Baek Kimchi Jjigae White Kimchi Stew Food

THE CLASSIC, KIMCHI JJIGAE

Steps:

• Marinate the pork belly with the rice wine and the ground black pepper for about 15 mins.
• Cook the Kimchi in a skillet until soft. (You could do this in the pot where you will make this jjigae. Do this only if the pot is big enough to manoeuvre around.)
• Put the marinated meat into the bottom of the pot. Add all the other ingredients (kimchi, onion, mushrooms, tofu, water and the base sauce) except for green onion into the pot.
• Boil the pot on medium high heat initially then reduce the heat to medium once it starts boiling. Cook further until the meat is cooked. (It takes 10 to 15 mins from the beginning of step 4.) Make sure the sauce is well blended into the rest of the ingredients. (This can be done by gently mixing the sauce around the soup with a small teaspoon and splashing the soup over other ingredients every now then). When the meat is cooked, add the green onion and turn the heat off.
• Serve with rice (and other side dishes).

BAEK KIMCHI (WHITE KIMCHI)

Steps:

• Cut the cabbage lengthwise into quarters by cutting the stem end in half (only about 4 inches in) and then slowly pulling apart to separate into two pieces by hand. Do the same for each half to make quarters. Running the knife through all the way would unnecessarily cut off the cabbage leaves.
• In a large bowl, dissolve 3/4 cup of salt in 7.5 cups of water. Thoroughly bathe each cabbage quarter in the saltwater one at a time, shake off excess water back into the bowl, and then transfer to another bowl.
• Using the remaining salt (3/4 cup) and starting from the outermost leaf, generously sprinkle salt over the thick white part of each leaf (similar to salting a piece of meat). You can use a little more if needed. Repeat with the rest of the cabbage quarters. Pour the remaining salt water from the first bowl over the cabbages. Set aside for about 6 hours, rotating the bottom ones to the top half way through.
• The cabbages for white kimchi should be ready to be washed when the white parts are soft and flexible, but not totally bendable. Rinse thoroughly 3 times, especially between the white parts of the leaves to wash off any lingering salt. Drain well, cut side down.
• Cut the vegetables and pear into match sticks (use a mandoline if available). Cut scallions and minari into 1-inch long pieces, collecting them in a bowl.
• Combine the vegetables with the seasoning ingredients. Mix well by hand. Taste - It should be a bit too salty to eat as is. Add salt if necessary. Let it sit for 30 minutes to an hour.
• Cut off the tough stem part from each cabbage quarter, leaving enough to hold the leaves together. Place one cabbage quarter in the bowl with the radish mix. Spread the radish mix over each leaf, one to two tablespoons for large leaves.
• Fold the leaf part of the cabbage over toward the stem and nicely wrap with the outermost leaf before placing it, cut side up, in a jar or airtight container. Repeat with the remaining cabbages. Once all the cabbages are in the jar or airtight container, firmly press down to remove air pockets.
• Make the glutinous rice paste and cool. Add 4 cup of water to the bowl that contained the radish mix. Stir in the rice paste and salt to taste (start with 2 teaspoons). Stir well. Pour over the kimchi.
• Leave it out at room temperature for a full day. Then, store in the fridge. Wait 5 to 7 days before eating. White kimchi doesn't keep well as long as red spicy kimchi because it's seasoned lightly and lacks chili peppers that help keep the kimchi from softening. Thus, it's best eaten within a few weeks.

BAEK KIMCHI (WHITE KIMCHI)

Steps:

• Cut cabbage lengthwise into quarters, keeping the leaves attached to the core. Rinse cabbage with cold water and liberally sprinkle 3 tablespoons salt between the leaves. Place cabbage in a large bowl and add just enough water to cover. Set aside until leaves are soft, 4 to 5 hours.
• Rinse the salted cabbage 3 or 4 times with cold water and drain in a colander for about 20 minutes.
• Combine 1 cup water, radish, green onions, garlic, ginger, sugar, 1 teaspoon salt, vinegar, and red pepper threads in a bowl. Sprinkle radish mixture between all the cabbage leaves except for the large outer leaf of each quarter. Reserve the liquid from the radish mixture.
• Peel back the large outer leaf of each quarter, without removing it from the core, and fold the inner leaves in half. Wrap the outer leaf around the inner leaves and pack the cabbage quarters into a clean 1/2-gallon jar; pour in the reserved liquid from radish mixture. Seal jars and let sit at room temperature for 1 day. Slice the wrapped cabbage quarters into 1 1/2-inch pieces.

BAEK KIMCHI (WHITE KIMCHI)

Steps:

• Dry-brine the cabbage: Rinse the head of cabbage under cold running water, making sure to get in between the leaves. Trim the root end off the cabbage and cut crosswise into 1-inch-thick slices, carving out the core if it's especially big and tough. Transfer the cabbage strips to your largest bowl. If your daikon came with green tops, cut them off the daikon and add them to the bowl. Sprinkle over the salt and toss with your hands until evenly distributed. Set aside to brine at room temperature until the hard cabbage leaves shrink and become wet and limp (but are still crunchy), 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
• Rinse the cabbage: Fill the bowl with cold water and swish the leaves around to rinse off the salt (and to clean off any remaining dirt). Lift the leaves out of the water and transfer to a colander. Repeat once or twice, until the cabbage leaves still taste discernibly salted, but not so salty that you can't eat them like salad. Rinse out the bowl.
• Make the sauce: To a food processor, add the pear, onion, garlic, ginger and sugar and process until the mixture is so finely chopped that it is almost puréed. Transfer the sauce to the empty bowl and stir in the fish sauce. Cut the scallions into 1-inch-long pieces and thinly slice the daikon and carrot, if using, into coins. Add the vegetables to the sauce. Stir to combine. Add the drained cabbage and toss with clean hands until well combined.
• Transfer the sauced cabbage to a clean 1/2-gallon jar, using your hands to gently pack it down. (A few air gaps are fine; they'll fill with liquid over time.) This amount of cabbage should fill the jar, leaving about an inch of room at the top. Top the jar with any sauce left in the bowl. Loosely close with a lid (see Tip). Wash your hands and rinse off the jar.
• Let the jar of kimchi begin fermenting on the kitchen counter at room temperature for 2 to 3 days, "burping" it every 12 hours or so, which just means opening the lid to let out any excess build-up of gas. After this, the cabbage should have released even more of its liquid; it's OK if the liquid doesn't completely cover the cabbage at this point, though it may. Refrigerate the kimchi to finish fermenting until it's sour, 2 to 3 weeks and up to 6 months, at which point it will be very, very sour and should be eaten or turned into jjigae. Check (and taste!) the kimchi every 2 to 3 days to familiarize yourself with the fermentation process.

BAEK KIMCHI JJIGAE (WHITE KIMCHI STEW)

Steps:

• In a large pot or Dutch oven, combine the pork, ginger and 3 cups of cold water. Season with salt. Bring to a boil over high, then reduce the heat to a simmer, cover and cook until the pork is tender and almost falling apart, about 2 hours. You should have about 2 cups of pork broth in the pot; add more water if you don't.
• Stir in the kimchi, onion and garlic and continue simmering until the kimchi is very tender and the pork is absolutely falling apart, about 1 more hour. Taste the broth for seasoning, adding fish sauce as desired; otherwise season with more salt.
• Right before serving, garnish the top of the stew with the scallions, break the meat up and serve with the rice.

KIMCHI JJIGAE (KOREAN KIMCHI STEW)

Steps:

• Cut up the pork into bite size pieces.
• Heat the two oils in pot and add the pork.
• Sautee the pork until done.
• Cut up the kimchi into 2 inch pieces.
• Add the kimchi and juice to the pot.
• Add enough water to cover the ingredients.
• Add the Dashida seasoning.
• Bring the stew to a boil.
• Reduce the heat to medium-low to medium (the stew should be simmering at this point).
• Simmer until the kimchi is cooked (it takes me about 20-40 minutes depending on the stove). The kimchi should be tender when done.
• Season with salt if needed. I normally don't, because the Dashida seasoning has salt in it.
• Serve with rice.