샥 김치 (Shack Kimchi)…
Been making kimchi for over year now and a few people have asked me for a recipe, so this is it! it seems that the sometimes pungent (aroma wise), sometimes funky, often spicy fermented Korean staple; something I never knew existed never mind experienced until first dating my now wife, is on the rise in popularity. It’s not just in the increasing amount of trendy London based Korean restaurants of Soho and Asian fusion joints springing up around the country. I have also seen it pop up in the most unexpected of places. From burgers at a beer festival, to the en vogue street food vendors and also the most unlikely of mainstream high street restaurants like Giraffe (it wasn’t great mind) and suffixed with the word “coleslaw” - I should have known better!
I’m not going to pretend and say that this is a definitive recipe for kimchi or that there aren’t hundreds of variations, I’ve read countless recipes in books and the Internet & I’m close to where I want it to be. The below recipe its an adaptation of some of my favourite 막김치 (mak kimchi - simple kimchi) recipes I call “Shack Kimchi”.
It’s worth noting that it’s not uncommon to find anything between 5-10 different types of kimchi in the average 냉장고 (naengjang-go - fridge) in Korea, in fact most households will often have a dedicated fridge. Popular variants use not just Cabbage (배추 - baechu) but spring onions (파 - pah), white radish (무 - mu), cucumber (오이 - oi) and are some of the most widely made, a few of them have special names, like 깍두기 (kkakdugi - white radish kimchi) but I’ll be here all night and day, not to mention wear out the parenthesis keys if I’m to list them all!
I’m currently making batches of 10 or so cabbages as you can see in daft picture above, kindly edited K-Pop style by the misses - 감사합니다! That said unless you have some kimchi crazy Korean friends, a cemented love of fermentation or lots of empty containers kicking around just waiting to be put to good use, I suggest starting a bit smaller - got all these bases covered here luckily. The below should make enough to fill 2 x 1 litre mason jars with some left over to eat fresh I’ll give you an idea what to do with that another time but there’s a clue in the picture…
Essential:
3-4 large Chinese Leaf (Napa) Cabbages (more if small)
*Below optional additions but non essentials:
2 carrots (grated) ½ onion blended (makes the spice pop add to seasoning if using) ½ apple - julienned (adds some nice sourness) ½ pear - julienned (adds some sweetness) 1 small white radish / daikon / mooli - cut into 1cm thick discs & halved, so bite size 1 x Bunch spring onions - roughly chopped 1-2 mild-hot fresh chillies (definitely optional)
*Combine / leave out some of the above till you get your preferred combination. After a few attempts at making your kimchi you should be where you want to be taste wise, personally I like “kitchen-sink kimchi” and some of all of the above is a winner in my book.
Brine:
½ cup coarse sea salt (less if using finer salt) 6 cups water
Seasoning:
½ - 1 cup Gotchugaru (go easy first time round, also it really is best to try & get this, rather that subbing with another chilli flake or powder) it’s what lends your kimchi a kick and gives it that deep red / burnt orange hue.
4 tablespoons Aekjeot - I put more, add to taste after mixing, this is Korean Fish sauce, like the pepper flakes it’s really best to find this if possible, but here you could resort to Thai fish sauce if struggling to find.
¼ cup minced garlic 2 teaspoons finely grated ginger 1 tablespoon sugar
Method:
Cut cabbage & radish (if using), into bite size chucks and put into sink I use a large cheap pound shop container shown in aforementioned daft picture, as our sink is a bit small. Wash, rinse, discard any dead leaves / dirt from cabbage and drain.
Combine water & salt into brine solution and add to cabbage in sink,mix thoroughly. Leave cabbage in sink for at least 1 hour, mix salt water through cabbage a couple of times during hour. You should notice the volume of the cabbage visibly shrink.
Afterwards wash the cabbage thoroughly in fresh water. Use colander to drain the cabbage once removed from water, you can also squeeze out any excess water out with your hands.
I suggest you make up the seasoning ingredients whilst cabbage is soaking. When cabbage drained, take half cabbage and half seasoning mix and blend together in a large bowl / container / stock pop, unless you have something big enough, it’s easier to do in two batches. If you have a big enough container you can mix all in one go. But doing like this does ensure that all the ingredients are properly mixed together.
경고 (WARNING): if you have sensitive skin or don’t fancy burning yourself in delicate areas (the eyes damn it, I meant the eyes) I suggest using plastic gloves, hell go “housewife” and use marigolds for all I care but even if you can stand the eat, the smell of all that garlic, chilli and ginger lingers on the fingers, if you go “Kimchi Commando!!”
Now fill & leave your kimchi in the mason jars out on the side for about a week, this will kick start the fermentation process. After this you can put it in the fridge and keep for a couple of months or so and eat as and when you wish. During the week it’s out on the counter, you can sporadically taste it till it reaches your desired sourness.
Other great kimchi recipes from around the internets, some call for different methods (porridge) or ingredients (oysters or salted shrimp), like a house beer, it’s all about preference…
Korean Bapsang Beyond Kimchi Aeri’s Kitchen Maangchi - emergency kimchi, using white cabbage
