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