Project Kimchi - home fermentation

@naf
@tomatotomato

Ok!! So i am officially making this really easy recipe for white kimchi from Maangi on new year’s day! So many websites made me think i needed special jars and weights and blahblah but no. Just a big container with a lid (now on its way from amazon), and the white kimchi is vegan and not spicy (i’m a big wimp maybe i’ll do slightly spicy for the next batch).
Her video is fabulous (of course, i adore Maangi!) and it just looks like a totally doable easy recipe. I’ll omit the chestnuts and jujubee so i can pick up ingredients at my regular grocery store.
https://www.maangchi.com/recipe/baekkimchi

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The recipe looks good. I wonder if it is similar to what I ate yesterday in the restaurant. I guess it was different, as I didn’t see other vegetables on the cabbage. I felt it was slightly fermented, DH said he sensed fish sauce. Given the fact that only a few days is needed for Maangi’s white kimchi, I might give this a try. All the different types of kimchi I ate yesterday wasn’t so spicy, but I couldn’t do the red chili pepper, I ate a piece or 2, my head got all red for at least 15 minutes.

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Yes that does look like white kimchi! There are really as many recipes for kimchi as there are grandmas in Korea is what i have been told by my very good friend who is korean and spoiled silly by her mother in law who makes all their kimchi, she said she is trying to learn but lacks motivation! Haha, i kinda don’t blame her :wink:
That same website has lots of different kinds of kimchi recipes so i figure i’ll just make a new one every month of 2018!

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That looks like an interesting recipe. I’ve been wanting to make Kimchee for a while. Reading the recipe though, I must have the wrong sort of Jujubees in mind…

Haha, yeah not the ones from Seinfeld! If you poke around the second link i posted there are some more involved versions with shrimp paste and fish sauce and spicy stuff- or the recipe for “emergency kimchi” was a close second choice for me, minimal easy to find ingredients and ready to eat like within a day- i just didn’t think it would execute well with my own modifications to be not spicy or fishy so for my first go i’ll follow the white kimchi recipe closely before i mess with it too much.

Project Kimchi is underway…!! I should have shredded my bell pepper and carrots a bit smaller, and i screwed up a little that i used the asian pear shredded for stuffing the leaves instead of blended to flavor the brine… (oops!) but it wasn’t an overly sweet one so hopefully it doesn’t make the kimchi taste sweet. Now it’s stuffed and in my giant bowl with a plate and some cans ontop to keep it submerged, loosely covered with a clean dish towel and ontop of my fridge for a few days. I’ll taste it Thursday and see if it’s funky enough. Photo is just half of the cabbage, i used one that was just over three pounds, this was after it had been salted. I’ll update once it’s ready to eat!

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I made this not long ago using David Chang’s “standard” kimchi recipe. Have tried different vegs but my favourites remain cucumber, daikon and bean shoots.

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I am totally FLABBERGASTED at how GOOD this is!!! You can’t tell in the photo but there are super tiny little bubbles from the ferment and the broth has that awesome kimchi funk flavor!
I obviously didn’t shred the veg fine enough and my stuffing and wrapping was a bit of a fail but i had to cut the cabbage smaller to eat anyhow. And i really like the shredded asian pear so that was a happy mistake.
This was soooo easy and fast and made a TON, i’m just upset with myself i didn’t do this months ago…

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Didn’t the Korean use mandolin to shred to save time? How many days did for the fermentation?
Good to know the pear works well.

I did use a mandolin but not fine enough… the fermentation was soo fast! Just since monday, so basically 72 hours or so. I think in warmer weather when my apt is warmer it could be shorter, i tasted yesterday and it wss almost there but i like a more funky flavor and gave it another day.

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Keep notes! It’s handy to have a record of weights, temperature, etc. I’m always sure I’ll remember and then have a perfect batch that I can’t seem to replicate…

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Oooh, that’s a great idea! I’m kind of terrible about doing that in general but i do want to make sure i replicate this kimchi again- it’s so tasty i keep snacking on it!

Interesting read. The quantity of kimchi they are making! Didn’t know they have a special kimchi fridge.

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I don’t know if I posted this before, but these were my first batches of kimchi and sauerkraut. I googled like crazy for the sauerkraut, then winged it best I could. For the kimchi, I used the recipe from Gjelina.

I put fennel seed in my sauerkraut, meaning to add caraway, realized my mistake, added caraway, so ended up with both. It came out wonderful, with a subtle “can’t put my finger on it” flavor. The kimchi was a bit mild fo my taste, but fizzed beautifully. I’ve made several batches of each since then, with varying proportions and ingredients.

I don’t use garlic or shrimp/oyster/anchovy in my kimchi, and I don’t miss it. Even when buying kimchi at the Korean markets, I look for vegan versions, which are not too difficult to find (if you don’t mind reading the labels of the many, many varieties available).

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Hi @Ttrockwood, you inspired me to try white kimchi. Before reading your post I never knew that it existed. But this is a kimchi that my wife can eat, because she avoids anything too spicy, and that my daughter can eat, because she dislikes the taste of fermented fish. And it’s great for vegetarian friends. And it’s delicious. So thanks.

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Yay! Yes, i am such a spice wimp myself but it has such a great flavor from the fermentation process.
So glad you discovered a tasty new to you food :):grin:

I make tons of Kim Chee, with varying recipes. One secret is to mix the vegetables with a little juice from some fresh Kim Chee, before packing into the crock, like a sourdough starter. It speeds up the ferment and gives the good bacteria a head start. If you really like 'kraut, Kim Chee and other fermented veggies, it really helps to get one of those crocks that have a water channel to seal out air-let gas escape. Ceramic disk weights should be bought from the same company selling the crocks. These really save time and increase success and quality. I’ve got everything from a half-gallon mason jar (with air lock), to a six gallon Harsch crock. Made a bunch of NY style Kosher dill pickles a couple years back. They were great; wish I wrote down the recipe! Despite what some authors say, you want an airtight/no oxygen, anaerobic brine environment for the lactic acid bacteria to thrive. I got my supplies from the sausagemaker.com, but lots of places are selling fermentation crocks. If you get a big one, make sure you have a hand truck-they are heavy.

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Does that improve the complexity of the flavors?

Am I just having a brain malfunction or does this sentence not make any sense… I wonder if OP meant to say “with a little juice from some aged kimchee”…

To clarify: once you have some Kim Chee bubbling away, you can use a little of that juice to start a new batch/culture, provided it’s reasonably fresh. After some weeks (4-5?), the sourness climbs and the Lactic acid bacteria viability drops. If you’re starting from scratch, it often helps to buy a small commercial jar of Kim Chee and add a couple tablespoons of that juice to your new culture, if the commercial Kim Chee hasn’t been sitting around for ages. Adding a starter is especially important for me when I’ve got big batches, 9 lbs of ingredients or more. the ferment goes faster and more predictably. Usually, in 2-4 days, it’s ready to be transferred to the fridge.

As to complexity of flavor: no, it just gets the good bacteria overwhelming the culture. For complexity, you can add seaweed strips, garlic chives, green onion, Gochujang (very important), different Brassicas, like Wrapped-Heart Mustard= Kekkyu Takana, smooth radish leaves=Hong Vit or Shunkyo. I once used some Katsuobushi shavings and that was excellent, if you don’t mind the fishy, smoky highlights. This was imported from Japan-whole, authentic Katsuobushi. That’s what I use for Dashi, and it’s good in Kim Chee. Fish sauces really affect flavors, too (if you use them). I like Red Boat. By adding lots of ginger and Gochujang, the fishy flavors get muted, diffused. If you omit the fish sauce, you lose the umami punch in flavor. A substitute could be Tianjin Preserved vegetable, comes semi dried in little ceramic urns. Usually used in soups, it is a dried fermented cabbage product that picks up umami components in the drying process. It’s really salty, so use sparingly. That would be a vegan alternative.

Hope this helps!

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