermenting have not stopped there. With all thebeautiful cabbages and asian vegetables overflowing at the farmer’smarket, I decided I wanted to try and make kimchi. Kimchi is a theKorean version of sauerkraut, a very spicy condiment with a basic baseof cabbage, garlic, salt, peppers. It is loaded with vitamins A, B, andC, along with healthy bacteria (lactobacilli). I looked through severaldifferent versions online before I began, and even asked a few of theAsian vendors at the market for some tips. I found this websiteto have an excellent video on the process of making kimchi! Once I feltlike I had enough knowledge to create my own kimchi, I gathered all theveggies and the madness began!
Here is the step-by-step recipe for homemade kimchi:
1. I gathered about 6 1/2 lbs. of napa cabbage and one large daikonradish. Core the napa cabbage just like a regular cabbage. Cut in halflengthwise, then in half again so you have four quarters, then removethe core from the bottom of each quarter. This picture is the napacabbage chopped into about 1 to 1 1/2 in pieces and the daikon radishjulienned. As you can see, kimchi has a much chunkier texture comparedto sauerkraut.
2. Place into large bowl that you will have enough room to cover withbrine and submerge the mixture. Dissolve 4-5 tablespoons of sea saltinto about 10 cups of filtered water to create your brine. Pour over cabbage and daikon, then press down with plate that barely fits insidecontainer so that brine rises above mixture. I used a heavy pot filledwith water to keep the plate in place and the mixture fully covered.
3. Let this rest for about 8-12 hours. In the meantime, I julienned 5carrots and 1 green pepper and thinly sliced 2 leeks including greenparts.
4. To make the paste above I pureed the following in a food processor:
-4 cloves of garlic -3/4 tablespoon of dried, ground alpeppo pepper -1 1/2 tablespoons of freshly grated ginger -1 tablespoon sugar -2 tablespoons gluten-free soy sauce or tamari (which is naturally gf) -1/4 cup filtered water
5. Once I had let the cabbage/daikon mixture rest in brine for about12 hours I drained all of the brine off into a separate container tokeep in case I needed a little extra after packing the jars. Then Isqueezed all of the brine out of the mixture. To this I added theadditional veggies that I had chopped.
6. Then for the fun part – I poured the paste on top of the mixtureand thoroughly worked it in, coating every inch of it! It is a good ideato wear rubber gloves for this part because of the strength of thepeppers.
7. Finally tightly pack into a crock or glass jars (I like to use THESE) so the brine risesabove the top of the kimchi and put cover on. If you are not gettingenough brine from pressing the kimchi down, feel free to add some of thebrine you drained off.
8. Let ferment on the counter for about 1-2 days, (if roomtemperature is around 70 degrees F), depending on how you like it totaste. Some people put it in the refrigerator right away because theylike a milder version, however you will not get any of the probioticcomponents by doing this. I taste mine every 12 hours or so to make sureI like how it is coming along. Be careful when opening the jar thoughbecause the live bacteria will cause lots of bubbles and fizz!
9. Once the kimchi meets your taste standards, place in refrigerator,where it will last 4-6 months and continue to slowly ferment.
Kimchi is great as a small side dish or condiment on a tasty burger. Need other inspirations to how to use it? Check out these kimchi recipes,everything from kimchi pancakes to fried rice. The nicething about this recipe is you can really adapt it to include whateveryour favorite Asian veggies are and modify the spice level to yourliking. The only things that are a must are having the right cabbage andat least one root vegetable in the mixture. Let your creative juicesflow!
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Good quality gochugaru makes a big difference in kimchi. In addition to gochugaru (고추가루, Korean red chili pepper flakes), garlic and ginger, kimchi recipes typically call for various jeotgal (젓갈, salted seafood) for the distinct pungency and depth of flavors and to aid the fermentation process.
The use of bold seasonings like gochugaru and, in some regions, salted seafood, offer additional layers of complexity to the overall taste of the kimchi.
Many kimchi recipes call for a two-step brine: First, a short dry brine in which you rub the vegetables with salt to help break down, soften, and open them up. This makes them more amenable to soaking in flavors during the second stage — a long wet brine in a solution that's roughly as salty as seawater.
Kimchi is traditionally made with napa cabbage, but there's nothing to stop you from using another cabbage! Napa cabbage, Chinese cabbage, green cabbage, savoy cabbage, white cabbage, red cabbage, and bok choy (we could go on and on) are all part of the very large cruciferous family (Brassicaceae).
Ferment! Option 1: Kimchi may be placed in refrigerator so it ferments slowly over 3 to 4 days. This may be preferred, especially during hot weather. Option 2: Place sealed container in a well-ventilated location (may become pungent), with a relatively constant room temperature, around 68° F is ideal.
So long as the surface of the kimchi isn't allowed to dry out and grow mold, kimchi does not go bad. In fact, I've aged my own homemade kimchi for two years and it only got better and better.
However, there were a couple of downsides to eating too much kimchi, her team added. First, the popular side dish contains a lot of salt, which is never great for health. Secondly, beyond the one-to-three servings per day that did show a benefit, eating more kimchi was linked with obesity overall, the study found.
Why is the kimchi so sour tasting? Kimchi will always have a high level of acidity. This is caused by gut-healthy bacteria in the kimchi, which create acid during their lifetime, lowering the pH of the kimchi and preserving it naturally. If the kimchi was not acidic (read: sour) it would go bad!
It will continue to ferment at a cool temperature. If kimchi over-ferments, it will have a very vinegary odor and taste. It is not pleasant to eat raw, so it is often used for soups and stews. If any fermentation gets soft and slimy, then it is a sign of spoilage.
Rice flour and water - These two ingredients are cooked into paste that makes the marinade stickier so that the marinade can adhere to the napa cabbage. You can use either regular rice flour (red bag) or glutinous rice flour (green bag). Gochugaru - Also known as Korean red pepper flakes.
You'll start by making a kind of porridge to serve as a base for the kimchi paste — I think of it as serving a roux-like purpose. It's made from water and sweet rice flour (also known as mochiko flour, the same kind used to make butter mochi), and helps distribute the flavor evenly across all the leaves.
Ingredients like green onions, Chinese leeks, onions, pine nuts, gingko nuts and sugar and fish sauce made from shrimps, oysters, Alaskan pollack, squid, flounder, or yellow corvine are also added in variable amounts as seasoning ingredients (Cheigh & Park, 1994).
Thanks to the fermentation, kimchi is a living food! It is filled with good lactic acid bacteria (probiotics). Moreover, fermentation reduces the carbohydrates found in vegetables, making kimchi low in sugar and calories. No wonder Health Magazine voted it one of the 5 healthiest foods in the world!
Basic ingredients for kimchi: napa cabbage, radish, carrot, salt, garlic, fish sauce, chili powder and scallions. A sticky, glutinous paste of rice flour is also needed to make the seasoning of the kimchi. Salted napa cabbage before making kimchi.
Is it vegan? Traditionally, kimchi is not vegan. This is because it is typically seasoned and fermented in a seafood paste to deepen the flavour. This means that lots of kimchi bought that is made by Korean brands are not vegan-friendly.
Introduction: My name is Nathanael Baumbach, I am a fantastic, nice, victorious, brave, healthy, cute, glorious person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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