Korean Kimchi

About:
Kimchi globally has become one of the most popular kinds of fermented foods and it originally comes from Korea. It has its roots dating back to the Goryeo Kingdom in 918 AD. A study from the World Institute of Kimchi found that Koreans eat on average 25 kg of kimchi annually. There are officially 200 documented types of kimchi. The red pepper used in traditional kimchi recipes is good for your body as it contains vitamin A and C. In addition eating fermented food is a great way to get vitamin B3, B6 and B9 which otherwise can be tricky if you don’t eat meat or dairy. Interestingly the red pepper powder causes a slower fermentation process but still ends up the same flavourful and nourishing components.

Ingridients:

• Napa Cabbage
• White Onion
• Spring Onions
• Carrots
• Garlic
• Ginger
• Red Pepper Powder
• Salt

Method:

Begin by chopping the napa cabbage into pieces and transfer to a salt brine of roughly 15% weight of the cabbage. That’s a generous amount of salt! You could use a glass mason jar or bowl to submerge the cabbage in. Allow it to sit for 3-5 hours turning occaionally to make sure it’s all mixed well with the salt brine. This process will allow the cabbage to absorb the salt and wilt. In the meantime you can chop the other vegetables into pieces. The white onion and spring onions are best finely chopped. The garlic and ginger should also be finely chopped to maximise flavour infusion. Kimchi typically uses a red pepper powder consiting of ground korean red chilies. You should be able find this at most Asian food stores. Mix the red pepper powder with a little water to make a paste. For one whole napa cabbage you would use roughly 4 tbsp of red pepper depending on how hot you want it. I know this sounds like a lot but the red pepper powder isn’t very spicy. Mix the paste with the cabbage and the other ingridients to evenly cover everything in the paste. Add the contents to a glass mason jar and press firmly down with your hand to remove air pockets. Allow to ferment for three days outside of the fridge before refrigerating. It is adviced to ferment kimchi no longer than three days if you want the classic kimchi taste. This is becuase at three days the right lactic acid bacteria community is present producing the desired components.