Home made Kimchi
Time: Start a day ahead, takes 1 hr to make the preserve and needs a full day to rest before eating, yields 2 medium preserve jars.
Ingredients:
1/2 a chinese cabbage (wombok)
Salt, as needed
3x garlic cloves, grated or chopped
1 knob of ginger, grated
2 tbsp of Sugar (plus more to taste)
Fish sauce to taste
2 spring onion stems,
A few tbsp of Chilli powder (works well as a substitute!)
Or use traditional Kimchi chilli powder (if you fancy a trip to the local asian markets,)
You’ll also need a medium mixing bowl, knife, chopping board and a colander/sieve. Ideally two glass preserve jars, a wooden spoon and tongs.
(I find glass jars to be best as the flavour is better and you don’t get that red chilli stain on your nice Tupperware!)
Method:
Cut the cabbage into slices or a rough dice. I like the shapes rustic as it gives more variety of texture to the pickle. Wash and drain the cabbage well.
I like to massage the cabbage and salt to mix it well and leave it for 20 mins to a half hour. It will start look a bit wet because of the salt in the cabbage, (you’ll know if there’s enough salt by how much liquid seeps out)
Grate the ginger, garlic and slice the spring onion into slivers during this time. You can go one step further and chop it finely into a rough paste (or use your food processor)
Rinse the cabbage in a colander or sieve, running it under fresh cold water to rinse off the excess salt.
Shake to dry it out,
In the same mixing bowl from before, mix the cabbage with the garlic, ginger & spring onion.
Add the chilli or Kim Chi Powder, fish sauce and sugar.
Stir well to combine. It’s important to taste as you go. Adjust with a little more sugar or fish sauce (or extra chilli powder) if needed.
*I sprinkled a little extra sugar in to mellow out the heat of the chilli powder.*
Pack the kimchi into airtight jars and place into the fridge, it will be ready to eat the next day and will safely keep for a week.
I am SO making this for the Hungry Dad. I’m not a fan but he adores kim chi and has never had home-made kim chi.
Hey Hungrymum, so glad to hear this recipe will be of use for you and hungry dad. The great thing is you can dial back the spice if needed and (a jar of cold spicy pickles) are a nice accompaniment to a fellow soba lover like yourself. Either way (you might like Kimchi) if you can control the spices and tartness, perhaps?
I love kimchi!I This is a definite must try. Also, I recently bought a 5 liter Harsch Gartopf Fermenting Crock so I can make sour pickles and kimchi. Do you have any recipes for fermented Kimchi?
Hi Richard, I was talking to a colleague of mine who is Korean, she assured me Kimchi can keep for up to a month and even a year in some cases. In our household it will probably last a week if we don’t gobble it up in a flash! I’d assume that fermented Kimchi would simply be left for a lot longer, there’s a link to the wikki on the front page with a lot more more info and variations too, hope this helps!
Oooh you are so cool! I’ve never even thought about making my own kimchi. Hmmm. I will pin this recipe and see if I can work up the nerve to try it sometime soon
Hi Erika, the credit has to go to my mum first for teaching me! It’s a really nice thing to try and my guy wasn’t so keen at first (but now) Korean cuisine is one of his favourite foods!
Hi there… I’ve got two crocks of sauerkraut doing it’s thing. It’s a first for me and looks a little iffy but I have my fingers crossed. Kim Chee is next. I’d like to look into canning it also.
Nice blog you have here
Hi Wendy, thank you so much for stopping by. Likewise with your beautiful blog too. I love a good pickle, there’s something so comforting about home made preserves! Happy Cooking