Easy small batch vegan kimchi
Lacto fermented Korean spicy condiment made with napa cabbage
Ingredients
For brining
- 3 pound Napa cabbage or use green cabbage instead(approx 1500 grams)
- 1 cup water
- 6 tbsp non-iodized coarse salt
Other vegetables
- ½ cup carrots julienned
- 1 cup radish julienned
- 7 stalks green onions
For Kimchi paste
- 2 tbsp glutinous rice flour/rice flour or use all purpose flour instead
- 1½ cups water or use kombu broth for a fishy taste
- 1 cup Gochugaru/Korean red pepper adjust to suit your taste, check notes for substitution
- 7 cloves garlic
- 1 inch ginger
- ½ yellow onion
- ½ apple optional
- 3 tbsp non iodized coarse salt
- 1 tbsp sugar
Instructions
Brining
- Discard the outermost layer of napa cabbage if dirty.
- Cut napa cabbage into quarters. Remove the stem and cut into bite sized pieces.
- Transfer chopped napa cabbage into a huge bowl.
- Add 6 tbsp coarse salt and 1 cup of water to the napa cabbage.
- Mix well and let it brine for two hours. Mix once every half an hour to distribute the salt. Napa cabbage releases it's water in a few hours.
While cabbage is brining, make rice flour slurry.
- In a saucepan, mix glutinous rice flour with 1½ cups of cold water. Whisk to remove lumps.NOTE: Use kombu(a type of seaweed) broth instead of water for a fishy flavour.
- Set the pan on medium heat and keep stirring until it turns translucent, thickens and turns into a slurry. Turn off the heat.
- Allow the slurry cool down completely.
Wash brined napa cabbage
- Thoroughly wash the brined napa cabbage with fresh water, changing water thrice. This removes the excess salt from the cabbage.
- Drain the cabbage well, there is no need to dry it.
Make kimchi
- Add cooled rice slurry, garlic, ginger, onion, apple into a blender and blend into a paste. Transfer to a bowl.
- Add julienned carrot, radish, chopped green onions into the slurry.
- Add gochugaru or coarsely powdered dry red chillies, salt, sugar. Mix well.
- Add well drained napa cabbage into kimchi paste and mix well.
- Fill kimchi in airtight containers.
- Press down as much as possible to remove air pockets. Let the veggies be submerged in kimchi paste.
- Do not fill containers to the brim. Leave 2 inches of space at the top for fermentation.
Fermenting
- Before fermenting, kimchi can be served with rice as 'fresh kimchi'. Top kimchi with toasted sesame seeds.
- In hot climates, I recommend placing kimchi in the refrigerator and letting it slowly ferment/ripen in the refrigerator. It takes 1-2 weeks to ripen.
- In moderate climates, kimchi can be ripened at room temperature for 1-2 days to accelerate fermentation, before storing in the refrigerator.
- When kimchi ripens/ferments, it releases a little more water from the veggies and you will see some bubbles appear. It will start getting hints of sourness and the flavour gets more rounded.
- Serve kimchi cold from the refrigerator.
- Use kimchi within 1-2 months. When it turns too sour for your liking make these mung bean pancakes to finish off the kimchi.
Video
Notes
- Adjust the quantity of chilli powder to suit your liking.
- For extra umami, to make the slurry, use broth made with kombu and shitake mushroom.
- Everyone likes kimchi at different stages. When making it for the first time, taste every few days to see how it appeals to your palate.
- Use a clean, dry spoon to serve kimchi from the jar. Press down the kimchi before storing it back in the refrigerator.
- Kimchi will continue to ripen in the refrigerator and will get more sour as weeks pass.
- As long as it's not moldy and smells really off, kimchi is good to use.
- Place baking soda/coffee grounds next to kimchi, to remove any kimchi smell from the refrigerator :)