Mak Kimchi Food

EASY, FAST KIMCHI RECIPE {MAK KIMCHI}

Steps:

• Cut the napa cabbage in half longways, then in half again longways. Cut the core out of the four quarters. Cut the cabbage into squares (about 2-3 inches square), pop it in a bowl with the carrots. Sprinkle with the 1/2 cup kosher salt, massage so everything is coated in salt and starting to soften and wilt. Fill with cold, chlorine free water to cover it well and let it soak for at least 1 1/2 hours.
• Pour the cabbage and carrots and liquid into a strainer. Let the brine drain away.
• Lob off the white bits of the green onions and put them in a food processor with the garlic cloves, ginger, miso paste, and korean pepper powder. Zap it on high 'til it's smooth-ish. Add in the fish sauce and a couple of slops of pear juice and zap it more until it's about pancake batter consistency... maybe a bit thinner.
• Put the brined cabbabe/carrots in a big, anti-reactive (glass, enamel, or stainless steel) bowl. Rough chop the green parts of the onions and add those to the cabbage/carrots. Pour the chili paste combo over the cabbage and wear gloves to massage it all over the cabbage/carrots green onions so everything is completely covered.
• Pack super tight in canning jars. CRAM it in there. Add a two-piece lid, but just set the ring in place to hold the lid down without screwing it in place. Place it on a rimmed baking dish to catch any spill-over. Let it sit at room temperature for up to 72 hours, until it is bubbly and fragrant. Once every day, insert a clean chopstick or butterknife to release air bubbles. If needed, pour in some additional brine to keep all the vegetables submerged.
• Store on a rimmed sheet in the refrigerator for up to six months, being sure that the vegetables are submerged the whole time. The older it gets, the stronger it will become.

MAK KIMCHI

Steps:

• Brining: Slice the cabbage lengthwise into quarters. Cut out and discard the core. Cut each quarter crosswise into 2-inch pieces.
• Combine the water and salt in a large bowl and stir to dissolve. Add the cabbage and toss well to coat with brine. Leave for 4 hours, tossing every hour.
• Drain the cabbage well, then spread the cabbage out on a baking sheet and gently pat dry with paper towels.
• Pasting (optional): While the cabbage is brining, make the sweet rice flour paste. In a small saucepan, combine the rice flour with a cup of cold water and whisk vigorously to fully dissolve the flour. Gently heat to a simmer over medium-low heat, stirring frequently. (Be sure to scrape the bottom of the saucepan, as the rice flour has a tendency to settle there.) Simmer until the mixture thickens and becomes glossy and gelatinous, 2 to 3 minutes.
• Saucing: Pulse the garlic and ginger in a blender. Add the apple, onion, fish sauce, salted shrimp and sugar and puree until everything is well broken down--no need to overdo it.
• Empty the contents of the blender into a large bowl. (If you're using the rice paste, add it now and stir well, to fully incorporate.) Add the gochugaru to the bowl and mix well.
• This is the point at which things get messy. Suit up with a pair of clean latex gloves. (Dish gloves-well-washed, of course-will do perfectly well.) Add the scallion and carrot to the bowl and, with your gloved hands, work it all together to coat the vegetables with sauce. Do the same with the cabbage, gently massaging sauce into cabbage.
• Firmly pack the cabbage mixture into clean, quart-size mason jars, pressing as you go to remove any air pockets. Leave 1 inch of headroom in the jars to allow for expansion during fermentation. Press a small sheet of plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the cabbage and seal the jars tightly.
• Fermenting: Refrigerate the jars, set on a plate to catch leaks. In a week, the kimchi will be fresh, very lightly fermented and pretty darn tasty. In two weeks, as the fermentation really kicks into gear, the kimchi will ascend to a whole other plane of awesome. Kimchi keeps for months, getting increasingly pungent over time. Dig in and enjoy it every step of the way.

KIMCHI

Steps:

• Place the cabbage in a large bowl, sprinkle with 2 tablespoons (17 grams) of the salt, and toss to coat. After 15 minutes, massage and squeeze the cabbage until it begins to release liquid. Set aside for another 15 minutes, then massage again and set aside for another 15 minutes.
• Place the daikon in a medium bowl and season with the granulated sugar and 1 teaspoon of the salt. Set aside for 15 minutes.
• Whisk the gochugaru, water, brown sugar, and the remaining 1 teaspoon salt in a third medium bowl to form a coarse paste.
• To make the kimchi flavor paste, use either a mini-food processor, mortar and pestle, or immersion blender and a jar to puree the pear, onion, 10 grams (about 1/6) of the ginger, 6 grams (about 1/4) of the garlic, and the salted shrimp until smooth. Add this to the gochugaru mixture and stir to combine.
• Squeeze as much liquid as you can from the daikon without breaking the pieces and add to the cabbage, along with the scallions, the remaining ginger and garlic, and the kimchi paste.
• Position a gallon-size zip-top bag inside a pitcher or some other vessel that will allow it to be held open for loading. Wearing disposable gloves, mix the kimchi paste into the cabbage mixture with your hands, being sure to thoroughly coat the cabbage with the paste (see Cook's Note).
• Transfer the mixture to the plastic bag, then ditch the gloves and seal the bag, working out as much air as possible. The lactic acid bacteria that will magically transform the humble ingredients into kimchee prefer anaerobic environments.
• Place the sealed bag flat on a sheet pan or large baking dish and leave at room temperature until the mixture has bubbled enough to inflate the bag, at least 24 hours, but possibly up to 3 days. Transfer the kimchi and its liquid into two wide-mouthed quart-size glass jars with lids and refrigerate. Consume immediately for very fresh kimchi, or leave it for a month for a kimchi that's deeply flavored, well-rounded, and slightly effervescent.
• Refrigerated, kimchi will basically never go bad and will actually improve in flavor for months after going into the jar. Cooking will mellow its flavors, so if it gets too funky for you, it's time to make kimchi fried rice.

QUICK KIMCHI

Steps:

• Slice the cabbage into 2.5cm strips. Tip into a bowl, mix with 1 tbsp sea salt, then set aside for 1 hr. Meanwhile, make the kimchi paste by blending the garlic, ginger, fish sauce (if using), chilli sauce, sugar and rice vinegar together in a small bowl.
• Rinse the cabbage under cold running water, drain and dry thoroughly. Transfer to a large bowl and toss through the paste, along with the radishes, carrot and spring onions. Serve straight away or pack into a large jar, seal and leave to ferment at room temperature overnight, then chill. Will keep in the fridge for up to 2 weeks - the flavour will improve the longer it's left.