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Kimchi. Yes, I’ll eat just about anything.
Over the past few months, especially since the arrival of the Woori Mart Korean food store in Quispamsis, I’ve been occasionally diving into some Korean food.
It’s a healthy, vibrant, spicy cuisine that pushes lots of fresh vegetables, satisfying rice dishes and soups among a myriad of great dishes.
Kimchi is probably the best known export of Korea as it’s gotten so much press as the “world’s healthiest food”. The spicy, crunchy mix of cabbage and other vegetables is left in the fridge to ferment, creating a whole new array of not only flavour, but of vitamins and other nutrients. Kimchi, like many fermented foods, is a great source of vitamin B12, which is otherwise only found in red meat, so vegetarians depend on dishes like this. I’m not vegetarian, by the way, I just play one on TV.
Today I decided to take a crack at making my own kimchi after seeing Maangchi (www.maangchi.com) do her version. I scaled mine down a bit as I don’t really think I’ll eat it often enough to warrant having 10 pounds of it in the fridge, and it worked really well. Here’s the video from Maangchi and be sure to check out more from her youtube channel.
Here’s how my kimchi came together. It was a bit of a religious experience for a sunday morning. Amazing stuff.
Pre-soaking the cabbage before the salting process.
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I didn’t have any rice flour on hand for the porridge so I just ground some calrose rice to a fine powder.
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The rice ground to a fine powder. A 1/4 cup of this powder mixed with 1.5 cups of water made a perfect, thick porridge.
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My spice mix. The porridge was mixed with sugar, hot red pepper powder, thinly sliced carrots, funky fish sauce, lots of green onion, garlic and fresh ginger.
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More awesome, sexy cabbage action. Final washing and removal of excess salt.
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Mixed and pressed, ready to start getting funky in the fridge over the next few days.
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Alexandra looks on, almost in disbelief at the awesome.
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Straight out of the bowl, it’s wonderful but will develop more character over the next few days in the refrigerator. This will serve as a side to any Asian-inspired dish I make now.
Yeah, it’s expensive here too. I’d guess the cost in store for the amount I made would be in the $30 range. Try it at home!
Damn! That looks great! I can make that, I’m sure! Kimchi is a bit expensive here, but the main ingredient is very very cheap. To heck with buying stuff someone else made when I can do it myself.
The real question will be what you will do with your leftover kimchi, and how long you will let it ferment.
Kimchi stew?
Kimchi pancakes?
I know this is totally bastardised, but I often make wraps (like the korean ssam) but instead of using lettuce, I use naan or soft tacos, with kimchi, japanese mayo and bulgogi.
OM NOM NOM.
Oh my gosh! Thanks so much Maangchi. The recipe is rock solid fantastic and I know it’s one I’ll make on a regular basis. I live in Atlantic Canada and in these parts, we’re pretty new to Korean food but thanks to many new Korean immigrants to the area, we’re quickly becoming used to it and just love it. In a region of just 125,000 people in Saint John, New Brunswick and surrounding area, we now have two Korean grocery markets and a Korean restaurant. Great to see here!
Great! Congratulations on your successful kimchi making! Yummy!