Kitchen Garden Journal

My recent batch: daikon radish with its greens, napa with carrots and pears

From watching Maangchi I’ve come to understand that kimchi is comprised of essentially two elements: a salted vegetable and a “sauce” of salt, sugar, hot pepper powder and aromatics like garlic, ginger, and scallions. It takes a little thinking ahead to salt the vegetables but it comes together very quickly and you can eat it for months.

For the salted cabbage:
1 head napa cabbage
Kosher salt or sea salt
For the kimchi sauce:
1 ½ cups water
¼ cup rice flour or AP flour
¼ cup sugar
½ cup fish sauce or 1 ½ Tbsp salt
½ daikon radish, cut into julienne strips
1 head garlic, minced
½ inch piece of ginger, minced
½ cup Korean hot pepper powder
3 scallions cut into 2” pieces

Method:
Wash the head of cabbage, carefully rinsing any dirt away from the base of the outer leaves. Pat dry and cut cabbage into 4 quarters. The leaves should be attached at the core. In a large bowl or wash basin sprinkle the cabbage quarters all over and between the leaves with the salt, massaging gently. Leave for approximately 1 hour. Turn the cabbage over and leave for another hour. You will see that the leaves have wilted considerably and a lot of liquid has accumulated. Rinse the cabbage in three changes of water, squeeze them gently to expel the water and set aside.

Meanwhile, assemble the ingredients for the sauce. Mix the water and flour in a small pan and bring to a boil, stirring constantly.  When the mixture thickens and begins to bubble, turn off the heat and allow to cool. Add the sugar and fish sauce or salt. Add the other ingredients and mix well. It should be a gravy-like texture and sticky, not watery. Taste it. It should taste like kimchi but sweeter. It should not be overly salty tasting. If it’s not spicy enough for your taste you can add more hot pepper. Same goes for the garlic, etc. In addition to the daikon, you can add other vegetables if you like, such as carrots.

Spread the sauce all over the cabbages and between the leaves and put them into a plastic container with any of the remaining sauce. Leave it out at room temperature for 1 day, then refrigerate. You can eat it right away or wait a while. The flavor will gradually go from sweet to sour as it ferments. It will keep indefinitely, but it is best if eaten within 2-3 months. To serve, cut cabbage with scissors into bite sized pieces.
Watch Maangchi make it here.

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This winter while reading David Chang's Momofuku cookbook I pledged to myself to make pickling our vegetables a regular part of my repertoire. I have yet to do it, but I was inspired by his simple brine recipe and laid-back approach to the process (see recipe below, via Esquire). Pickling really can be an everyday activity; it doesn’t have to mean canning or some huge production. For a step-by-step with great photos, check out this blog.

I’ve also been noticing a veritable pickling obsession sweeping the food blogs (see photo, via White on Rice Couple). What better way than pickling to highlight individual vegetables, or to capture a moment in time in the frenzy of the season when crops come and go so quickly? Especially since so many of these fleeting vegetables lend themselves to the simple process. It’s not just cucumbers. Baby carrots, beets, sweet turnips, radishes, fennel, cabbage, garlic scapes, spring onions—what can’t be pickled? I’ll leave that one to you.

Momofuku's Vinegar Pickles

For brine:

    * 1 cup very hot tap water

   * 1/2 cup rice-wine vinegar

    * 6 tbsp sugar

    * 2 1/4 tsp kosher salt

    * (Optional: 1 tsp coriander seeds)

For veggies:

    * 2 lbs whole baby carrots, scrubbed, peeled, and trimmed

    * 3 bulbs fennel

Instructions:

Pack carrots (for larger ones, cut them length-wise, so they are snack size) and fennel (core and cut into 1/8-inch strips) into mason jars or 1-qt plastic containers, cover with brine, close lid, and refrigerate. They'll be ready in four days. Most will keep for up to a month.

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