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Sunday, December 9, 2012

Recipe: Korean Kimchi, Lacto-fermented

Philosophers have often looked for the defining feature of humans—language, rationality, culture and so on. I'd stick with this: Man is the only animal that likes Tabasco sauce. – Paul Bloom Related recipes:
Lacto-fermented sauerkraut
Lacto-fermented jalapeno peppers
Lacto-fermented roasted peppers
Lacto-fermented homemade soda

This is one I’ve wanted to try for a very long time. Lacto-fermenting intrigues me a great deal. It tales very little effort, is safe (if you know a little bit) and doesn't require any energy to preserve or store.

I love kimchi, but only certain kimchi. Years ago at the local Asian grocery, Coa Ho, they had small jars of fairly dry kimchi that was salty, spicy, sour and sweet. Amazing. I've tried several since and it wasn't the same.

I haven’t gotten around to it before for a couple of reasons. The first was I wanted to find a true lacto-fermented recipe. All kimchi is fermented, but I wanted to find a method closely resembling my lacto sauerkraut. I didn't so I had to improvise.

The second was that, although I like eating kimchi, I don’t know what In would do with 2.5 L of the stuff. The answer to that was Christmas. I will gift what I make in excess of my own use.

Lacto-fermenting is fermentation using the natural lacto-bacillus present on all vegetables. The trick is to make an environment where bacteria that cause decomposition are killed but not the good bacteria. That’s all done via the salt.

I have successfully lacto-fermented sauerkraut (a couple time), jalapenos, and roasted red peppers. Pretty much any pliable vegetable can be treated in this way.

Cabbage, carrot, greens and daikon all fall in the category. Broccoli and cauliflower probably not so much unless aided by the introduction of whey.

You can lacto-ferment pretty much any vegetable. Other good ones to do with just salt are cucumbers, beets and turnips, all preserved regularly in certain cultures.

It’s quite an easy process that anybody can do. You simply slice or chop whatever you’re using and then kneading with salt. Kneading is about the right description.

Lacto-fermentation has many advantages beyond just preservation. Lactobacilli in fermented vegetables improves their digestibility and increases vitamin levels. They also produce helpful enzymes as well as antibiotic and anticarcinogenic substances.

Their main by-product (the preservative), lactic acid, not only keeps vegetables in perfect preservation, but also promotes the growth of healthy flora in the intestines. This helps us digest everything else we eat more efficiently too.

You’ll note the recipe calls for “Korean” chilli flakes. You can buy them, or whole dried ones, in Asian grocery stores. They’re not as strong as regular chilli flakes, so don’t be scared of the 1/2 cup used in the recipe!

Korean Kimchi, Lacto-fermented
Prep: 35 min  |  Age: 2 weeks  |  Yield: 2.5 L
1 med nappa cabbage, chopped
1 bunch mustard greens
1 lg carrot, grated
1 medium daikon, cut in long matchsticks
1 bunch green onions, chopped in 1/2” pieces
2” piece ginger, grated
8 garlic cloves, chopped
1/2 cup Korean red chilli flakes
2 tbsp sea salt
1/4 cup fish sauce

Special equipment:
rubber gloves
5 x 500ml Mason jars

Fill each jar, leaving about 1” from the top of each one. Divide any liquid remaining between the jars. Carefully clean the top of each jar and cover, tightening well.

Place in a cool spot to age for a week or two before use. Over this time the vegetables will lacto-ferment and gain a complex sweet/sour flavour. 



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