Recipe of the week: Simple kimchi
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This traditional dish has been made in Korea for hundreds of years and is an amazing way to make vegetables go further. With this simplified recipe you can try it in your own home.
Ingredients
1 Chinese napa cabbage
30g good quality salt
6 cloves of garlic
2 teaspoons of grated ginger
2 teaspoons of sugar
2 tablespoons of fish sauce (optional)
Red pepper flakes or chilli sauce
4 diced spring onions
Grated carrot and radishes, to your taste
Method
Cut the base off your cabbage and then cut it into 3cm chunks. Massage the salt into the cabbage with your hands in a large bowl until it starts to get softer.
Once you feel the cabbage is soft enough, pour enough cold water into the bowl so that the cabbage is totally submerged.
Weigh down the cabbage with a plate or saucepan and leave for an hour and a half.
Rinse the cabbage thoroughly in cold water and leave it to the side to drain.
Mix together your kimchi paste by blending together the fish sauce, ginger, garlic and chilli sauce or flakes and then blend to a smooth paste. If you can't find traditional Korean chilli flakes then other hot sauces such as sriracha will work too. You can make it as spicy as you like.
Put the cabbage, carrots, radishes and onions into the bowl and mix together with the paste. Kimchi would traditionally have carrots and radishes in it but why not experiment with what you have in your fridge that needs using up.
Once everything is thoroughly mixed together pack the mixture into a sterilised jar so that it is tightly compacted. Leave about two centimetres from the top and push down on the mixture until some of the juices cover it. Your mixture should always be covered by liquid.
Leave your jar at room temperature for about five days, checking on it each day by opening the lid.
Once it has properly fermented keep in the fridge and enjoy with rice, noodles or even in pancakes. The flavours will get stronger over time.
- This recipe comes from Zero Waste Scotland. To get tips on how to reduce food waste, visit www.zerowastescotland.org.uk
