Since I've learnt how to make Maangchi's mak kimchi back in 2012, I've been using the same trusted recipe.
Recently however I've come across different Korean bloggers who all have their own take on easy kimchi and I've picked up a few tips. Korean bapsang comes to mind. This is her full pogi kimchi recipe.
Without going into the full recipe, here are some tips that I've learnt. Roughly 1 baechu cabbage will equate to about 3 medium storage ziploc bags of kimchi.
- remove the green leaves. Make a side dish by dweonjang banchan by Modern Pepper (된장 배추 반찬) with the leaves.
- always add 1 tbsp of sugar!
- use either pear or apple to make it slightly sweet, even just 1 is enough.
- MUST use fish sauce to help with the fermentation or soya sauce if lacking fish sauce. Also, fermented shrimp helps (chincalok!)
- Soaking for 6 hours in 1.5 C of salt to enough water to cover the kimchi is very important. I usually soak for only 3 to 4 hours but the additional 2 hours really made the stems of the cabbage bendable and the cabbage leaf became sweet!
- If sugar is added, it takes away the sting and spiciness of gochugaru. Usually I add about ½ C of gochugaru but this one can take about ¾ C
- Blending the pear or apple with the 8 cloves of garlic, thumb sized ginger, and 2 stalks of scallion makes a huge difference! The machiko paste is no longer needed.
- To wash out the mixing container used to mix the gochugaru with the spice sauce, use ½ C water and add pour that back into the bags of kimchi. That will help keep the kimchi under the braising liquid - UPDATE: This produces a very bland tasting kimchi in a few weeks so not recommended if keeping the kimchi rather than eating it fresh
- Must put the kimchi in plastic bags so it doesn't stain the plastic containers.
- Leave a slight air gap otherwise when it ferments and releases gas, it's going to over flow! Preferably, burp the bags!
- Leave to ferment for at least 2 days in winter (1 day in summer) before putting in the fridge. Once in the fridge, leave for another 2 weeks otherwise it tastes like rotten veg!
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