Kimchi

Ted Calver

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Yorktown, Virginia
Being in the military exposes you to many different cultures and we tried to sample the cuisine where ever we landed. We were not shy about adopting the good eats we found. Korean Kinchi is one of those great foods. It has probiotic properties similar to yogurt and I eat it almost daily as a side dish sprinkled with toasted sesame seeds. This time of year the Napa cabbage and Korean radishes are plentiful at local markets and relatively cheap so it's easy to keep a good supply of kimchi in the garage fridge. For those interested in exploring something new, this recipe shows an easy way to get started and is my favorite. I do omit the squid because it's fairly hard to find fresh in this area.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sX_wDCbeuU


If you enjoy the results, consider investing in one of the specialized containers for fermenting kimchi (or sauerkraut). I bought this one and like it because it has an inner floating seal that locks in the smell and keeps the contents submerged.

https://www.amazon.com/Crazy-Korean-Cooking-Sauerkraut-Fermentation/dp/B00M40AOAK?th=1
 
The first kimchi I tried had been buried in a sealed container for about 6 months. As a Texan I kinda prided myself on being able to handle hot stuff. That danged stuff purt neer ate me alive! Then they wanted me to try some that had been buried for about 9 months. uhuh no way. uhuh I think that stuff kinda hurt me as that now the hottest thing I can eat is a habanero (sp?).
 
Just made another couple of batches today. One was the easy kimchi (minus squid) with a 7 pound cabbage and the other was cubed Korean radish kimchi called kkakdugi, which my wife loves. It's even easier to make, but with a different texture. You control the heat in these by regulating the amount of Korean red hot chili pepper flakes you add to the mixture. They can be mild to wild, but I prefer the mild+. The whole process takes a relatively short time and is not much different than making sauerkraut. Salting the cabbage takes the longest amount of time. There's no burying in the back yard. A day and a half on the kitchen counter usually gets the fermentation started and then it goes in the fridge, where it will keep forever. Here's the Kkakdugi recipe I used:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5NXchQKy-s
 
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