Easy small batch vegan kimchi

Easy vegan kimchi, the vegan version of Korea’s favourite lacto-fermented condiment. Crunchy napa cabbage, carrot and radish in a flavourful sauce with garlic, ginger and onion.

Kimchi is deep rooted in Korean food culture. Koreans prepare many different types of kimchi but lacto-fermented napa cabbage kimchi is the most well known and has been gaining popularity around the world, crossing cultural boundaries and finding it’s way into menus and homes, including mine!

Korea sees harsh winters and back in the day when fresh veggies were seasonal and not something to be found in supermarkets all through the year, kimchi was a way of preserving vegetables to last through the winter. Kimchi was prepared by families during late winters and half buried under the ground in earthenware pots, where it would slowly ferment and ‘ripen’.

Why make homemade vegan kimchi?

Traditionally, Kimchi is made with fish sauce and fermented shrimp. In recent years, it is possible to find packaged vegan kimchi, but it may still be hard to find ‘fresh‘ vegan kimchi and by the time it reaches you, it may already be very sour. Advantages of making homemade vegan kimchi

• Very easy to make
• Inexpensive
• You get to eat a batch of ‘fresh kimchi'(before fermenting) with hot rice!
• You are in control of the flavour, tweak it to your liking.
• Ripen(ferment) it to suit your taste.

Key Ingredients

Salt

Non – iodized coarse salt is ideal as iodized salt can hamper fermentation. I used Himalayan pink salt. Sea salt, kosher salt can be used too.

Napa Cabbage

Napa cabbage is a Chinese variety of cabbage and is available throughout the year in Asian stores.

SUBSTITUTION – Use regular green cabbage instead.

Vegetables

I like adding carrots, radish, green onions/spring onions in Kimchi. If Asian chives are available, I add a few stalks of chives too.

Rice flour

Glutinous rice flour is traditionally used in making Kimchi. Regular rice flour or even all purpose flour can be used instead.

Gochugaru/Korean red pepper powder

Gochugaru gives Kimchi it’s characteristic red colour. It is available in Asian markets and online. For my Indian tastebuds, Gochugaru is not spicy. However, use less/more of it to suit your taste.

SUBSTITUTION: If Gochugaru is not available, any other dry red pepper can be used to make Kimchi. Coarsely powder dry red chillies and use it in your kimchi. You may need to adjust the quantity depending on how spicy the chilli is.

I once used Indian dry red chillies to make Kimchi. In my opinion, Korean peppers aren’t as spicy as Indian peppers. The color of Kimchi made with Indian chilli wasn’t as bright and the Kimchi was super spicy but nevertheless, it was very tasty.

Procedure

Brining

• Brining is the process of salting Napa cabbage to make it release water.
• To brine, I use about 2 tbsp salt for every pound(approx 1/2 kg) of Napa cabbage.
• After napa cabbage releases it’s water(about 2 hrs), rinse it well in fresh water thrice to remove excess salt. Drain well. It does not need to be dried.

Kimchi paste

• Make a slurry using Rice flour/regular flour. Let it cool.
• Blend cooled rice slurry with ginger, garlic, onion and apple.
• Mix in the Gochugaru, sugar and salt.
• Add julienned carrots, radish and green onions.

Fermenting

Mix Kimchi paste with well drained, brined napa cabbage. You can eat Kimchi fresh at this stage with some hot rice.

How to fill Kimchi into containers

• I like to use airtight glass jars, old pasta bottles do the trick.
• Press kimchi down to remove air pockets.
• Do not fill the jar completely. Leave 2-3 inches of free space on the top for fermentation.

Fermentation/ripening of Kimchi can be done two ways

1. In the refrigerator.

If the kitchen is very warm, I would place kimchi directly in the refrigerator and let it slowly ferment/ripen in the refrigerator. It would take about 2 weeks to ferment.

Traditionally Kimchi is fermented at very low temperatures. Kimchi is prepared just before winter and buried in clay jars where temperature remains close to freezing. In today’s world, people use kimchi refrigerators to maintain a constant low temperature. When making smaller batches, regular refrigerator works just fine!

2. First at room temperature and then in the refrigerator.

In a moderately warm kitchen, kimchi can be ripened on the counter for two days and then be placed it in the refrigerator.

As kimchi ferments or ripens, it releases a little more water from the veggies. You will also see some tiny bubbles, a sign of fermentation. Once fermented, it will have a zing, a slight tartness and the pungency from garlic and ginger mellow to give a more rounded off taste to the kimchi.

Storing and serving

Store Kimchi in the refrigerator and serve cold. Remember to use dry utensils to scoop kimchi out of the jar. Kimchi is best eaten within 1-2 months, after which the texture and flavour aren’t the best. Kimchi past it’s prime can be used in cooking like these mung bean pancakes.

Serve Kimchi with rice or rice porridge for a simple meal or with other sides as part of a meal. Kimchi can also be cooked into dishes like fried rice, mung bean pancakes and kimchi jiggae. I also like to snack on a piece or two when a craving for something savory hits! If you are like my husband, top it on oats for a savory porridge!