kimchi.08

Recently, Trader Joe's started carrying kimchi, in a bag no less. Ryan found it & pointed it out to me. It was only $1.99, so I tried it, AND it was good! As in better than all the kimchi I've had since coming to Portland. oh my. I looked at the ingredients list and it was simple and things that are suppose to be in kimchi. So, I decided to modify my recipe to see if I could make even better kimchi.

The thing I've never tried, other than adding fish sauce, is making a flour and water base. I also poured in the left over juice from the TJ kimchi to help kick start the fermentation. I'll be really surprised if none of the kimchi at TJ explodes at some point (seriously, it's in a bag). 

Here's what I did (modified from Bap Story):

.ingredients.

half a Napa cabbage

1 C water

1 T sweet rice flour

7-8 cloves of garlic

good hunk of ginger (2-3")

3 T red chili powder

1 T agave

1 apple

2 shakes o' sea salt

3 green onions, cut however you like

.process.

cut cabbage into 1 inch hunks. place in bowl w/ some sea salt dissolved in hot water. then cover cabbage with cool water, so it's submerged. placed a plate and weight on top and let it sit overnight.

next day, drain and rinse cabbage. set aside.

warm 1 C water and add 1 T rice flour and whisk until combined. let simmer until runny glue consistency.

pour  water/flour mixture into mixing bowl. grate apple, ginger, and garlic into bowl. add 1 T agave or honey. add 3 T of red chili powder - less if you want less heat. add green onion and cabbage and mix with your hands (careful if you have cuts)!

stuff all into clean jar. press it a little to see the juice and have everything submerged. store in dark, cool spot for a few days. check it everyday and push everything down to submerge in juices. while checking, give it a taste and see if it's fermented to your liking. 3 days is usually good for me and then I stick it in the fridge and enjoy!

kimchi mixin'

i need a large jar!

kimchi notes (to self)

kimchi batch 05.

.ingredients.

half a small purple cabbage

1 bunch of bok choy

several radishes

1 leek (added after salting)

1 white peach

chunk of ginger

several garlic cloves

2 T red pepper flakes

.process.

soaked over night & following day in 2 T salt & water to cover.

rinsed veggies and added chopped leek, pinch of salt.

mix all in paste of shredded ginger, garlic, peach, and red pepper flakes.

filled 1 full jar and 1/3 of another jar.

let it sit/ferment in cupboard for 3-4 days (pushing down each day w/ a spoon) & then,

put in fridge.

.results.

yummy! The color of the juice is vibrant purple and the addition of radish is delicious.

ginger lavender lemonade

i have a recommendation for you, dear friend! buy some lemonade, those ones by Simply have been on sale for weeks, it's a good one. shred some ginger root w/ a cheese grater, put it in the lemonade. pick 5 leaves of lavender, put it in there too. put that lemonade back in the fridge and let it sit until tomorrow. amazing!!!! it is so, so good and so, so easy. please do this and tell me about it.

a (forgotten) sketch of ginger, because it is amazing.

also, you might try mint lavender sun tea or rosemary lemonade. summer is yummy.

kimchi : batch 03 is the most successful yet! it smells great and is packing a spicy punch. it's still lacking a bit in complexity of flavors and I did under salt this time to compensate for salty, inedible batch 02.
notes:
used one head of bok choy
soaked overnight in 2 Tbs salt + water (enough to submerge leaves)
1/4 cup of red pepper flakes + water
3 cloves of garlic
1 ripe pear
2 green onions


so, i left out ginger, as i had none, & fish sauce. i think those two ingredients definitely make a difference. we'll find out in batch 04. also, it will be nice to use napa cabbage as i love, love the texture and flavor. looking forward to making kimchi fried rice when batch 03 gets too sour for my liking.

Do Chua

this radish is a bit big. it's all i could find.

behold - the daikon radish! yum. so, now that i'm getting the hang of making kimchi, I had to find out how to make those delicious, sweet, & tangy pickled radishes. of course, I didn't know what they were called, but i just discovered Mokofuku for 2 (now I have to buy that cookbook and make ramen broth!). upon seeing this post, i learned that the thing i wanted to make was called Do Chua and is Vietnamese (responsible for so much good food). So, i did a quick google search and the first result was an excellent recipe - which I followed and photographed.

radish rectangle.

first time i've julienned veggies.

kneading the veggies in salt + sugar to remove 1/4 of moisture.

veggies in brine - all done!

i ate some today and they lived up to my expectations. yum yum.

fried rice. genius. why do i not do this more often?

from my time living with Stephanie and then cooking for my co-op, i learned that every good thing starts with olive oil, garlic, and onions. hands down.
my recipe is thus:

.ingredients.

• left-over rice
• orange bell pepper
• mushrooms
• kale
• onion
• garlic
• egg
• olive oil
• soy sauce
• half an orange
• cayenne pepper

.instructions.

01. make rice. make too much and put the leftovers in the fridge and forget about them for some days.
when you're hungry and remember you have rice and vegetables that need using, get excited!
02. chop all the veggies you have or want to use.
03. heat up the pan, add olive oil. add garlic and onions. let them cook for a couple mins (medium heat).
04. add veggies in the order of what takes longest to cook. in my case, bell pepper and mushrooms. let cook for another few minutes.
05. throw in the kale. cook until a bit wilted.
06. once all your veggies are cooked, put them on a plate. add more olive oil to the pan. let the pan get hot again.
07. add the rice. make sure to get it crispy, maybe even a little burned - but only a little.
08. now add the veggies back in.
09. pour on some soy sauce. i'd guess about a tablespoon or so. also, squeeze the orange half in. mix it all up!
10. crack the egg in. give it all another mix and plate that shit!
11. now enjoy, perhaps with a sprinkle of cayenne and a cup of jasmine tea.