Kim Chi by Georgianna
(from Margie’s recipe box)
Remember improvise, improvise, improvise. Rick wings this, making it differently each time with whatever we have on hand. This is basically what he did today:
Ingredients
- 1 large Napa cabbage (or a regular cabbage, if that's all you can find)
- 1–2 carrots, sliced or grated or both
- 1 onion, chopped
- 4 big radishes, or 6–8 smaller globe radishes, sliced
- Brine:
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt per cup of water
- For the spice paste:
- 3 tablespoons grated ginger
- 4 minced garlic cloves
- 2 scallions, chopped
- 4 dried Thai or cayenne peppers, seeds removed
- Thai fish sauce, approx. 3 tablespoons
Directions
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Chop cabbage coarsely.
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Cut up carrot, onion, scallions, and radish.
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Toss the cabbage, carrots, onions, and radishes in a large bowl. Add brine to cover (Rick needed about 5 cups). Set weighted plate on top so vegetables are totally submerged, and let sit for 4 hours.
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Meanwhile, mix together garlic, ginger, scallions, crushed hot pepper, and fish sauce in a large non-reactive bowl.
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After 4 hours, drain the brine from the vegetables, reserving some in case you need it.
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Stir paste in with cabbage and vegetables.
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As you pack tightly into glass jars the brine will rise. If it doesn’t rise enough to completely submerge the mixture add some of the reserved brine. Cover tightly, and let stand at room temperature for 3 days, then chill for 4 days before serving.
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Note: Rick uses an airlock on our jars and let’s the kim chi sit for a week before moving into the refrigerator.