Kosher-Style Korean Kimchi

India and me (on the left)

My best friend, India, married a wonderful man who is half-Korean, and she's been learning how to prepare traditional recipes. One of the dishes she's got down pat is kimchi - a side dish or condiment eaten with rice, on burgers, or on its own. We made a less-spicy and kosher-style version so that I could try some. I started by gathering the ingredients: fine sea salt, asian cabbage, scallions, ginger, garlic, and red pepper powder.

I cut each head in 1.5" slices. She had me transfer the cabbage into a clean sink, that she filled up with water and rinsed the cabbage and scallions three times. 

We took the largest and thickest pieces of cabbage and laid them in the strainer. I sprinkled the layer with the sea salt, and repeated this process until we got to the layer of the smallest pieces. Topped off with another sprinkle of salt, the bowl would rest for 1-2 hours to cure. We tested the cabbage every half an hour until the largest pieces only bent when tested, and did not snap. I cut off the root ends of the scallions (for regrowing), and then cut them in half.

Then, we prepared three heads of garlic and put them in her Skinnygirl blender. Using a little less ginger than she normally uses, she scraped off most of the skin with a spoon (we left some on for nutrients).  Next into the blender went the korean pear, cored, skinned, and sliced:

When we checked the cabbage, my friend gave it a little toss to mix the salt around.

We added a 1/4 cup of fish sauce to the blender. Then we used the vegetable peeler to shave the carrots and I sliced those into thin strips.

She rinsed off the salted cabbage three times until we could barely taste the salt.

Will it blend? We blended the chopped items and combined the paste, scallions and carrots, and rinsed cabbage into a larger bowl.

She had me pour in the crushed red pepper until it looked "red enough." We kept adding red pepper until it tasted right, and then we jarred it up! I brought an old pickle jar.

I had so much fun! The whole process took about 3 1/2 hours, so we hung out while the cabbage was sweating. 

Here is the original recipe if you'd like to make it yourself!

http://www.maangchi.com/recipe/easy-kimchi
To modify the above recipe for a kosher home, obviously eliminate the squid, and use a certified kosher fish sauce. Otherwise, follow my instructions from above. Happy eating!

All photos shot with a Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L II USM lens & Canon 40D body.
©Amy Hefter Photography

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