Mak Kimchi
Serves: 4
Irwin Berge
1 January 1970
Based on User reviews:
42
Spice
56
Sweetness
38
Sourness
41
mins
Prep time (avg)
4.7
Difficulty
Ingredients:
1 cup
Water4 tbsps
Kosher Salt2 tbsps
Sweet Rice Flour6 cloves
Garlic (peeled)1 large
Yellow Onion (roughly chopped)1 cup
Fish Sauce1 tbsp
Sugar (2 tbsps)Directions:
1
Brining: Slice the cabbage lengthwise into quarters
2
Cut out and discard the core
3
Cut each quarter crosswise into 2-inch pieces
4
Combine the water and salt in a large bowl and stir to dissolve
5
Add the cabbage and toss well to coat with brine
6
Leave for 4 hours, tossing every hour
7
Drain the cabbage well, then spread the cabbage out on a baking sheet and gently pat dry with paper towels
8
Pasting (optional): While the cabbage is brining, make the sweet rice flour paste
9
In a small saucepan, combine the rice flour with a cup of cold water and whisk vigorously to fully dissolve the flour
10
Gently heat to a simmer over medium-low heat, stirring frequently
11
(Be sure to scrape the bottom of the saucepan, as the rice flour has a tendency to settle there
12
) Simmer until the mixture thickens and becomes glossy and gelatinous, 2 to 3 minutes
13
Saucing: Pulse the garlic and ginger in a blender
14
Add the apple, onion, fish sauce, salted shrimp and sugar and puree until everything is well broken down--no need to overdo it
15
Empty the contents of the blender into a large bowl
16
(If you're using the rice paste, add it now and stir well, to fully incorporate
17
) Add the gochugaru to the bowl and mix well
18
This is the point at which things get messy
19
Suit up with a pair of clean latex gloves
20
(Dish gloves-well-washed, of course-will do perfectly well
21
) Add the scallion and carrot to the bowl and, with your gloved hands, work it all together to coat the vegetables with sauce
22
Do the same with the cabbage, gently massaging sauce into cabbage
23
Firmly pack the cabbage mixture into clean, quart-size mason jars, pressing as you go to remove any air pockets
24
Leave 1 inch of headroom in the jars to allow for expansion during fermentation
25
Press a small sheet of plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the cabbage and seal the jars tightly
26
Fermenting: Refrigerate the jars, set on a plate to catch leaks
27
In a week, the kimchi will be fresh, very lightly fermented and pretty darn tasty
28
In two weeks, as the fermentation really kicks into gear, the kimchi will ascend to a whole other plane of awesome
29
Kimchi keeps for months, getting increasingly pungent over time
30
Dig in and enjoy it every step of the way