Esther grew up cooking with her grandma. Grandma taught Esther everything about food, including on how to love every ingredient, appreciate and respect the process of making every dish. Esther believes that is what Korean food is all about: dedication and passing on that kind of love to people.
So you may be wondering, what exactly is kimchi? Kimchi is a fermented side dish, which is usually made of napa cabbages, garlic, gingers, scallions, daikon radishes, and with a variety of seasonings. Kimchi is rich in vitamin A, thiamine (B1), riboflavin (B2), calcium, iron, and contains lactic acid bacteria. Health magazine even named kimchi in its list of the top five “World’s Healthiest Foods”.
Korean loves kimchi so much that they made is as a national dish. South Koreans consume about 40 pounds of kimchi per person every year. During South Korea’s involvement in the Vietnam War its government requested American help to ensure that South Korean troops receiving their kimchi supplies. That’s how important kimchi is to Korean.
Ingredients:
1 head of napa cabbage, cut lengthwise, quartered
5 tablespoons of rock salt
3 oz of Korean dried cod, shredded (bugeochae)
1 medium daikon radish, about 1 pound, cut into 2-inch matchsticks
1 bunch of scallions, cut into 2-inch pieces
½ of apple, pureed
1 tablespoon of ginger, minced
2 tablespoons of garlic, minced
½ of onion, pureed
1/4 cup of salted shrimp (saewoo juht)
1/4 cup of anchovy fish sauce
1/4 cup of lance fish sauce
1/4 cup of plum extract
2 tablespoons of sweet rice flour
1 1/2 to 2 cups of Korean red chili pepper flakes (gochugaru)
Instructions:
1. Rice glue: in a small saucepan, add the rice flour and 2 cups of water over high heat. Bring to a boil, and then reduce the heat to medium-low. Cook for 20 minutes, whisking constantly, until the liquid is thickened to a ribbon-like consistency and you can see the bottom of the pan while whisking. Set aside to cool.
2. Add 1 cup of water inside a big bowl, dissolve 2 tablespoons of rock salt, put the Napa cabbages inside the bowl and rub rock salt on every leaf. Leave them there for 5 hours, then flip them and leave them there for another 5 hours. After 10 hours, drain all the excess of water.
3. Soften the dried cod with half cup of warm water. Put it aside for the kimchi paste.
4. Kimchi paste: In a big bowl, combine the daikon radish, scallions, ginger, garlic, salt shrimps, anchovy fish sauce, lance fish sauce, plum extract, rice glue, dried fish, Korean red chili pepper flakes, and mix everything well to become a paste.
5. Bring the cabbages into this bowl, and rub the paste into every single leaf.
6. Tightly pack the kimchi into jars or containers with tightly fitting lids, or cover tightly with plastic, making sure it is not exposed to the air. Allow the kimchi to sit at room temperature for at least 2 days, or longer if you desire a stronger flavor. Then put it in the Refrigerate for another 5 days.
Let me know how this recipe works for you. Please subscribe to my channel, like, comment, and share this video! You can also find me on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Happy eating!
Special Thanks to Chef Esther and Mokbar
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