Kimchi is a highly nutritious and delicious food that is a basic staple of Korean cuisine. Making kimchi is a process that dates back thousands of years, and many variations exist both within regions of Korea and around the world. There are so many types that a Kimchi Museum exists in Korea.
All the history and variation doesn't mean that making kimchi is complicated. Basic kimchi often means pickled cabbage kimchi, so let's begin with that recipe.
--Basic Kimchi Recipe--
Ingredients:
- Approximately 4lbs. of Chinese cabbage, chopped
- 1/4 cup salt
- 1 cup green onions, coarsely chopped
- 1 cup carrots, thinly sliced
- 4 tbsp ground red pepper
- 1 tsp garlic, minced
Optional ingredients include:
- Scallions
- Turnips
- Daikon radish
- Bok choy
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp freshly ground ginger
- Seasonings (dried fish powder, etc.) to taste
Instructions:
- Toss the chopped cabbage with the salt until well-mixed, then set aside for 40 minutes to 1 hour.
- After this time has elapsed, rinse with cold water to remove the excess salt. Drain.
- Mix the cabbage evenly with the onions, carrots, garlic, and red pepper.
- Put everything into a gallon jar with a weight on top; be sure to seal it securely.
- Wait one week to allow fermentation; skim the liquid that will develop for scum if it appears.
Tips:
Make sure to work with quality ingredients. Just because kimchi involves the fermentation process doesn't mean that the original ingredients aren't important. Fresh produce and spices will lead to a tastier, more robust kimchi that will complement nearly any dish.
There are many variations of kimchi ingredients branching off from the basic cabbage recipe; learning to make basic kimchi is an easy step to highly customizable recipes that can suit a plethora of tastes. The ingredients listed in the 'Optional Ingredients' section are simply starting points for easy reference. Adding other finely sliced or chopped vegetables and spices will result in unique flavors. Afterward kimchi can be served with nearly anything, but some certified crowd pleasing choices include tofu, oysters, shrimp, fish, or pork.
Don't be afraid to use kimchi in a variety of ways. Commonly kimchi can be added as-is into ramen noodles to make kimchi ramen, a spicy variant on the highly popular noodle dish. Other popular uses for kimchi are adding it to fried rice to make kimchi fried rice, or in a stew form commonly known as kimchi jjigae. Kimchi jjigae is highly recommended and easy to make, almost as easy as kimchi itself.
--Kimchi Stew (kimchi jjigae) Recipe--
Ingredients:
- 1 cup kimchi
- 16 oz. pork, thinly sliced
- 2 tbsp sesame oil
- 3 cups water
- 2 green onions, thinly sliced
- 2 tbsp garlic, minced
- 2 tbsp chili powder
- 1 tsp soy sauce
- Salt
- Pepper
Instructions:
- Coat the bottom of the pot with sesame oil, and brown the pork.
- Add the garlic, chili powder, and green onions, stirring constantly.
- Add the water, soy sauce, and kimchi. Cook for approximately 25 minutes on medium heat.
- Add salt and pepper to taste.
Tips:
Often pork belly is used as the meat, as the fat content adds quite a bit of flavor. Leaner pork can certainly be used, but understand that there can be different results from this choice.
Kimchi jjigae can be served with rice or as a side or main dish. No matter the choice, the stew will be a flavorful addition to any meal.
Whether you're working with the basic kimchi recipe, kimchi stew, or a variant you've come up with on your own, you can always adjust the ingredients to better suit your own tastes. There are traditional recipes for just about everything, but kimchi is a versatile enough food that it can be tailored to appease almost any palette.
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