Homemade Korean Kimchi

Kimchi is a famous fermented vegetable dish from Korea. Usually served as a side dish, there are more than 300 different varieties of kimchi, depending on the main vegetable ingredient used and the region or season in which they’re made.

Nowadays, you’ll see a lot of ready-to-eat kimchi brands in supermarkets, but no matter how convenient they seem to be, many of these products are often loaded with artificial flavorings, toxic fillers, and harmful additives, and have also gone through excessive processing that may have eliminated any living organism in them.

Some Kimchi Facts

Kimchi, the famous fermented vegetable dish from Korea, has more than 300 different varieties, depending on the ingredients used, and the region or season in which they’re made.

To make sure that you get the quality, the freshness, and all the health perks that you’re after, I encourage you to make your own kimchi at home using this recipe:

How to Make Authentic Korean Kimchi

Ingredients

One average head of Napa cabbage
2 Tbsp. salt
1 Tbsp. sweet rice flour (you can also cook some rice and add it including the cooking liquid)
¼ to ½ cup of Korean hot chili pepper flakes (depending on how spicy you like your food, also can substitute red pepper flakes)
4 Tbsp. fish sauce
2 Tbsp. sugar
3 green onions
¼ medium onion
1 cup daikon radish, grated or julienned
3 cloves garlic, minced
½ tsp. ginger, minced

Directions

Dissolve salt in enough water to cover the cabbage.
Chop up Napa cabbage and soak in salt water for 3-4 hours or until soft. (Can take up to 6 hrs.)
To make the paste, add the sweet rice flour and one cup of water to a pot.
Put over medium heat and continue to stir until thickened (about 5 mins).
Transfer paste to a large bowl and add the Korean chili pepper flakes, fish sauce, and sugar.
Mix well and let the paste cool.
Add green onions, onions, garlic, and ginger to the paste and mix.
Once the cabbage is soft, remove from salt water and rinse thoroughly (I rinsed 3 times).
Massage paste into the cabbage.
Cover loosely with a clean cloth and set aside for three to seven days. The ideal room temperature to help with the fermentation is around 70 degrees Fahrenheit. If it is colder, the fermentation takes longer.
Check the kimchi daily. Make sure the vegetables stay covered in brine. After three to seven days, the kimchi will taste ripe. Once this happens, place in glass jar in the refrigerator. It will keep for months.
Serve immediately if you like fresh kimchi.

Pro Tip: Use gloves to keep your hands from becoming stained. Don’t forget to squeeze your vegetables before putting them into the jar using your hands. “Bruising” the vegetables in this way allows the cell walls to break down and release their juices.

Chef’s Notes

If you don’t like your kimchi really spicy, use less of the hot chili peppers.
Depending on the size of the Napa cabbage, you might not need to use all the paste. If you have extra paste, you can make cucumber kimchi or try mixing it into other veggies.
Whenever you take out any kimchi, press down the remaining kimchi and submerge in the liquid or the kimchi will become very bitter and change flavor.

Korean Kimchi Cooking Tips

Use only fresh and organic vegetables from your local farmer.
Choose cabbages that are hard, heavy, and have densely packed leaves. The lighter, leafier varieties tend to turn into mush that doesn’t ferment well.
Peel your vegetables to avoid getting the bitter flavor from the skin.
Feel free to season your ferment naturally according to your liking with bell pepper, organic Granny Smith apples, or a hot pepper like habanero (make sure you wear gloves!).
Add sea vegetables or seaweed to increase the mineral, vitamin, and fiber content of your fermented vegetables.
When adding aromatics, such as onion, garlic, and ginger, remember that fermenting increases the flavor multiple-fold, so a little goes a long way. Don’t overdo it! A few medium-size cloves are enough to infuse a dozen jars or more with a mild garlic flavor.
Use a starter culture dissolved in celery juice to speed up the fermentation process and to ensure that your ferment gets packed with essential probiotics.
Make sure the veggies are completely covered with brine and that the brine is all the way to the top of the jar to eliminate trapped air.
Put the lids on the jars loosely, as they will expand due to the gases produced in fermentation.
Don’t eat out of the jar to prevent contaminating the entire batch with bacteria from your mouth. Always use a clean spoon to take out what you’re eating.

Other Types of Vegetables That Can Be Fermented

Sandor Katz, author of “Wild Fermentation,” said that while all vegetables can be fermented, not all will produce wonderful results. Here are some practical fermentation pointers I learned from him:

Summer squash – Because it’s extremely watery, fermentation makes it go soft and mushy in a short amount of time.
Radish and cabbage – To these you can add cabbages, chili peppers, and garlic to enhance its taste.
Dark green vegetables – While kale, broccoli, and other dark green vegetables can be fermented, oftentimes their high chlorophyll content gives off a really strong flavor that not everyone finds appealing. I would use them as a minor ingredient rather than a major one. This way, you’ll still get hold of their valuable nutrients without having to put up with their overpowering taste.

I suggest fermenting vegetables that grow abundantly in your area. Try different vegetable combinations. You can never go wrong.

Best Storage Containers

Where you store your kimchi and other fermented vegetables is also important. Ideally, you want to get a container that’s wide enough to fit your hands when you press down the vegetables. Here are some excellent options you can choose from:

Glass jars or Mason jars
Ceramic crocks
Wooden barrels

Stay away from containers made of plastic or metal. Plastic containers have potentially toxic chemicals such as bisphenol-A (BPA) and phthalates, while metals may corrode when they come into contact with salt. Note that even if you don’t add salt, most vegetables have some natural salts in them.

Korean Kimchi Nutrition Facts

Calories	67
Carbohydrates	16 g
Protein	3 g
Fat	0 g

Kimchi Is Good for You

Kimchi is lauded for its valuable nutritional benefits and potent antioxidant properties, due to its fresh vegetable ingredients that are packed with:

Vitamins A and C
Healthy fiber
Lactobacilli, and lactic acid
Capsaicin, the active antioxidant component in chili peppers
Allicin, the cancer-fighting chemical in garlic
Indole-3-Carbinol in Chinese cabbage

Kimchi, along with other fermented foods, are important building blocks in any diet. Some doctors and nutritionists claim that this unique nutritional protocol can heal countless kids and adults from a wide range of diseases, including:

Autism	Arthritis	Multiple sclerosis	Celiac disease
Attention-deficit disorder (ADD) and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)	Severe food allergies and intolerances	Obesity	Chronic digestive symptoms such as flatulence, stomach pain, burping, reflux, and diarrhea
Epilepsy	Depression	Type 1 diabetes	Leaky gut syndrome

All these are made possible by fermented foods’ powerful chelating properties (which effectively get rid of harmful chemicals and heavy metals in your body), and impressive levels of probiotics, which are proven to:

Improve the production and absorption of vital nutrients such as B-vitamins and vitamin K2, which keeps calcium in the bones and out of your arteries
Regulate dietary fat absorption
Lower your cancer risk
Enhance mood and mental health
Modulate your immune response and reduce inflammation
Control asthma and reduce risk of allergies

This recipe can be made…

Vegetarian, vegan, plant-based, dairy-free and gluten-free.

Have you tried this recipe? Have your own recipe to share? I’d love you to leave a comment below.

Source:
Korean Kimchi Recipe – Recipe From Dr. Mercola
https://recipes.mercola.com/easy-kimchi-recipe.aspx
Date Published: August 12, 2014