"Sauerkimchi" Recipe

SUBHEAD: Do you like sauerkraut and kimchi? Here's a halfbreed. Salty, sour, spicy, hot, garlicky and fermented.

By Juan Wilson on 14 March 2014 for Island Breath -
(http://islandbreath.blogspot.com/2014/03/sauerkimchi-recipe.html)


Image above: Jarred sauerkimchi after two weeks of fermentation. Photo by Juan Wilson.

This is my first experience on the way to possibly making traditional kimchi. But my take on kimchi is from the point of view of liking sauerkraut. By that I mean I like the variety of fermented vegetables in kimchi. I also like the peppery, garlicky aspect.

However, I am not a complete fan yet. I do not like the sweetness or fishiness of kimchi... at least not yet.  So this recipe I tried is basically my sauerkraut recipe (http://islandbreath.blogspot.com/2014/02/making-sauerkraut-at-home.html), but with the addition of more vegetables (daikon, chayote, carrots) and more spices (garlic, ginger, hot pepper).

Instead of fermenting this for four weeks, as I have with sauerkraut,  I let this sit for just two weeks. This was impart because the odors emanating from under the crock lid told me something special was happening.

More so than with the cabbage alone, this mix was off-gassing sooner and more sharply. The heavy crock lid gets gently lifted a bit out of its water filled channel by a blurpy pop of gas and then subsides. it's fart-like. Let me just say you would not want a six quart crock of this mix this going off in you kitchen. Thankfully, mine was out on the lanai with plenty of fresh air.

Once "harvested" the odor was not a problem to me. In fact I like it.

I find flavor of this sauerkimchi is quite different and more delicious than my regular kraut. It is not only sour and salty with the liveliness of fermentation, but also spicy, peppery, garlicky, and something else hard to describe.

This time chayote and Hawaiian pepper was the only vegetables from our garden but we are growing cabbage, carrots. I will likely experiment with our bok choy and start some daikon.

Special flavors to me are the subtle distinctions of the daikon and chayote.

Maybe next time I'll add some chopped calamari or shrimp.
 


Image above: I cleaned and cored the cabbage for my SauerKimchi just like I do for sauerkraut. From (http://islandbreath.blogspot.com/2014/02/making-sauerkraut-at-home.html).



"SauerKimchi Recipe"

INGREDIENTS:
3 large white cabbages (1.5# each)
2 large chinese daikon radishes (3/4# each)
2 large chayote
3 large carrots

4 cloves of garlic
1/4 cup sea salt
2 tsps ginger powder
2 tsps dried red pepper
1/2 tsp of Hawaii red pepper sauce (see below)
1/4 cup raw vinegar
5 glasses filtered water (8 oz each)

STEPS:
Clean all vegetables.
Remove soft outer cabbage leaves. Shred cabbage.
Slice across daikon 1/8" thrick, then quarter.
Slice chayote 1/8" thrick, then halve,  cut out seed.
Scrape carrots. Slice carrots 1/8" thick.
Peel four cloves of fresh garlic. Shop fine.
Mix all vegetable in crock.

Add all spices and mix into vegetables.
Add water and vinegar and mix into crock.
Let sit in hermetically sealed crock in shaded spot for two weeks.

Move fermented results from crock into one quart canning jars.
Be careful not spill or waste fluids.
Fill vegetable filled jars to top with fermenting fluid.
Seal and keep in shaded ventilated area.

Yielded 6 quarts.
Started 2/26/14. Harvested 3/12/14




Image above: This is the crock and slicer I use to shred cabbage. See Ea O Ka Aina: Making sauerkraut at home for details about equipment.

To make Hawaiian red pepper sauce I take the small (1/2"-1")  triangular peppers when they are red on the bush. I snap of the green stems and rinse them. I put them in a jar and cover them with extra virgin olive oil and add a few tablespoons of organic raw vinegar (Bragg's).  I gently mix in a few teaspoons of sea salt (white Hanapepe Salt Pond variety).

I rarely eat or even disturb the peppers. I dip the tip of a fork or knife into the oil and sprinkle a bit on what I'm going to eat.  A few drops can transform a  plate of food.

This stuff can lasts forever in a closed jar. I keep adding peppers and the oil, vinegar and salt until the peppers disintegrate. Then I start over.

See also:
Ea O Ka Aina: Making sauerkraut at home 2/17/14
Ea O Ka Aina: Fermaculture! 4/28/13
Ea O Ka Aina: Fermenting Sauerkraut 6/23/12
Ea O Ka Aina: Green Papaya Sauerkraut 10/14/09



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1 comment :

Juan Wilson said...

Comment to my post above:

I've started another batch (4/14/14). Well I didn't add add some chopped calamari or shrimp as I speculated. I call this last batch Pickled Chayote.

We had some raw cut cauliflower, carrots and broccoli left-over from an appetizer dip last light. I also had two small cauliflower from our garden

The centerpiece to this recipe depended on eight or so extra chayote we had in the fridge crisper. I cut off the ends and split them into six wedges each. I'm hoping they come out like sour dill garlic pickles. We'll see how the cauliflower and broccoli ferment in two weeks.

Fermenting into Madness

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