.
Post by Portia
.
Hey there crew,
As you know Jin is South Korean. One of the most important dishes in the South Korean cuisine is Kimchi. Since he moved to Australia he has been buying his Kimchi pre made in bulk. Recently though he decided he was homesick for his families recipe. So he rang his Mum & Dad and got the details and then our house smelled like a South Korean outdoor food market for an afternoon.
So this photo happened on my FaceBook. A couple of my mates asked for the recipe. OK, but every family in South Korean family has their own recipes, often handed down over centuries. Sometimes melding different families recipes through marriage. So today Jin is going to give you two of his families recipes. They are really simple to make and not very expensive either.
Here Jin has added both of today’s Home Made Kimch Recipes with roast pork and sliced garlic cloves, wrapped in a lettuce leaf and eaten in one mouthful.
Chinese Cabbage Kimchi
This is what most people think of when they think Kimchi, it’s the most readily available in the store pre-made.
1 Chinese cabbage
1 cup of Sea Salt
About 10 cups of Water
1 Onion (+/- up to you)
2 or 3 Shallot/Scallions (+/- up to you)
- Cut Chinese cabbage into quarters, remove core and then cut about 5cm strips
- Submerge in sea salt and cold water
- Leave it for 2-3 hours until it gets soggy
- Mix all the ingredients for the sauce (it needs time for chili power to get wet and swell)
- Cut onion in 1cm strips and shallots 2-3cm
- Wash Chinese Cabbage with fresh water 3 or 4 times until all the salt is washed off
- Drain the water
- Mix the sauce, cabbage and onion together
- Add shallot and mix
- Leave for a minimum of 1 hour before eating but overnight in the fridge is better (gets more sour the longer it’s left)
- Done
Radish Kimchi
Now, this Kimchi is traditionally made to go ONLY with boiled pork on celebration days but Jin loves it so much he’s eating it with everything.
1 Large Daikon Radish
3 tbsp of Sea Salt
1/4 cup Sesame Seeds (+/- up to you)
1/4 cup Sesame Oil
- Peel large Radish, cut into 1cm discs, then cut discs into 1cm straws (like McDonalds French Fries)
- Apply sea salt and mix together
- Leave it for 30min-1 hour until it gets soggy, you must be able to bend the Radish straw without it snapping.
- Mix all the ingredients for the sauce (it needs time for chili power to get wet and swell)
- Wash Radish with fresh water 3 or 4 times until all the salt is washed off
- Drain the water
- Mix the sauce with Radish (by hand is easier)
- Add Sesame Seeds & Sesame Oil
- Leave for a minimum of 1 hour before eating but overnight in the fridge is better (gets more sour the longer it’s left)
- Done
Kimchi Sauce
This sauce combines with the vegetables and starts a fermentation process. After a few days sitting in your fridge it make lots of lactobacillus with a sour taste. Very good for your digestive system health, much like yoghurt. It should last up to a year in the fridge, getting more sour as it ages. Originally Korean farmers would do this at harvest time so they could have vegetables through the winter, like Westerners pickle.
1 cup of chili powder
1/2 cup of fish sauce
2/3 cup of crushed garlic
3 tbs of sugar
- Put all ingredients together in a bowl
- Mix all the ingredients quickly
- When fully combined it will look like a thick paste
- Set aside till needed
- It takes an hour or so for chili power get properly wet and swell
- Mix into ready vegetables
- Done
With love from our family to yours,
Jin & Portia xxx
Australian Perfume Junkies 
Wow! The APJ community are so blessed to have such generous souls as Portia and Jin! I discovered Kim Chee when I lived awhile in East Asia, many,many years ago. I have always bought shop made, but cannot wait to try these recipes. Thank you!
LikeLike
Hey Bernadette Winfield-Gray,
Jin is really excited to share. He hopes you enjoy them but wants you to know they will taste a little different to the shop bought ones.
Portia xx
LikeLike
Portia, this is such a brilliantly healthy and tasty way to get your veggies. There is a real buzz around fermented food now.
I bet Jin is so pleased he went to the effort of learning to make his own family receipe Kimchi. Bet you’re pretty pleased too!
LikeLike
Hey Tara,
Yes, it was the only way the Koreans could have vegetables through the winter. They are a very healthy crowd in general so it must be working.
Me? Nope. Sorry. I don’t like the taste of fish in it.
Portia xx
LikeLike
Thank you for this post, I am bookmarking it!
Fermented things are my new craze, and a garden full of cabbagey stuff has inspired me to try this. Jin has found an adventurous eater with you…
LikeLike
Hey JackieB,
All your vegetables can be treated like this and they pickle beautifully.
I am not an adventurous eater really. The taste of fish can make me gag. So while I love how all this stuff looks it is not delicious for me. Then again, if I was really hungry it would look like manna from heaven.
Portia xx
LikeLike
Holy Cow. Epic. I love kimchi and ate it by the ton in Amsterdam. I will make these recipes up after London. Drool. 🙊
LikeLike
Val, I knew you would get excited about this. Part of the reason I asked Jin for the recipe was so you, and hopefully daisy, could have a go.
Portia xx
LikeLike
Thank you Jin and Portia for these great recipes! Every once in awhile we do Kimchi making parties hosted by Korean friends. We hang out all day and together make mass quantities of various kinds of Kimchi. Then we eat it fresh and and everyone gets to take home what they like the best. I especially love Radish Kimchi. I won’t wait for the next party and will make these recipes myself! Thank you again!
LikeLike
YAY!! Always excellent to add your own knowledge to the herd. Jin is so excited that you’re all interested.
Hopefully you can take some to your Korean friends, see if they like it too.
Portia xx
LikeLike
Portia/Jin great recipes, thank you. One technical question ;-), what kind of radish are you using? Here, in the Netherlands, a radish typically is a marble size reddish thingy. Is the radish you are using a daikon? Of if it is a Korean radish, what is it flavour? Maybe like kolhrabi (if you are familiar with that)?
LikeLike
Hi Hamamelis,
Yes, a Daikon radish. They are nearly as big as Jin’s forearm. White with green near the top.
Portia xx
LikeLike
I think I’ve only ever had the store bought stuff. This reminds me of the time I attempted to make my own sauerkraut. It went okay until it really started to ferment and stink the whole house up. Hubband made me get rid of it. I will give this a try. It seems much easier than sauerkraut. Hopefully less aromatic too.
LikeLike
The secret is Tupperware Poodle. Jin keeps those stinks all locked away till he is eating. Quite fragrant though when he’s eating it.
Portia xx
LikeLike
OMG Portia! Please thank Jin from me – I will certainly give this a go. It looks so delicious and fragrant! Hugs from all of us. Sandra xoxo
LikeLike
Hey Sandra,
Jin is really chuffed that you guys are going to try it. Excellent with schnitzel, he says.
Portia xx
LikeLike
I will say Kimchi is to Korea what Sushi is to Japan.
LikeLike
HA! Sure is.
Portia x
LikeLike
I am blessed to have a Korean Nephew-in-Law; his granny makes hers, then puts in it pots and buries them in her backyard. SO much deliciousness. Thanks for sharing!
LikeLike
WOW! That’s the really old fashioned way. Most city families now have a special kimchi fridge as well as their regular fridge.
Portia xx
LikeLike
Please thank Jin for sharing this photo recipe it’s a great idea and I will make the cabbage one for sure!! Yum xx
LikeLike
Anna-Maria,
He’s so cute about it. Very excited everyone is interested in Korean cuisine.
Portia xx
LikeLike
Absolutely delightful, and I’m excited about my at-home probiotics. I loved the pictures! Thank you.
LikeLike
Welcome Shiva-woman,
enjoy.
Portia xx
LikeLike
This is so exciting – thank you for sharing the family recipes! I normally get my kimchi from a Korean restaurant down the road but I’m so going to try my hand at these now! I absolutely love Korean food and all the wonderful, generous (and fierce!) people there – spent a few weeks in South Korea some years ago and it was one of the best trips I ever did. Can’t wait to return!
LikeLike
Hey Hanna,
I love Korean BarBQ and they do interesting dumplings. They are my saviours in South Korea because I’m not a fan of seafood or offal (BOTH Jin’s favourites).
Isn’t South Korea gorgeous?
Portia xx
LikeLike
Thank you for sharing your recipes! I love Kimchi! I recently discovered a Korean store in Grand Rapids, I was over the moon to finally have a place to buy the products to make the Korean dishes.
LikeLike
Hi Hazel,
How much fun is it going through the Korean stores? Their biscuits and cookware seem so far advanced on our own. I also love their Welshs soft drinks, YUMMY!
Portia xx
LikeLike
WOOHOO – I have been making do with storebought, but now, I may just have to try making it
LikeLike
You MUST!! try it Tena.
Portia xxx
LikeLike
Thank you for these. I enjoy kimchi and can buy it ready-made from a Korean supermarket near me (and it’s good!), but I always wanted to know how to make my own.
LikeLike
Hi PattyS.
You’re welcome. I hope your whole family enjoys these recipes and passes them down to their future generations.
Portia xx
LikeLike
OmGosh! OmGosh!!! I am so sharing this with my daughter. When she lived in Houston she would go a local Korean market where women would sell their homemade kimchi from stalls. Of course she had her favorite. She’s now found a source near her new apartment near SF. I’m pretty sure she’ll love making this since she loves to cook. And lucky me, I’m pretty sure she will share the results of her labor with me. I love kimchi!
Thanks for so generously sharing these home food recipes with us.
LikeLike
Hey Tatiana,
Woo Hoo! I hope your daughter gets excited and has a go.
Also fingers crossed that she shares.
Portia xx
LikeLike
This is awesome… I’ve been thinking about making my own Kimchi for a while now. I’ll have to try it out:)!
LikeLike
Hey Lauren,
You’re welcome.
Jin is so chuffed that people are excited about these. It’s nice when his culture, and something so personal, gets recognised.
Portia xx
LikeLike