Cold Weather Kimchi Three Ways

Cold Weather Kimchi Three Ways

I love Kimchi, just about every type I have tried. Granted, there are over 200 variations and I have tasted about 10, to date the only type I am not fond of is the Pumpkin Kimchi...but then i detest almost everything pumpkin other than jack-o-lanterns.  So I decided to make a few to complement my standard cabbage kimchi. The nice thing is that kimchi lasts a while in the refrigerator, its healthy and great for a grab and go side, a nice fried rice, garnish or addition to soup.

Baby Bok Choy Kimchi

Ingredients

1.5 lb Baby Bok-choy

1/3 cup coarse sea salt

1 large onion, sliced thinly

5-6 garlic cloves, minced

1/4" slice ginger, minced

1 tbs raw sugar

3-4 fresh chili’s

3 tablespoon Fish sauce

2 tbs Gochujang (Korean fermented chili paste)

1/2 cup Korean chili flakes

Directions

1. Rinse the Bok Choy to remove any dirt. Drain well.
2. In a large shallow bowl spread Bok Choy and sprinkle sea salt evenly over. Cover and let it sit for 40 minutes.
3. Rinse the Bok Choy in cold water and drain.
4. Mix ½ the onion, garlic, ginger, sugar, fish sauce, and chili paste in a blender until smooth. Chop the fresh chili into rings and mix with paste. Place the mixture in a mixing bowl and add Korean chili flakes, mix well.
5. In a large bowl combine Bok Choy and the sliced onion together. Spread the chili mix through all of the Bok Choy leaves and onion making sure to coat inside and out.
6. Eat as is or let sit for 24 hours on the counter in a covered dish then move to refrigerator.
7. Consume within 2 weeks or so. This is one of those kimchi best served fresh.

Dongchimi (radish water kimchi)

This is literally winter kimchi. It is great stuff, served cold with noodles or some rice. 

Ingredients:

• 5-6 small palm-sized Korean radishes, about 5 pounds’ worth
• ⅓ cup salt
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 ts worth of ginger, minced
• 2-3 green chili peppers, stemmed
• 1 cup worth of Korean pear, cut into chunks (can be replaced with 2 sweet pears)
• 3 scallions  washed and drained
• 1 red onion, sliced into pieces ¼ inch thick
• 2 liters (9 cups) of water
• a large glass jar that can hold 6 quarts (6 liters), or 24 cups.

Directions:

1. Wash the radishes thoroughly to remove any dirt. Slice the ends off and peel the radishes.
2. Place ½ cup course salt in a bowl of water and mix until dissolved. Add whole radishes and let sit for 3 hours then remove the radishes and reserve the salt water.
3.  Layer ginger, garlic onion, pear slices, whole chili and other vegetable with radishes inside a large jar. Make a few holes in red and green chili peppers with a fork before you add them for extra heat and flavor or as I did, slice them into rounds
4. Pour in the brine mixture.
5. Close the lid and let it sit at room temperature for 2-3 days until it ferments. When it ferments, the brine will get a little milky and it will taste a little sour. It will also smell sour and some bubbles will float to the surface. At that point, always store it in the refrigerator and take some out whenever want it.

Radish Top Kimchi

This was one of my favorites. I even took it to school and a few of my students were gutsy enough to try it. It went over well. It is spicy, but not overpowering and retains a great crunch.

 

Ingredients

1lbs radish stems

1 tbs sugar

1 cup onion sliced thin

1” ginger, minced

2 tbs garlic minced

2 chili peppers (green or red) sliced into rings

2 tbs Korean chili flakes

4 tbs fish sauce

Glass jar

Water

3/4 cup salt

Prepare the radish leaves

1.      Cut the stems off of Young radish

2.      Cut into pieces about 3 inches long and put them into a big bowl. Rinse well, remove any dirt or grit.

3.      Sprinkle ½ cup of salt over the stems and mix with your hands. Let it sit for 60 minutes (drain and add salt as needed).

4.      Rinse and drain the salted stems thoroughly. Drain in a colander and set aside.

5.      In a bowl dissolve ¼ cup salt with 4 cups of water and set aside.

6.      Combine the remaining ingredients with the drained stems, pack into a glass jar and pour the salt water over top until just covered.

7.      Let sit out on the counter (covered) for 24 hours then move to refrigerator and eat at leisure. It is delicious with rice or soup.