Kimchi韩国泡菜hán guó pào cài

Years ago I tried kimchi it was not, I must admit, my favorite food. I was wholly converted after one day I had tasted an amazing Kimchi-flavoured dish. Once you’ve tried the homemade Kimchi, you may never want to go back to the supermarket anymore. The homemade Kimchi is ready to eat after two days of fermentation in the fridge. It can be stored in the fridge for up to 5 months. The flavour, by then, maybe too pungent for the vegetable to be eaten raw. But at this stage, it is perfect to flavour any cooked dishes.

• ½ head (1000g )  Napa cabbage 大白菜
• 40g                       sea salt

Marinade

• 25g                                    glutinous rice flour糯米粉
• 200g                                  water
• 1 pear                                remove the core and minced
• 60ml                                  fish sauce鱼露
• 60g                                    korean red chili powder韩国辣椒面
• 1 tablespoon                  garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon                   ginger, minced
• 25g                                  Chinese chive, 韭菜，cut into 5-6cm in length
• 1 tablespoon                  shrimp paste虾酱 (optional)
• 1 teaspoon                      caster sugar
• ½ teaspoon                      salt

Method

1. Prepare the cabbage: Wash the cabbage. Make a deep cut across the base of the head of and split it in two. Put in in a large bowl. Sprinkle with the sea salt. Make sure to coat between the leaves and let sit for 4-5 hours.
2. Prepare the glutinous rice paste: Add 25g of the glutinous rice flour to a sauce pot with 200g water over medium heat and, stir continuously, bring to a boil. When it turns to ‘glue’, turn off the heat and continue stir it until it cools down a bit. I removed it from the pan and put it in a bowl in the fridge to really chill out a bit while I tended to the rest of the recipe.
3. Prepare the red chili paste: core and mince the pear, combine together with fish sauce, red chili powder, minced garlic, ginger, Chinese chive, shrimp paste, sugar and salt. Mix well. Then add prepared glutinous rice paste. Mix well.
4. Prepare the kimchi: Rinse the now-softened cabbage under running water. Drain the cabbage and remove as much water as you can. Place the cabbage into a large bowl and coat with the red chili paste, ensuring the paste goes between the leaves that no leaf is left uncovered. Place them in an airtight container.
5. Fermentation: Place the container in the fridge. The Kimchi is ready to eat after two days. Kimchi can be stored in the fridge for up to 5 months. The flavour, by then, maybe too pungent for the vegetable to be eaten raw. But at this stage, it can be used to flavour cooked dishes.