Kimchi (improved version)

I just made a batch of kimchi jjigae (a fave winter soup) with some old kimchi and it was amazing. I made it for the first time using pork belly instead of bacon, and omg! the pork belly gives it a more silky texture. It was incredible and I still have 1 more jar of last year's kimchi to make more. What glee!

There was some really beautiful napa cabbage at the co-op a couple of weeks ago, so it seemed wise to replenish the dwindling kimchi supply. I've made kimchi 5-6 times, and this time I changed up my method. I was feeling like the recipe I was using was a little fussy and inconsistent on the salting. My biggest challenge with kimchi making is to get the appropriate salty-ness in the napa so that the fermentation works right, and to get a good taste in the end. People have all different kinds of ways to salt: soak napa in salty water, do a salt rub, just add salt to the brine, etc.

My Charming Companion has made kimchi for many, many years and I think his salting method is more effective than my previous attempts and is what I include here. No matter what technique you use, the most important thing is to taste the cabbage and check how salty it is when you put it in the jar. It should taste salty! Taste several pieces of the napa because sometimes there is a range of saltiness and you want to get them pretty similar.

The recipe below uses My Charming Companions salting methods, with my own take on the ingredients. There is no need to measure things out precisely, but I am giving some estimates here. If you have more green onions, put them in, if you want more ginger, do that. I also have a hard time with raw garlic, so I use pureed onion where most people would use garlic.

2 large heads napa cabbage (4-6 lbs)
about 1/2 c sea salt (w/out iodine)
small onion, peeled
2 T ginger, peeled
1/4 c fish sauce (red boat brand is good!)
1/2 c korean red pepper flakes (gochugaru)*
1-2 T American red pepper flakes
1 daikon radish, cut into matchsticks
1 bunch scallions, coarsely chopped
2 grated carrots (opt)

*Korean red pepper flakes are a bit sweet and not as spicy as American pepper flakes. I've used either in kimchi, but I love the sweetness of gochugaru. It is sold at United Noodles in a large package with a picture of kimchi on the front (the package will last many kimchi batches!) You can buy either flakes or powder. I accidentally bought powder a couple of years ago, and it is working fine. If you use American pepper flakes instead, use less because it will be spicier.

1. Quarter the napa and cut out the really tough core pieces (it's very small at the base of the quarters). Chop the napa into 2" size pieces. You are going to let these pieces of napa sit for a several hours - so either get a really big bowl, or clean out your sink and do it in there.

2. Rinse/moisten the napa and drain any excess water. Add the salt and stir well so that all of the cabbage is coated. Let sit 3-4 hours or overnight.
3. Rinse salt from napa once or twice and taste the cabbage. Rinse salt until it is the appropriate saltiness. It should be a little less salty than sauerkraut (or a salty condiment), but more salty than you would want regular food to taste.
4. Add daikon, scallions, and carrots to the napa and mix.

5. For the pepper paste: Process onion and ginger in a food processor until minced. Remove them from processor and but in a small mixing bowl. Add fish sauce and pepper flakes and stir to make a paste.
6. I put on gloves for this next step: combine the paste with the veggies and really work it in so that all veggies are covered in the red mix - things should be a bit wet at this point. Again, taste a few bites of the napa to double check the salt, and also test the spiciness. Add more pepper if you like. If the mixture is not so salty, add a little bit to the whole thing, stir, and taste again. This will ensure really good kimchi and is worth the tasting!

7. Pack the kimchi into quart jars. The napa will have shrunk quite a bit, and you can generally fit this amount into 3 jars. Press kimchi down so that liquid covers the veggies; leave about an inch at the top for excess liquid that will come up as the fermentation occurs. Put lids on the jars and let sit out 2-6 days, depending on room temp and your fave fermentation level. I sat mine out 6 days, and made sure to set them on a plate to catch any overflow liquid. Refrigerate until ready to eat. It will last years but will continue fermenting very slowly.