I have searched the threads and found some but want one with far less ingredients, basically just cabbage and a few extras that are readily available.Need to use up 2 small red cabbages from garden, and maybe a green one also.Have never made it before so need easy instructions, pls. I am sure I saw a recipe in a Farming Lifestyle mag some time back but can't find it now.Will keep looking though, but would appreciate any help with this.
jessie981,
Apr 10, 7:25am
Ingredients: 1 large cabbage (it says green but red should be OK?), 4 medium sized onions, 1 litre vinegar, 1/2 cup flour, 2 cups sugar, 1 T curry powder, 1 T dry mustard, 1 T turmeric, 1/2 litre extra vinegar.
Method: Shred the cabbage and onions finely. Place into a large bowl and sprinkle the salt over the surface, leave for 24 hours. Drain. Tip into a preserving pan, add the litre of vinegar and boil slowly for 20 minutes. Mix the flour, sugar, curry powder, mustard and turmeric together. Stir in the 1/2 litre of vinegar and mix until smooth. Add to boiling cabbage stirring until thick. Boil for 5 minutes. Spoon into dry hot jars. Seal.
From elliehen
uli,
Apr 10, 8:03am
Kim Chee is made from Chines cabbage - so your red and green ones will not produce Kim Chee unfortunately. You could make sauerkraut instead?
uli,
Apr 10, 8:04am
This might turn out to be pickled cabbage - but not Kim Chee. Kim Chee is fermented - there is no vinegar added at all.
elliehen,
Apr 10, 8:24am
Maybe this will work for someone who doesn't want to do the time-consuming fermenting process.
'Simple Kimchi' - to quote a prolific poster:"Slight oxymoron there ... :)"
deus701,
Apr 10, 11:15am
I used this recipe with great success. I omit the onion and apple though. I just add the garlic & ginger according to taste. I had korean friends as guinea pigs so yeah, if it passes by them, its good enough. Important thing is to use the real korean chilli flakes.
That looks interesting, deus701, and if it gets by your Korean friends it must be the real thing.I have a family member who regularly brings it home but I can't let him keep it in the fridge because it's too overpowering.
uli,
Apr 11, 3:44am
Easy and basic Kim Chee
1 big chinese cabbage 4 c of cold water 3 tablesp sea salt 1 tablesp fresh garlic, finely chopped 1 tablesp fresh ginger, finely chopped 2 tablesp spring onions, finely chopped 1 teasp of dried red chili pepper flakes (more if you like things spicy, less if you don't)
Wash cabbage leaves. Cut into smaller bits (or leave whole if small) and sprinkle with 2 tablespoons of salt. Place salted cabbage leaves in a large bowl, add 4 cups of cold water, cover with plastic wrap, and place in refrigerator overnight. Be sure that water covers all cabbage leaves - place a plate or other heavy object on top of leaves so they stay covered with water.
The next day, pour off water and thoroughly rinse cabbage leaves. Let drip dry.
Place cabbage leaves back into large bowl and add garlic, green onion, ginger, dried red chili flakes, and 1 tablespoon of salt. Use your hands (wear rubber gloves!) to rub seasoning evenly into all cabbage leaves.
Transfer seasoned cabbage leaves into a large glass jar. Use your hands to push down the cabbage leaves. Transfer any liquid that accumulated during the mixing process into the bottle as well - it will become kim chi brine. Some liquid will also come out of the cabbage leaves as you press them down in the jar.
Leave about 5 to 8 cm of room at the top of the bottle so the air bubbles will not push the liquid out of the jar once it starts fermenting - add the lid. Allow to sit at room temperature for 2-3 days then put into the fridge.
Your kim chi is now ready to eat. Refrigerate kim chee and take out small portions right before meals. The refrigerated kim chee will continue to ferment slowly in the refrigerator over time, becoming more sour and flavorful (or as some here have said "smelly and stinking"). So long as you use clean utensils to take out small portions, it will keep for up to 6 montsh in your refrigerator.
deus701,
Apr 11, 5:23am
I don't really notice any 'foul' smell. There are regional variations for kimchi, some would use fermented shrimp (available from korean shops and probably the cause of the smell) but fish sauce was sufficient for me. With great success comes absymal failures (sometimes too salty or inedible) and failed or 'matured/old' kimchi are great for kimchi pork/beef stews.
elliehen,
Apr 11, 6:00am
deus,'overpowering' was my word, and the problem is that it seems to taint all the dairy foods in the fridge - milk, butter etc
I'll take note of the point about the fermented shrimp being a possible cause and recommend that he try making your recipe!
uli,
Apr 11, 8:19am
You can add shrimp, fish sauce, anchovies or even chopped cuttle fish ... but that is all optional. The recipe I gave above is the basic one which is used all over Korea. It will smell of course - as does sauerkraut - but not "stink" as others have said.
I have it in my fridge together with fresh butter, yoghurt and cheese and I have no problems with any taints - because I leave the lid on the jar.
dawnay,
Apr 11, 8:34am
Thank you everyone.I think the recipe you haveposted, Uli, looks to be the closest to what I want at the moment.But will it be okay with red cabbage? I will be making a note of all the recipes also for future reference.Always have cabbages in my garden.Thanks.
uli,
Apr 11, 8:45am
The problem is that our cabbage is not the same as the Asian cabbages - they are much much softer. So you will never get kim chee if you use one of our drum heads - red or white.
If I had surplus red cabbage then I would cook it by frying onions, add the shredded red cabbage, some bay leaves, some cloves, a bit of cinnamon and a spoon full of sugar, some red wine and a bit of cider vinegar and cook till soft - then add some peeled, shredded apples about 5 minutes before serving. Lovely to go with mashed potatoes and any pork - roast, chops, belly, neck whatever.
Anything you don't eat on the night can be frozen for another lovely dinner.
I guarantee that you like that much much more than to make mock kim chee out of it!
Uli, I have decided to give your last recipe a try.Thank you.It sounds like just the type of thing I would enjoy.So tomorrow will be a busy day as I not only have the red cabbages to deal with but the last of the eggplants to cook up and 2 buckets of feijoas to use up as well as several bunches of grapes to juice.So its off for a good nights sleep ready for the cooking marathon tomorrow!!Thanks all. I have learnt a lot from this thread about kimchi but will make sure I have the right cabbage before I try it!
uli,
Jan 16, 3:42am
bump for melly16
pickles7,
Jan 16, 3:51am
you'r on a roll , lol
uli,
Jan 16, 5:20am
Yes - I try to please.
dawnay,
Apr 10, 5:54am
I have searched the threads and found some but want one with far less ingredients, basically just cabbage and a few extras that are readily available.Need to use up 2 small red cabbages from garden, and maybe a green one also.Have never made it before so need easy instructions, pls. I am sure I saw a recipe in a Farming Lifestyle mag some time back but can't find it now.Will keep looking though, but would appreciate any help with this.
jessie981,
Apr 10, 7:25am
Ingredients: 1 large cabbage (it says green but red should be OK!), 4 medium sized onions, 1 litre vinegar, 1/2 cup flour, 2 cups sugar, 1 T curry powder, 1 T dry mustard, 1 T turmeric, 1/2 litre extra vinegar.
Method: Shred the cabbage and onions finely. Place into a large bowl and sprinkle the salt over the surface, leave for 24 hours. Drain. Tip into a preserving pan, add the litre of vinegar and boil slowly for 20 minutes. Mix the flour, sugar, curry powder, mustard and turmeric together. Stir in the 1/2 litre of vinegar and mix until smooth. Add to boiling cabbage stirring until thick. Boil for 5 minutes. Spoon into dry hot jars. Seal.
From elliehen
uli,
Apr 10, 8:03am
Kim Chee is made from Chines cabbage - so your red and green ones will not produce Kim Chee unfortunately. You could make sauerkraut instead!
elliehen,
Apr 10, 8:24am
Maybe this will work for someone who doesn't want to do the time-consuming fermenting process.
'Simple Kimchi' - to quote a prolific poster:"Slight oxymoron there . :)"
deus701,
Apr 10, 11:15am
I used this recipe with great success. I omit the onion and apple though. I just add the garlic & ginger according to taste. I had korean friends as guinea pigs so yeah, if it passes by them, its good enough. Important thing is to use the real korean chilli flakes.
That looks interesting, deus701, and if it gets by your Korean friends it must be the real thing.I have a family member who regularly brings it home but I can't let him keep it in the fridge because it's too overpowering.
uli,
Apr 11, 3:44am
Easy and basic Kim Chee
1 big chinese cabbage 4 c of cold water 3 tablesp sea salt 1 tablesp fresh garlic, finely chopped 1 tablesp fresh ginger, finely chopped 2 tablesp spring onions, finely chopped 1 teasp of dried red chili pepper flakes (more if you like things spicy, less if you don't)
Wash cabbage leaves. Cut into smaller bits (or leave whole if small) and sprinkle with 2 tablespoons of salt. Place salted cabbage leaves in a large bowl, add 4 cups of cold water, cover with plastic wrap, and place in refrigerator overnight. Be sure that water covers all cabbage leaves - place a plate or other heavy object on top of leaves so they stay covered with water.
The next day, pour off water and thoroughly rinse cabbage leaves. Let drip dry.
Place cabbage leaves back into large bowl and add garlic, green onion, ginger, dried red chili flakes, and 1 tablespoon of salt. Use your hands (wear rubber gloves!) to rub seasoning evenly into all cabbage leaves.
Transfer seasoned cabbage leaves into a large glass jar. Use your hands to push down the cabbage leaves. Transfer any liquid that accumulated during the mixing process into the bottle as well - it will become kim chi brine. Some liquid will also come out of the cabbage leaves as you press them down in the jar.
Leave about 5 to 8 cm of room at the top of the bottle so the air bubbles will not push the liquid out of the jar once it starts fermenting - add the lid. Allow to sit at room temperature for 2-3 days then put into the fridge.
Your kim chi is now ready to eat. Refrigerate kim chee and take out small portions right before meals. The refrigerated kim chee will continue to ferment slowly in the refrigerator over time, becoming more sour and flavorful (or as some here have said "smelly and stinking"). So long as you use clean utensils to take out small portions, it will keep for up to 6 montsh in your refrigerator.
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