10,000 Monkeys and a Camera

Some time last year, I became addicted to kimchi. It all started when I went to the best Korean restaurant in Chattanooga, which comps some kimchi with every meal. I was fated to try this at home. And now… well, can you resist?!?…

I’ve made this twice now (we’re still working our way through the second batch), but both times, I forgot to take pictures during the second half of the process. Sorry about that. But after the past few days of ranting about food, I figured I should post some good food, so I’m not going to wait for the third batch to post the recipe. Here’s what you need…

sea salt
two small cabbages (of any variety) or one large napa cabbage, coarsely chopped
two daikon radishes, julienned
1 large carrot*, julienned
1 tbsp ginger
5 chili peppers, seeded (or not!) and chopped
3 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsp sesame seeds
handful of garlic chives, cut into 1″ pieces
4 heaping tsp minced garlic
10 scallions, thinly sliced
10 springs watercress, chopped
1 asian pear, cored and julienned
generous dose of chili powder and/or sambal oelek and/or hot pepper paste
*and any other veggies — like snow peas, seaweed, sunchokes or whatever — if you want.

This is a very flexible recipe (the varieties of kimchi are almost endless!), so feel free to improvise and adjust! My recipe started from this article in Saveur, and also drew from the incredible wisdom of Sandor Katz in Wild Fermentation (see the Baechu Kimchi recipe on page 47 — I’ve tried Sandy’s kimchi and it is absolutely delicious!!).

In a large bowl, mix 4 cups water with 4 tbsp salt. Stir well to dissolve the salt. Add the cabbage, radish and carrots and use a plate or something to keep them submerged (add more saltwater if needed). Let them soak until soft — for a few hours or overnight. I did the overnight soak — I like cooking while I sleep! ;-D

Mix all the other stuff into a paste. Drain brine off veggies, reserving the liquid. Taste for saltiness — you want them salty, but not too salty. Rinse off if they’re too salty, sprinkle with a bit of salt if they’re not salty enough. Mix the veggies with the paste.

Once they are mixed thoroughly, stuff it all into a jar (or four). Pack it tightly, pressing down until the brine rises. If necessary, add a bit of the reserved brine to keep the veggies submerged. Weight the veggies down, if they need it. If anything floats to the surface, it might get icky.

Cover and leave it to ferment at room temperature for four days (you can check it along the way, if you want). Then uncover to release some carbon dioxide (this part is really cool — there will be sound effects!), recover and refrigerate for at least another four days, to let the flavors meld. Kimchi will keep for up to 6 months in the refrigerator.

These last two photos are from my first batches. In the first, I followed the Saveur recipe fairly faithfully and used the cabbages you see in this post’s top photo. In the second, as you can probably tell, I added a LOT more chili powder/hot pepper paste, and I used a single (huge!) napa cabbage that I got at my local asian grocer. Plus, I wasn’t able to get any watercress for the second batch, so I improvised with something or other… and I think I used a greater variety of peppers…

Have fun! There is nothing quite so wonderful as kimchi that you’ve made yourself!!!

I’m not an especially creative cook. I mostly follow recipes (more or less… just about everything needs more spices and less salt), and don’t improvise all that much — at least the first few times I make something. But a few months ago, I was attempting a recipe for the first time and completely screwed it up and it turned out so well, I’m going to take credit for an original recipe. We loved it so much, I’ve made it several times since. Here’s the general idea… it’s Black Eyed Peas, Rice and Kale, and I promise if you try it, you’re going to love it! (There was no mention of kale in the original recipe, but I had some on hand and it goes so well that I don’t think I can make black eyed peas without it!)

Ingredients
Some black eyed peas (8 – 12oz)
Olive oil
One onion, chopped
Some pepper (one red, yellow or green or a couple of the long red ones), seeded and chopped
Minced garlic (a tablespoon-ish)
Wild rice (4-6oz)
Brown rice (2/3-1 cup)
1 or two peeled and chopped tomatoes
Parsley
Cumin
Kale
Shallots
Lemon juice
Hot sauce

Quick soak the beans (sort and rinse, add water that goes up an inch or two over the beans, boil for 2 minutes, remove from heat, and let it sit, covered, for an hour) or do the overnight soak thing. Drain and rinse.

Heat some oil in an iron dutch oven over medium heat (just enough to lightly grease the bottom of the pot — you could probably even use spray oil). Add the onion, pepper and garlic and cook until soft (5 minutes or so?). Add the beans and cover with water. Bring to a boil and then let it simmer on low for a half an hour or so.

Stir in the rice and tomato and let it cook for an hour or so. Along the way, add some parsley, cumin and whatever other spices you’d like. Add more water too, if necessary — you’re going for a thick final mix.

A half an hour before this is done, throw a bit of oil into an iron skillet over medium heat. Add some chopped shallots and the kale (de-stemmed and chopped).

Drizzle in a bit of lemon juice and cook until it rocks your world (20 minutes or so?).

Serve the bean mixture and kale side-by-side or mixed together, depending on your mood. Either way, shake some hot sauce on it all at the table.