I've been watching a lot of Kdrama during this mandatory shelter in place.
Actually, who am I kidding? I had been an addict way before this pandemic started.
Watching all those Kdrama Korean ladies sitting around make large quantities of kimchi while gossiping has inspired me to make my own kimchi. Plus who doesn't need an extra dose of probiotics during these stressful times?
Maangchi is usually my go to person for traditional korean recipes. My friends that have made their own kimchi sent me links for recipes they used as well, but all the recipes required making a traditional sweet rice porridge until I ran across this recipe from foodiewithfamily.com where the base is made with miso paste instead.
The miso paste has probiotics that will help the kimchi ferment. Brilliant! Sounds super easy, and it's the recipe I've been adapting and using since discovering it. I'm sure all the Korean traditionalists are rolling their eyes at me, but it's one of my favorite kimchi recipes and I almost always have all the ingredients on hand. Sometimes, instead of using a 1:1 mix of miso to gochujang, I will make it spicier by swapping out some of the miso for extra gochujang paste.
Please READ safety instructions for fermentation inside FERMENTATION FAQs before starting.
Key points to not get mold in your kimchi: Make sure jars are clean, and ensure that the veggies are below the liquid brine at all times. (If you have fermentation weights, you can use them to submerge the vegetables.) Every day when the jars are still at room temperature fermenting, take a clean pair of chopsticks and insert into the jars to remove trapped air bubbles.
Key tip to ensure kimchi stays crunchy: Cut the napa cabbage into big pieces when brining. Usually, I cut each cabbage leaf into 4 pieces. They lose their texture to the brine when you cut them too small.
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| Ingredients |
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| Julienne carrots, chop onions |
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| Mix miso, gochujang, garlic, ginger, apple, sugar, onions |
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| After 2h brining in salt, wash cabbage and carrots to get rid of excess salt. Wear gloves. Mix cabbage with miso chili paste. |
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| Pack in glass jars and make sure everything is submerged in liquid |
Yields enough to fill 2 quart size jars ¾ of the way (or two 23 oz spaghetti jars filled to 1 inch away from the top)
Ingredients:
- 1 medium head of napa cabbage (about 2 lbs)
- 2 carrots, peeled and julienned
- 3 stalks green onions, chopped
- 1/2 an apple, peeled and grated
- 3 cloves garlic, finely minced
- 1 inch knob of ginger, peeled and grated (about 1 T grated)
- 3 T white miso paste
- 3 T red pepper paste (Go-chu-jang)
- 1 t sugar
- ½ c filtered or spring water
- ¼ c salt
Optional brine ingredients if needed:
- 1 t salt
- 1 c warm spring or filtered water
Procedures:
1. Separate out each leaf from the head of the napa cabbage. Wash napa cabbage leaves and drain in a colander. Cut each leaf into four roughly equal pieces. You don't want to cut them too small or they lose their crunch in the brine. Place cut cabbage in an extra large bowl. Add the ¼ c salt and the julienned carrots and toss to mix. Allow to sit for 2 hours at room temperature, tossing every 30 minutes.
2. In a separate bowl, mix together the miso paste, red pepper paste, garlic, ginger, apples, and sugar. Add green onions and set aside.
3. After 2 hours, rinse the cabbage and carrots to remove the excess salt. Drain in a colander.
4. Return the rinsed and drained cabbage carrot mixture to a large bowl. Pour in the chili miso paste mixture. Add 1/2 c filtered or spring water, and mix with your hands wearing disposable food safe gloves. (This is to prevent staining and irritating your hands with the chili paste mixture.)
5. When everything is thoroughly mixed, pack the kimchi tightly into clean glass jars. Fill each jar about ¾ of the way, leaving some room at the top as the mixture will bubble as it ferments.
6. Insert a clean pair of chopsticks or butter knife into the jars to remove any trapped air bubbles. Also make sure all the vegetables are submerged in liquid. There may not be a lot of natural brine at this time, but the cabbage will continue to release it slowly. (If the natural brine does not cover all the vegetables, make the optional brine by dissolving 1 teaspoon salt into 1 cup of warm water and add a little of this brine to the top of your kimchi jars.) Loosely cap the jars and place them on a rimmed tray to catch any kimchi juice that might bubble over during fermentation. Leave jars at room temperature for 24 to 48 hours.
7. Check every day to make sure the vegetables remain submerged in brine. Also, taste a piece of the kimchi for ripeness on a daily basis. It should have a mild tangy taste when ripe. Once the ripeness is to your liking, place the jars in the refrigerator. The kimchi will continue to ferment slowly in the fridge, so don’t cap the lids on too tightly. If it is not tangy enough to your liking, leave it at room temperature for another day before refrigerating. (Usually, at 70-72 F, it takes 2 days at room temperature. But in the summer months, at closer to 80-85 F, 24 hours at room temperature is enough to ripen the kimchi.) The kimchi will last in the fridge for up to 4 to 6 months.