Lacto-Fermented Kimchi

Kimchi is by far my favourite lacto-fermented food ever, and somehow I didn’t know it existed until I was about 19 or 20 years old (I grew up under a rock in a small town in Canada). For ages, I haven’t been able to find good quality gochugaru to make the most traditional kimchi possible with clean ingredients, but recently I caved and invested in 100% organic sun-dried Korean grown gochugaru from Revolution Fermentation by Crazy Korean Cooking, as a treat. As far as I know, this is currently the only way to source certified organic gochugaru in Canada, other than growing organic chilis (nearly impossible in this harsh climate), and grinding them on my own. What an ordeal… but so worth it. The combination of onion, ginger, garlic, and chili with the hint of sweetness from the maple is just the best.

The more common Italian chili flakes are great in other recipes, but are essentially sacrilege when used in something claiming to be kimchi, so I don’t use them here. The best thing about DIY fermentation is that it’s perfect for lazy people: once you throw everything together and let it ferment, you’ll have a massive amount to last you a long time (months and months) while reaping loads of health benefits to maintain the gut (and everything) microbiome. Enjoy a spoonful a day as an easy condiment to brighten up regular meals!

Ingredients

• 1 large organic napa cabbage (5-10 pounds)

• 1/2 cup sea salt + 1 tbsp, divided (or Redmond real salt)

• 1 tbsp organic arrowroot powder (or organic rice flour)

• 1/4 cup pure maple syrup

• filtered, chlorine-free water for both the rinsing of the veggies, and the brine for the napa cabbage

• 4-8 cloves organic garlic, minced

• 1 knob organic ginger root, minced (skin on is fine)

• 1 knob turmeric root, minced (skin on is fine)

• 1 small organic onion, roughly minced (I used 2-3 shallots)

• 1/2 cup wild-caught fish sauce (I used Red Boat brand. You can also use organic tamari or organic coconut aminos, but the taste will fall flat and you won’t get that umami flavour.)

• 3/4 cup organic gochugaru (Korean red chili flakes. Do not, under any circumstance, use Italian chili flakes, as this will make the kimchi bad and wrong)

• 2 cups organic green onion, sliced (size is up to you, I like about 1-inch long slices)

• 1/4 cup organic carrots, julienned (about 1-2 medium carrots)

• 1 cup organic radish, cubed or sliced into batons (ideally something like daikon or hakurei turnips, but I used red radishes)

• 1-2 large glass jars with air tight lids, cleaned and rinsed out (sanitized) with a bit of hot, boiled filtered water

Instructions

1. Trim any discoloured or otherwise nasty leaves from the outer cabbage. Cut up the cabbage lengthwise into 4 long pieces, and remove the cores. Slice each piece into bite-sized chunks. Rinse the cabbage.

2. Place the cabbage slices into a large bowl/basin, and season the whole thing with 1/2 cup sea salt. Cover the cabbage with filtered water (this is the brine). Let the cabbage sit on the counter for about 1-1.5 hours, flipping the pieces over every hour or so to disperse the salt water.

3. Meanwhile, make the paste. Put 2 cups of filtered water with the arrowroot/rice flour into a small saucepan and mix well. Bring to a boil, and stir until bubbling, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.

4. About 1-1.5 hours later, rinse the cabbage again thoroughly. Drain and set the cabbage aside in the bowl (I let it sit about 4 hours here, but it still turned out fine. Some recipes call for the brine to sit overnight, you could do this as well. The salt in the brine, as used for thousands of years, will inhibit any bad bacteria).

5. Transfer the paste to a food processor. Add the fish sauce, gochugaru, garlic, ginger, and onion. Blend to reduce into a fine paste (you could alternatively mince everything up with a knife and stir it into a mash in a bowl, but this will be time-consuming. Food processors make the process way quicker, so I highly recommend investing in one).

6. In a medium bowl, add the green onions, radish and carrots. Scrape out the paste into this bowl, and stir to combine the veggies with the paste until your paste is done.

7. In the large bowl, combine the brined cabbage with the kimchi paste until the leaves are well coated—wear gloves, or use utensils if you don’t want to burn your hands with the gochugaru! If your bowl isn’t large enough, just do it in parts. Add the remaining 1 tbsp sea salt to evenly combine for extra insurance during fermentation.

8. Place the kimchi into an air-tight sealed glass jar. Eat fresh right after making, or wait until it’s fermented in about 2-3 weeks. Store the jar(s) in a cool, dark place. Taste test for desired doneness every few days. Once fermented, transfer the jars to the fridge to slow down fermentation and improve the taste.

Tips

• Authentic gochugaru is amazing quality, but incredibly HOT! There are tears in my eyes from the heat as I write this… I’d suggest using gloves or utensils when mixing the paste with the cabbage, and probably keep the serving size to a spoonful at most (unless you know what you’re doing).

• If you do use your bare hands to mix the kimchi, avoid touching your eyes.

• Keeps in the fridge indefinitely (6-12 months minimum, if it even lasts that long…)