The Korean miracle food (kimchi)
Drum roll please..... Introducing, Kim Chi! What Chi? I hear you say...
For those who haven’t heard of Kim Chi, it is a fermented Korean accompaniment, spicy and delicious and incredibly good for promoting a healthy microbiome. It is eaten alongside many dishes, In Korea it is even eaten with breakfast! It has a delightfully tangy, sour and hot flavour and there are many different versions out there. It’s so versatile that if you don’t have all of the ingredients, it’s no biggie, you can adapt the recipe according to your taste and the availability of ingredients. The basic ingredient that you cannot do without in Kim Chi is Napa/Chinese cabbage which is around two euros per cabbage and widely available in France. Other ingredients that are widely available and used in Kim Chi are ginger, garlic, leeks, chilli and radish. This recipe calls for daikon radish however the black radish available in supermarkets in France is a great substitute.
Kim Chi is a fermented, nutritional powerhouse, a little finicky to make but once you get the hang of it, it becomes straightforward. The food prep takes some time but it’s worth the effort as you only need a little bit with your meal to get millions of beneficial bacteria, vitamins and minerals plus fibre and a fabulous umami taste, it’s like nothing else!
Low in calories but packed with fibre, vitamins essential for health like Vitamin K for blood clotting and Vitamin B6 for combating inflammation and regulating mood, not to mention the many probiotics within that contribute to numerous bodily processes and aid digestion.
Mix Kim Chi into warm soups to add flavour and zing (not too hot or you risk killing the beneficial bacteria). Enjoy Kim Chi as a side to all savoury meals. It’s also great with cheese, eggs and cold meats or even just as a spicy snack.
Ingredients
1 Napa/Chinese Cabbage 1 Daikon Radish 1 Large Leek Large thumb of ginger Pack of bird’s eye chillis Bulb of garlic
Bottle of Fish Sauce (Nam Pla) (You can substitute for Soy sauce or even Nems dipping sauce if you cannot find Nam Pla) 2 tbsp Mineral salt
Equipment Sharp vegetable knife Chopping board Small blender or food processor 2 large bowls Large glass jar with muslin or loose fitting lid (breathable) Wooden rolling pin
Instructions
Slice off the root end of the cabbage and remove any damaged or old leaves. Place the cabbage down on the chopping board and slice lengthways in half. Slice from the centre of each half cabbage lengthways into three equal segments so you have six roughly equal, long segments. Place into the large bowl. sprinkle salt into the spaces between the leaves, making sure that it goes right in, it’s ok if the leaves separate but try to keep them as intact as possible. Cover the salted cabbage with a tea towel to protect it and put aside.
Remove any outer leaves of the leek and chop off the root end. Wash out any mud from in between the leak leaves. Thinly slice the entire leek widthways into thin rings and place into a bowl. Chop off the leaves and root tip ends of the radish and peel. Slice the radish into thin batons around 1-2 inches long and place in with the leeks. Remove all the cloves from the whole bulb of garlic and
place into the blender. Peel the ginger and cut into small pieces and place all into the blender with the garlic. Remove all the stalks from the birds eye chillis and place all of them into the blender too. Add half the bottle of fish sauce and blend to a thick paste. Beware, this paste is potent, be sure to wash your hands and don’t touch your eyes.
After 2-4 hours have passed, the cabbage should be wilting from the salt and there should be a little liquid in the bottom of the bowl. At this stage if the cabbage isn’t wilting much you can press on the top of the cabbage with the blunt end of the rolling pin to bruise it and allow the salt to penetrate. When it’s wilting and you have some water in the bowl, you are ready for the next step.
Place the chilli paste in with the leeks and radish, make sure it is well mixed. Then using your hands or a spoon, depending on how brave you feel, push the paste in between every leaf in your cabbage segments, make sure that there is a good amount of the leek/chili mix in between each leaf. When that is done, take one of your segments or two leaves with the paste between and fold into the jar, press it firmly into the bottom of the jar with the end of the rolling pin and continue to do the same with the rest of the cabbage until you have pressed all the cabbage and paste into the jar. If there is paste left over then put a spoon into the jar on top of each leaf you press in so that you get everything into the jar. When it’s pressed well in, there should be some brine/water left over in the bowl where the cabbage was, pour that in on top of the Kim Chi. Press the cabbage down so that the brine covers the cabbage. This will allow the anaerobic fermentation to take place. Then simply cover the jar with the muslin, leave somewhere to ferment, out of direct sunlight and at room temperature. Every day check that the Kim Chi hasn’t risen out of the brine, due to the natural gases produced as a by-product of the fermentation process. If the cabbage is trying to climb out of the pot, push it back under the brine and let some of the gases escape by doing this. After around two weeks your kim chi will be ready and it’s safe to leave out of the fridge as long as the kim chi is kept under the brine. Alternatively you can store it in your fridge in a container with a tight fitting lid as the temperature of the fridge will inhibit fermentation, meaning you aren’t going to get a build up of carbon dioxide in the jar in the fridge.
Enjoy this delicious food and reap the health benefits of making your own natural kitchen probiotics.
