Robyn's Recipes: Kimchi

   As a part of a local CSA (community supported agriculture) program we get a big box of delicious, fresh organic produce every week. In the winter and spring especially this includes a head of cabbage almost every week. One can chop it up in stir fry and eat that every night, or make massive amounts of coleslaw, but my new favorite thing to do with cabbage is to make kimchi following a recipe included with one of the weekly boxes. I'm not the biggest fan of sauerkraut, but the added spices in kimchi make it pretty tasty as a snack or a topping for stir fry. Napa cabbage is traditionally used, but green or purple cabbage can be substituted.

Kimchi is fermented so it contains beneficial lactic acid bacteria that helps digestion. It also contains lots of vitamin C, carotene, vitamin A, thiamine (B1), riboflavin (B2), calcium, selenium, and iron. Cabbage is also an antioxidant and thought to help prevent cancer. It has actually been named one of the top 5 healthiest foods in the world by Health magazine. Considering all of these health benefits, we should probably all eat more kimchi!

Recipe from Mountain Bounty Farm: 

Purple cabbage kimchi

Sea salt, 4 cups cabbage, 1-2 carrots, 1-2 onions or scallions, 3-4 cloves of garlic, 3-4 hot chilis, 3 tbsp grated ginger. 

1. Chop cabbage and other veggies and add them to a large non-metal bowl or crock. 

2. Make brine in sufficient quantity to cover cabbage: 1 tbsp salt per 1c water. 

3. Use plate to weigh down cabbage mix and keep it submerged below brine overnight.

4. Drain brine off and reserve; mix spices with brined veggies and pack into quart jars as tightly as possible.

5. There should be a brine layer on top of the jar, if not add some reserved brine.

6. Cover and let ferment at room temperature out of direct sun for 3-6 days. Taste daily and once it tastes fermented store in the fridge and enjoy! 

Kimchi keeps for quite a long time refrigerated and will further ferment very slowly; in Korea it is kept at room temperature for 6 months or more to allow it to reach full flavor!