How to Make Kimchi: Easy Homemade Style

Kimchi is one of my all-time favourite Korean dish. It is a great accompaniment with rice and noodles. The good thing about it is it can be prepared in large amounts and can be kept in a refrigerator for a long time. Making kimchi at home is much cheaper than buying from the market. So lets try making kimchi.



My recipe is a combination of ideas I got from various websites and cook books. Let me know what you think of this recipe.





Ingredients:

1 large Chinese cabbage
1 medium size onion, chopped
5-6 cloves of garlic, chopped
Small piece of ginger, chopped
3-4 strips spring onion, cut into small pieces
About a 1/2 radish, thinly sliced in strips
Salt, a lot
Korean red pepper powder as taste (I used about 4-5 tablespoons. You can buy this from Korean grocery shop. I tried once with ordinary chilli powder but the result was not as good as using the Korean red pepper powder.)






2 and 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup flour
5-6 tablespoon fish sauce
3-4 tablespoon sugar
Preparing the cabbage:





Cut the cabbage in half length-wise. Wash the cabbage in cold water.
Sprinkle good amount of salt on each leaf of the cabbage. This will release excess water from the cabbage and also makes the cabbage soft.
Leave the cabbage aside for 3-4 hours.
After 3-4 hours, again wash the cabbage in cold water. Try to squeeze out the excess water with your hands and leave the cabbage in the strainer while you prepare the other ingredients.
Preparing the paste:





Put onion, ginger and garlic in a food processor or blender to make a paste.
In a cold water, add flour and mix it well so that the lumps are not formed. Put it in a medium heat, stirring it continuously until it forms a thick paste.
Add sugar, fish sauce, "onion, ginger and garlic paste", Korean red pepper powder and mix it well until it forms a smooth red paste.
Add spring onion and radish into the paste and mix it well.
Final step:





Wear gloves on both hands. The mixing process can be a bit messy.
Put the paste, prepared in the previous step, in a large container. Put the cabbage into the paste. Rub the paste in each leaf of the cabbage. Repeat the same process for the other half of the cabbage.
Put the cabbage in a air-tight container. Top up with the remaining paste and seal it properly.
The kimchi is ready to be served. If you like a little sour taste, you can ferment it for a day or two in a cool place.
Preserve the kimchi in a refrigerator. Before serving, cut the cabbage leaves into small pieces. You can do this with kitchen scissors.