While the cold spring weather this year delayed growth of the vegetable plants in my garden, I am finally getting enough cabbage, garlic and radish to start making kimchi. Like yogurt and kombucha, kimchi, a fermented vegetable dish and staple of the Korean diet, has been enthusiastically adopted in the U.S. and is commonly carried in grocery stores.
Vegetable fermentation probably originated in areas of China, where short summers and long winters meant that food preservation was necessary for people to survive the cold months. It later spread to similar climate zones such as Northern Europe and Korea. Cabbage-based ferments like kimchi and sauerkraut are probiotic and nutrient dense. Like many dishes that come to the U.S. from around the world, much of the kimchi here has been “Americanized” to fit our own tastes. In Korea, kimchi ranges from the simple to the highly seasoned and complex, and since I had long been making sauerkraut with just salt and cabbage, the simple way sounded like a good place to start.
The first book I read on kimchi included its history, the science behind it and many recipes from Korea. Kimchi: A Korean Health Food was written by two nutrition and food scientists, Helen C. Lee and Florence C. Lee. I started fermenting cabbage and radish, making my first batch of kimchi with their guidance about 20 years ago.
Want to try your hand at making kimchi? The dish always starts with raw cruciferous vegetables like cabbage and Korean or Japanese radish. Most kimchi recipes call for napa cabbage, which has tender leaves and a mild taste, while sauerkraut is made with green or red cabbage, which I prefer in both kimchi and sauerkraut for their crunch and mouthfeel. I have also used broccoli, brussels sprouts, and cauliflower as main ingredients in kimchi. My favorite radish for kimchi is Alpine, a Korean variety, though many recipes use daikon radish. Compared to daikon, Alpine has a denser, firmer texture and a strong peppery, spicy flavor. Whichever vegetables you use, they should be chopped or grated into consistently sized pieces to encourage an even fermentation rate.
You will also need garlic and gochugaru (Korean red chili flakes) to help give this fermented dish its unique combination of sour, umami and spicy flavors. Other common ingredients include fresh ginger, green onion, Asian pear and dried shrimp.
Salt is critical in both kimchi and sauerkraut. The salt draws out water and sugars from the vegetables, and then lactic acid bacteria and fungi feed on the vegetable juices. There is no need to add a culture — the lactic acid bacteria and other organisms are already on the vegetables. Mix all your ingredients together and pack them into a clean container (preferably made of glass or another nonreactive material). Use pickling salt to make a 3 percent saltwater solution and pour it over the ingredients in the jar. The vegetables must be covered by the salt solution to prevent bad bacteria from spoiling them. Cover the container but let the fermenting gases escape. Several local stores sell fermentation containers that provide a good lid seal while still allowing gas to diffuse out.
After four to 10 days, the gases from fermentation of green cabbage create a sulphurous odor best kept in the garage. However, some other vegetable ferments do not raise such a stink. I normally let my kimchi ferment for three to four weeks. The longer it ferments, the sourer it gets. You can start tasting your kimchi during the first week. When it tastes good to you, refrigerate it to stop the fermentation process and enjoy.
Pete Haggard (he/him) and Jane Monroe (she/her) are the coauthors of Rewilding: Native Gardening for the Pacific Northwest and North Coast, available now from The Press at Cal Poly Humboldt and in local bookstores and nurseries.
This article appears in The Grand Jury Reports.