Kimchi (also spelt as kimchee), is a traditional Korean dish of fermented chilli peppers with a variety of vegetables, the most

common being made with Chinese cabbage. Its deeply ingrained into Korean culture and whilst it is mostly served as a side dish, it can also be used as a basis for other meals such as fried rice, broths and stews. Many Koreans, myself included, will only last a few days before the cravings kick in and kimchi must be eaten in some shape or form. An example of how much we Koreans love kimchi? In 2005 a report was released that heavy consumption of kimchi could not be very good for your healthand as a result, the professor who released this statement received a variety of death threats. Kimchi is serious business. My mothers kimchi is unlike any other that Ive tasted, and whilst this is probably due to the care she takes with her particular recipe, it is extremely time-consuming (but very very worth it!). So, if youve got a spare weekend with absolutely nothing on your hands, try her famil y recipe for kimchi. By the end, your back will ache, your hands will be pruney and youll have salt and chilli flakes everywherebut youll also have a little slice of fermented heaven.

Mmm, spicy goodness! Now, we usually use about 10 heads of Chinese cabbage (around 20kg of kimchi), but Ive trimmed the recipe down for just 1 head of Chinese cabbage Ingredients 1 fresh Chinese cabbage, dark green outer leaves removed 1 1/2 cup cooking salt 1L water 1 heaped tbsp glutinous rice starch (sticky rice powder, not regular rice powder) 1 cup Korean chilli powder aka gochugaru (not flakes, look for it at your local Korean grocery store) 1/2 cup fish sauce 2 tbsp white sugar 6 spring onions, washed and sliced on an angle into slices about 1-2 long 5 cloves of garlic, crushed 1 knob of ginger, grated 1/4 nashi pear, cored and peeled 1/4 brown onion, peeled 200g white/chinese radish (long and white as opposed to small, round and pink-tinged) 1. Cut the cabbage in halves or quarters, and cut into the stem to remove most of it. 2. Combine 1L water with 1/2 cup of cooking salt into a large bowl, then plunge one half or quarter of cabbage into the water at a time. Carefully seperate the leaves layer by layer and make sure that you get the salted water right to the base of the leaves. 3. Drain water from the cabbage segments, then sprinkle a light layer of cooking salt over each layer of leaves, making sure to get more towards the thick, white base of the leaf rather than the thinner, green end. This is usually done by coating the lower half of your fingers in salt and using a flicking motion. Dont feel that you have to use the ENTIRE 1 cup of salt here just as much as is needed to give the leaves a light sprinkling its hard to judge how much salt you will need/use as it depends on how big and how ripe your cabbage is. 4. Place the cabbage segments into a bowl and leave covered for 5-6 hours, or till cabbage is floppy enough so that the leaves can be bent over, but still make a crisp snapping noise when snapped.

20kg of Chinese/Napa cabbage that has been salted and is now ready to be washed and wrung out before the seasoning process begins! 5. After leaving for 5-6 hours, rinse the lettuce twice in clean water, then squeeze as much water out of the lettuce as humanly possible (yes, squishing the cabbage is perfectly alright), and leave on a strainer for another 15-30 mins to drain the last of the water out.

6. The sauce can be made whilst youre waiting for the cabbage to wilt (in step 4). Combine 1 heaped tbsp of glutinous rice powder with 1/2 cup water in a pot, stir vigorously over a low heat till the mixture has turned white, has a very thick consistancy and bubbles whilst being stirred. 7. Let the rice powder glue cool down, and while its cooling, blend together the garlic, ginger, nashi pear, onion and Chinese radish into a pulpy liquid. Once the rice powder glue is completely cool, stir in the chilli powder, sugar and fish sauce, then pear mix and spring onion and combine well. 8. Lay out the cabbage and coat the front and back of every leaf with this rice chilli paste, making sure that theyre well coated and you havent missed any bits. 9. Once all the cabbage has been coated, press down into an airtight container and store in a cool, dark place for 3 days to aid the fermentation process. Taste it after 3 days, and if the lettuce tastes slightly tangy, soft but with some crunch and spicy, then place in your fridge. This can be stored in your fridge for up to 3 months (if it lasts that long!)

If youve never tried eating this before, Id suggest going to a Korean restaurant to try it first befrore making it, but once you taste this, I guarantee youll come back for more! So, the recipe is time consuming, requires a lot of effort and is very hands on. You have to really be a fan to make it often, but we go through a 10-head batch in about 4-6 weeks, so its usually a monthly process for me and mom

As for how serious we are about our kimchi Id like to introduce you to our kimchi refrigerator. Thats right, a refrigerator dedicated to storing your kimchi and keeping it as tasty as possible. Mr Woofy models next to it to provide a bit of a size comparison. Have you actually read this entire entry? Good grief I demand you go pour yourself a glass of wine and congratulate yourself on suffering through the length of this of anyone trying this most favourite food of ours! Please, anyone who tries this, please let me know how you go as me and mom would love to know