Homemade Kimchi

Kimchi making was so fun actually and at last I got the guts to try making it. I bought the lastest Flavour Magazine and to my greatest joy, there was a write out on kimchi making..haha and knowing myself, I knew before long, the urge to try making kimchi will erupt and true enough I told Piggy gal that I am going to make this wonderful kimchi . So I made it last Saturday. It is now fermenting in the fridge. It takes 6 days for it to be properly fermented and ready for consumption. That means only this Friday we can taste it..my first kimchi making and hopefully it is a success so that I can make again. Piggy gal and I love kimchi but not the guys.

This kimchi recipe is not the traditional one but it suited my taste. Sometimes, by reading a recipe one would be able to tell whether the taste is good or not…I am now crapping like a pro chef :P :P :))) I can’t wait to share with you my experience in making kimchi. For me it was fun and I can’t wait to taste it. Oh,by the way Piggy gal and I are the only one who love international cuisine and Korean & Japanese cuisine are top on our list.

I remembered once, we had to split up for dinner. Daddy and Piggy boy both opted for western food whereby Piggy gal and I opted for Korean food. ..funny , for once we had our girly time together enjoying Korean food at one Korean restaurant at the shopping mall in KL.

Back to kimchi making…soaking the cabbage in brine water will helps soften the leaves but I like them crunchy so I juz rub sea salt on the leaves and wash away the salt after 5 hours. I used a huge watermelon to press the leaves down :) I used the food proceessor to process the ingredients into a paste, namely , green apples , cooked rice, garlic, ginger and dried chillies.

Mix the paste with fermented shrimp ( cincalok) , sugar and fish sauce and applied on the cabbage leaves layer by layer together with chives and spring onions cut into 2.5cm lengths. Make sure all the cabbage leaves are covered with the paste mixture. Best to use a clay pot but I used my tupperware as it is air tight. I cut the cabbage leaves into 2.5 cm lengths .

Kimchi - adapted from Flavour Magazine March-April ' 09 issue by Koryo-Won

Ingredients:

4 chinese cabbages, halved and washed

1 kg red chillies
1 onion
1 pear
1 apple
1 bowl cooked rice
100gm dried chillies , soaked
1 radish, sliced
100 gm spring onions, cut into 2.5cm lengths
50 g Chinese chives, cut into 2.5 cm lengths
100 gm chilli powder
50gm sugar
Salt to taste
100 gm minced galic
1 tablespoon fermented baby shrimps ( cincalok )
250ml fish sauce

Method:

Soak the cabbages in salt water for 5-6 hours, weighing the cabbages down with a heavy plate during the soaking process. Remove cabbages from the salt water and drain well.

In a food processor, blend the chillies, onion, pear, apple, rice and dried chillies. Combine with the rest of the ingredients and mix well.

Stuff the cabbage with the mixture, starting from the innermost leaves and making sure every part of the leaf is covered. Repeat until the entire cabbage half is covered with as much of the mixture as possible.

Put the kimchi into an airtight container and allow it to ferment for 3 to 6 days at a temperature below 20º C

Enjoy !



Note: Will post up the ready kimchi in a few days time and put my fingers and toes cross that it will turn out yummilicious and as close to the authentic kimchi :)) Wish me luck:P