kim chee recipe wanted

[riomidwife]

Have a good one? Please share it with me!

[tanyalynn]

the one from Nourishing Traditions....

makes 2 quarts

1 head napa cabbage, shredded
1 bunch gr onions, chopped (I use white or yellow)
1 cup carrots, grated
1/2 c daikon radish, grated (optional)
1T fresh grated ginger
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/t tsp dried chile flakes
1 T sea salt
4T whey (optional, I don't use this, I hear it makes things slimy)

Mix all the ingredients. The salt will draw out juice, and you can either pound the veggies to help this process or do it the lazy (Tanya) way and cut up the cabbage the night before, add salt, weigh it down and leave it in the frig overnight, then add the rest of the ingredients.

Pack this into quart size mason jars, leave at least 1" of head room for expansion, the fermentation will create CO2 bubbles and the kimchee will expand. Cover jars with cheesecloth held on with a ring, and let it ferment a few days, how many depends on the temp in your kitchen (start tasting after 2-3 days and stop when you like the flavor). And push the veggies under the level of the liquid at least 1x/day, 2x/day in the summer if your kitchen is warm.

When it's tasty, put it in the frig, it should stay good for months.

[riomidwife]

Thanks Tanya!

[WuWei]

Tanya, do you have a source of the recipe, because I'm uncomfortable not keeping ferments completely submerged at all times.


Pat

[tanyalynn]

It's a mix of NT (the ingredients) and the method in Wild Fermentation. Sandor Katz has a fairly long discussion on historical methods and whether it was really feasible in all situations to keep veggies submerged. Although some of his recipes use a brine-filled bag to hold the veggies down, the alternate method of pushing under every day is also discussed as equally appropriate. He advocates a pretty hands-on approach and using good commonsense about whether it's going well, and also recognizes that as a real cooking endeavor, sometimes it will not turn out. I've had a couple ferments go bad in the frig (never on the counter though).

Although for that matter, NT says to put on a tight lid, but there's nothing weighing the veggies down under that. And I just double-checked and NT doesn't say you need to push them down, so some of the floating veggies will remain above air the entire fermentation time (and I'd worry about mold if you didn't open it up and skim every day, which NT doesn't use as part of their method). I think the airflow (cheesecloth covering) is neutral to beneficial for the bacterial inoculation.

[farmerjess]

Hmm, I wasn't aware that anyone thinks that you have to keep them completely submerged at all times. I always brew mine in a mason jar with the regular lid on. I push them down with a fork twice a day. In the last few years and MANY different types of ferments, I have never had any go bad or get mold on top. They get sour really fast.

[farmerjess]

oh yeah, and the kim chee that I have been making is just regular cabbage (my hfs is not carrying napa right now), lots of chopped garlic and ginger and strips of carrot that I made with the veggie peeler. The strips made it look so pretty! Next time I want to add green onions for the color.