Kimchi with Froggie

What is there not to love about kimchi ? It combines two of the best things food can be, i.e. spicy and fermented, and has many health benefits. Very light in calories, it can be eaten as an appetizer and will greatly help the digestion of fatty foods, which is why it very often accompanies meat in Korean cuisine (to be fair, it accompanies EVERYTHING lol). I was lucky enough to be shown how it's traditionnally made by a real Korean housewife last year (Merci GrandMa !!) and could not wait to try and make some of my own (even though the Kimchi Fairy, aka Lady Dyson, recently delivered a freshly made jar - more on this later...). Kimchi can be made all year round, but the best cabbage is available in the fall, so as cabbage season will be ending soon, I rolled up my sleeves...

The recipe I used is adapted from the excellent Korean food blog Maangchi.



The jury's out, verdict in 2 weeks...



No bowl large enough to soak the cabbage in salt water ? Use the sink!

Ingredients for kimchi: rice flour and sugar (for the sweet porridge), garlic, Japanese radish, carrots, ginger, Chinese chives, spring onions, Korean chilli flakes (lots of...) and Korean anchovy sauce

Korean chilli flakes, bought during a trip to Seoul earlier this year - look at this beatiful, rich, deep red colour! They smell wonderful too... I did not use the whole 500gr pack for making kimchi and kaktugi (the radish kimchi) but set some aside for a future kimchi chigae (kimchi stew with tofu & meat).

Making Kimchi is a good opportunity to brush up your knife skills - I think we're doing ok here...

Start with mixing the sweet porridge and the chilli flakes, adding some anchovy sauce if the mixture becomes too thick and hard to stir...

... then add all the other ingredients (julienned carrots, radish and ginger, minced garlic, roughly chopped spring onions and Chinese chives).

Making kimchi is a very messy affair. You definitely want to wear an apron, and thin rubber gloves, as the chilli is strong enough to irritate your skin. The chilli paste needs to be lovingly rubbed onto each cabbage leaf, not just on the outer leaves. You WILL end up in chilli paste up to your elbows, and with an original Pollock on your kitchen walls ;-)