Kimchee
Krystal asked me about kimchee and I decided it made more sense to answer publicly than in a private message.
It's the product of fermentation via lactic acid producing bacteria, like sauerkraut or yogurt. In the case of sauerkraut, kimchee and similar vegetable ferments, the process of pickling is used. Pickling just means low acidity. Modern industrial pickling (and home canning) is not a fermentation process involving living food. It simply packs stuff in enough vinegar to make them acidic, then sterilizes the whole thing, killing any and all bacteria, mold, yeast. Traditional pickling is based on salt, either dry salting or the use of brine (salt water solution). The salt creates an environment that fosters specific lactic acid bacteria, whose action on the vegetables creates acid. As the process proceeds, and the environment becomes more sour, different lactic acid bacterias become favored. The very cool thing is that this process does not allow the growth of other, harmful bacteria. The other very cool thing is that it preserves the vitamin C in cabbage and actually increases the B vitamins. Best reference is Sandor Katz's The Art of Fermentation. A somewhat more westernized version in terms of persnickitiness about food safety and overuse of wet brine during the fermentation process itself but a good recipe source is The Joy of Pickling by Linda Ziedrich. |
Re: Kimchee
Janet, you have once again broached a topic near and dear to me.
Please do not read further if you have a delicate digestive system (although, anyone who loves kimchee, by nature must have a cast-iron constitution). In the back of my refrigerator is a 2-gallon jar of kimchee that has been a-moulderin' there for several years. Last week, I scraped off the mold that had formed a thin blanket over the top layer, and found that the rest of the batch was exquisite. I am deliberating whether to mix in a little more anchovy paste... My point being that, along with its many other virtues, kimchee keeps for a long time. I recall reading that Korean families will bury earthern pots in their yards and dig them up one at a time, over a period of years, replacing the removed pot with a fresh one to keep the kimchee comin'. |
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Yep. With most live ferments, any superficial mold or yeast can be safely taken off and the rest of the food is yummy. As with mold on cheese.
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Ok, I get the process, does anyone have a recipe they like for a medium hot, flavorful but not too challenging for a kimchee noob batch? The gf loves kraut. I think kimchee would be nice for her.
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This is my basic recipe
BASIC VEGAN KIM CHEE For each large head of Napa/Chinese cabbage: 1. BRINE Add 4 tb pickling or sea salt to 8 cups room temperature water Mix, let stand until clear (about 20 minutes) Wash and core cabbage; cut into 2" pieces Place in large nonreactive container, pour the brine over, weight it and let it sit at room temperature for 6 to 15 hours (recipe says 12 hours; I go up or down dependingn on what is convenient if you are doing it during the day or overnight) 2. SPICE MIX: In a nonreactive container, large enough to toss the cabbage in, mix 3 scallions, slivered lengthwise, chopped into 2-3" pieces 1-2 diced cloves of garlic 1-2 tb minced or grated fresh garlic 1 tsp salt 1 - 2 tb hot red pepper powder + enough toasted sesame oil and rice vinegar to form a paste OPTIONAL: 1 tb mirin, 1/2 cup julienned carrots or daikon, zest of lime or lemon, 1/2 peeled and diced lime, lemon, orange or tangerine 3. PUTTING UP TO FERMENT: Have a large clean wide mouthed jar or some smaller clean jars Squeeze excess brine from the cabbage Add the paste to the cabbage and hand rub/toss so the pieces are well coated (I wear disposable gloves to keep the chile oil from getting onto my hands) Stuff the cabbage mix into the jar(s), pushing and tamping down very well to avoid air pockets Cover the jars loosely - don’t seal Put the jars where they can stay under 70 degrees; I find 60 - 68 is optimal 4. FINISHING After 3-4 days, taste, and if you like it, cap and refrigerate. It will continue to very slowly ferment in the fridge. It will last in the fridge for months. If it gets too sour to enjoy eating, it is perfect for hot and sour soup. ADDITIONAL NOTE: my personal, nontraditional spice preference is equal parts crushed Aleppo red pepper flakes (hot and flavorful, not killer hot) and smoked paprika because I love the smokiness from the paprika - making a vegan version is provides the umami that oysters, fish or fermented fish sauce would provide in a non-vegan version. |
Re: Kimchee
For a non-vegan version you can add a couple of tablespoons of fish sauce, or anchovy paste stirred into a Tbsp of sesame oil or rice-sesame oil so it can be distributed evenly into the other ingredients..
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Awesome. Janet - I so look forward to tasting some of your femented cabbage some day. We should get together and make some cider and kimchee ...
The cider I made from apples we mangled and pressed at a local farm was delish and is gone, but I am sipping a porter I made a few weeks back. |
Re: Kimchee
A different perspective: I think kimchee is just awful (but, I just don't see the attraction to any pickled product, actually - sorry).........I was stationed in Korea for 14 1/2 months. This was when Korea was a third world country, not like now. The whole country and the people smelled of kimchee. It was such a staple part of their diet that it came out of their pores, but you get used to it. But, it did make me wonder what us GIs smelled like, with our penchant for meat and potatoes (excluding C rations).......I still wonder about this? You can usually smell smokers, for instance, even when not smoking, and excluding the smell from their clothes.
People's diet must play a role in how they smell, especially to outsiders........Thoughts? |
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By contrast, I find garlicky kimchee to be a far pleasanter "stink" than rancid butter (an aroma I first encountered in Nepal, in the form of rancid yak butter used by Tibetan traders to flavor their tea... :P ) |
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Janet,
Thanks for the recipe. Made some in February and have slowly been using it in eggs and sandwiches. Tonight was kimchi pancakes with home made Korean influenced sausage...Really amazing. |
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I've yet to try kimchee Janet, but I've heard that it is tasty. My problem is the basic cabbage idea, I think.
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Cool! have been wanting to try this since listening to a couple of interviews with Michael Pollan about his new book.
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Janet, what do you mean when you say to 'weight' the cabbage?
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This is DIFFERENT from weighting when making sauerkraut or dill pickles, where airtightness is also a factor. For this initial brine, nothing wrong with leaving everything unlidded and open to the air. |
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Threw in a serrano, a shallot, some garlic, some turmeric and cumin... not standard, but sure smells good! Excited to see how it turns out.
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