Might anyone have a good recipe for kimchi?

I like it much better than sauerkraut. A relative gave me most of a jar of kimchi which he didn't like that he picked up in a Korean grocery store a couple hundred miles away. I've looked for it in the grocery stores around here, but they don't have it, so I thought that maybe I could make it myself. It tastes sort of like sauerkraut, but with onions and other stuff added, which I couldn't read because the jar label is mostly in Korean.

Thanks,
-NWL

In addition, here's a basic "no frills" Kimchi from "Joy of Pickling".

Cabbage Kimchi

3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon pickling slat
6 cups water
2 pounds Chinese cabbage, cut into 2-inch squares
1 1/2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
2 tablespoons Korean ground dried hot pepper (or other mildly hot ground red pepper)
1 teaspoon sugar

1. Dissolve the 3 tablespoons salt in the water. Put the cabbage into a large bowl, a crock or a nonreactive pot and pour the brine over it. Weight the cabbage down with a plate. Let the cabbage stand for 12 hours.

2. Drain the cabbage, reserving the brine. Mix the cabbage with the remaining ingredients, including the 1 teaspoon salt. Pack the miture into a 2-quart jar. Pour enough ofthe reserved brine over the cabbage to cover it. Push a freezer bag into the mouth of the jar, and pour the remaining brine into the bag. Seal the bag. Let the kimchi ferment in a cool place, at a temperature no higher than 68 degrees F, for 3-6 days, until the kimchi is as sour as you like.

3. Remove the brine bag and cap the jar tightly. Store the kimchi in the refrigerator, where it will keep for months.

Makes about 1 1/2 quarts.

Carol

Kimchee will keep for a long time, but it will change. So don't worry if it becomes less crunchy over time. Personally, I prefer it while it's still young, perhaps a month or less.

Jim

My mom, an old school Korean lady who prefers to make her own kimchee than buy it (she doesn't like the msg and preservatives that prevent proper pickling), uses less fish sauce and salted shrimp, and usually not both at the same time. Fyi the shrimp is the tiny kind that comes in wet, spread-like consistency. When kept in cool temps, her kimchee matures to a clean, spicy taste with a bite.

For a refreshing variation, try daikon cut in 1 inch cubes instead of the cabbage and julienned daikon. Use a little more sugar with the daikon cube version, aka coc-doo-gi.

Cabbage Kim Chee (From the New York Times)
1 head won bok (Napa cabbage), about 2 pounds
5 tablespoons coarse salt
1 cup peeled and julienned daikon radish
1/2 cup minced green onion tops
4 tablespoons fish sauce
2 tablespoons peeled and minced garlic
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon peeled and minced or grated ginger
1 tablespoon or more of ground red Korean chiles
3 tablespoons salted shrimp (sold in jars at Asian stores)
Place cabbage in a colander and sprinkle salt over and between the layers of leaves; set aside 2 to 3 hours. Then rinse well, especially between layers of leaves; shake dry.
Combine radish, green onions, fish sauce, garlic, sugar, ginger and ground chiles. Add shrimp. Use fingers to pack whole cabbage, inside and out, with the mixture. Or cut cabbage and toss with mixture. Serve immediately or refrigerate up to a week; mixture gets spicier daily.
Makes 16 small servings.

However, now I have some people I would like to mail my kimchee to, and I don't want to do that unless it is canned. I can't find canning instructions, though.

The recipe I use has a brine of 3T+1t sa;t tp 6 cups water & 1 t sugar per 2 lbs of cabbage and some chilis, green onions, ginger etc. I often add a bit of fish sauce as well.

Does anyone know whether this sounds like a safe recipe to can, and if so, the BWB times?

I remember that thread. Rachelellen and I contributed to it.

I will look over the old kimchee threads on the Harvest form, so as not to retill old ground.

Jim

Jim

I can also point you to www.wildfermentation.com for great recipes and methods for kim chee as well as sauerkraut and many other things.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IeBR91ypxk4

Amazing video. Much different than I imagined.