Ingredients
Ingredients
Veggies:
- 1 pound/7-8 cups cabbage, chopped in bite sized pieces.
- 1 daikon radish or a few red radishes, thinly sliced or cut into matchsticks.
- 1-2 carrots, sliced in 1/8-1/16 thick slices
Delicious substitutions and additions include kohlrabi, kale, mustard greens, burdock, just about anything you have on hand.
Spice Paste:
- 1-2 onions, leeks, a few scallions, or shallots, thinly sliced.
- 3-4 cloves of garlic, minced or pureed
- 3-4 hot red chilies, stemmed and de-seeded. May substitute dried, flaked, or ground hot pepper.
- 3 tbsp fresh grated ginger (approx 3-4 inch chunk)
- Mix a brine of 4 cups water and 4 tablespoons of salt. Place veggies in a bowl and cover with brine. Use a plate or weight to keep veggies submerged. Let sit for at least 2 hours or overnight.
- Prepare the spice paste: put peeled ginger, garlic, and chilies in food processor or blender and grind into a rough paste. Add onion/scallions.
- Drain brine off vegetables, reserving brine. Taste the vegetables for saltiness. Rinse salt off as needed.
- Mix the vegetables with the spice paste.
- Pack the mixture into a clean quart size jar, packing tightly to make the brine rise. Add reserved brine if the vegetables are not fully submerged.
- Weigh them down with a small jar, cabbage core, or a zip-lock bag filled with brine. Ferment for 2-5 days, ideally in a draft free 65-68 degree environment.
- Taste it every day. When it tastes ripe, move it to the refrigerator or root cellar.
Recipes to Use Your Kim Chi:
Food September 20, 2018