Cityplot recipes
Traditional Korean Kimchi
A tried and tested family recipe shared with us by Yeon Choi
Salted cabbage is prepared a day ahead for making kimchi which is traditionally an autumnal group activity.
Our very first kimchi workshop with Yeon Choi in Amsterdam
Ingredients
1 chinese cabbage
5cm block of long radish
2~3 stems of green onion
1 onion
½ cup sea salt
Sauce
3/4~1 cup Korean chili powder
½ cup fish sauce (skip or replace with light soy sauce if you are vegan)
¾ cup glutinous rice powder
1 ½ cup water
2~3 cloves garlic
2~3 cms ginger
1 T sugar
Preparation
1. Wash the cabbage and split it in half lengthwise. (Tip: Run the knife from the root part till 1/4 of the cabbage and spit the rest with your hands to prevent the vegetable crumbling.)
2. Use half of the salt to scatter though the cabbage leaves layer by layer. Lay the salted cabbage flat in a wide deep bowl. Melt the other half of salt in water and pour it in the bowl. Press it down with a plate or bowl. Shake it once in the middle to salt them equally.
3. After 5~6 hours, wash away the salt and drain.
Sauce
1. In a pot mix the rice powder in water and stir on low heat until thick. Cool it down.
2. Mix the rice porridge, fish sauce, chili powder, finely chopped garlic and ginger, sugar in a mixing bowl. (Tip: if you feel lazy you can always use the blender.)
3. Julienne the radish and onion, cut the spring onion in similar size and add to the sauce.
(Tip: if you let the mix rest for 30 minutes it will be easier to put together with the cabbage.)
Put together:
1. Lay the drained cabbage on the sauce mix.
2. Grab a hand full of sauce and place the sauce equally layer by layer though the leaves.
3. Take one of the biggest outside leaves and roll it around the body of the cabbage to make a nice cuddly form.
Storage
Koreans keep their kimchi in a glass, ceramic or stainless steel container. The smell of fish sauce combined with garlic is tough to remove and the color of the red chili will stain a plastic container. Also keep in mind while it ferments it will release gas so leave around 20% space on top of the jar. When you put the finished kimchi in the container put a bit of sauce both bottom and top of the kimchi.
To keep the kimchi from getting moldy, push it into the juice so the cabbage doesn’t peek out. Keep the jar with the lid closed loosely in a bowl for about 3 days unrefrigerated but in a cool dark spot. It will start bubbling over and will do this for about 5 days. After 2~3 days out of the fridge it will be fermented enough and you can transfer it to the fridge. If you keep it in the fridge it will slow down the fermenting process. You can continue to store it in a cool place instead of the fridge if you like very sour strong kimchi.
