Tradition: Kimchi-Giving

11/07/2015 | Doyd

It’s takes an entire day – yes, a whole day to make a batch of Kimchi that will last my family 2-3 months depending on our appetite and craving for this crunchy, perfectly spicy, salty & sweet homemade kimchi.

Since I started making my own kimchi back in 2007 when I first met Maangchi, my family has learned to eat a lot of complementing Korean dishes with my home-made kimch.

I am proud that I make a good balance of flavor with the best ingredients I can find. Every year I make more kimchi not just for our consumption but also to give and share to special friends who are always in line waiting for my freshly made kimchi.

It is becoming a tradition. Making kimchi and giving it away 😊. Sharing food is one of my favorite ways to show love, thanks and appreciation to a friend or a family member.

Can’t you smell my kimchi?

Individually jarred and ready to give away Kimchi

I made Kimchi today!!!!

06/07/201506/07/2015 | Doyd

November is the usual month of the year that I make kimchi but because our supply wasn’t much last year, I had to make some again. Today, I just made about 14 pounds of cabbages and 1 medium size daikon for my KKakdugi (cubed radish kimchi). It took me almost 4 hours to make it and it was all worth it.

My recipe came from my very good friend Maangchi and I have been using her recipe for about 7-8 years now. A few years back, I posted my Homemade Kimchi blog post, visit the page and enjoy more photos of how to make kimchi plus my personal recipe as adapted from Maangchi’s recipe.

I gave a few jars to some friends. My family will be enjoying our family dinner with our freshly made kimchi! Mmmmm.. I must not have lunch and get ready to feast tonight.

If you have any questions, feel free to leave me a message. If you search my blog using search word “kimchi,” you will learn more on how to make your own. Thanks for visiting my Blog.

Pork & Kimchee Casserole (kimchi chighe)

05/26/201005/26/2010 | Doyd

Two weeks ago, I made a fresh batch of Kimchi and it is happily fermenting in our refrigerator. This is the perfect time to cook up a nice casserole of Kimchi Chighe.

This is one recipe that’s very easy, healthy, appetizing and filling. This is how I got my husband hooked up with Kimchi 🙂

INGREDIENTS:

1/4 lb boneless pork chop sliced thinly and cut into 2″ in length (substitute could be pork belly)
3/4-1 cup of Kimchi
3 cups beef stock or anchovy stock
1 block of Silken Tofu
4 dried Shiitake Mushrooms, soaked in water
2 stalks of Green Onions

In a medium sauce pan over medium heat, cook and stir the pork. When meat is nearly done, add in the drained Kimchi. Reserve the kimchi liquid.

After a while of cooking, add in the Kimchi liquid and beef stock and bring to boil. Remove from heat and set aside.

In a shallow casserole, arrange the cut-up tofu, shiitake mushrooms (cut in quarters or whole ones if you prefer), and sliced green onions. Add the Kimchi and Pork soup and heat. When tofu begins to shake you may add chrysanthemum leaves or more green onions.

Homemade Kimch’i (김치)

05/11/201006/07/2015 | Doyd

This is one of my favorite recipes and I’ve been saving to write about this on a special day like today. But before I start, I want to thank Maangchi, my favorite cooking mentor for teaching me how to make this.

Not all people like Kimchi because of the strong sour smell. I cannot blame them but a lot of other people (like me) love that smell anyway. Years before, I honestly did not mind about what Kimchi is all about but when I started reading about Korean dishes, I became curious.

I first tried Kimchi at Korean restaurants as a side-dish. It was appetizing to me because of the savory kick of spicy and sour sauce. Then slowly, I appreciated the taste of the sauce and my palate started to want for more.

I only like the ones from the restaurant because it tastes more fresh. I never had a store-bought Kimchi in our home and because of that, I realized I had to learn to make my own Kimchi 🙂 To me, it’s comforting to know what ingredients I have used on my recipes. Then I am more confident serving food to my family knowing that they are eating homemade dishes by me.

I hope you enjoy learning this recipe as much as I did. I will make a new batch this weekend 🙂

INGREDIENTS:

2 medium Napa Cabbages
2 medium Korean Radishes (Daikon), cut into 1 inch cubes (leave some for the porridge, julienned)
Sea Salt
1 big Onion
Ginger
10-15 pieces of Garlic (I like to use a lot!)
Green Onions
Asian Chives
Hot Pepper Powder (pick a nice one that’s bright red)
Fish Sauce
Sweet Rice Powder

Cut the cabbages in half, then slit each half through the core, but NOT through the rest of the leaves. Soak each piece in cold water and liberally sprinkle some salt (about 3/4 cup of Sea Salt per medium cabbage), then set aside for 2 hours.

Salt the diced radishes too and leave for 2 hours as well. After 2 hours, turn the pieces of cabbage and radishes over so they are salted evenly. Leave for another 2 hours (Total of 4 hours of salting).

Prepare the porridge. Put 1/2 cup sweet rice powder and 3 cups of water in a sauce pan and cook over medium high heat while stirring constantly. Add 1/4 cup sugar then cool it down. After 4 hours, wash the cabbages and radishes in a cold tub of water… wash 3-4 times making sure you soak it well in water to REMOVE ALL the salt.

To the porridge, add 1 cup good quality fish sauce, 2-6 cups of hot pepper flakes (depending on your taste), 1 cup of crushed garlic, 1-3 tbsp. of minced ginger, 1 large minced onion. (I use my food processor to mince and crush the ingredients on this part)

Mix the porridge and continue washing the cabbages and radishes.

Take a look at my photos and see how I soak the cabbages in water to make sure all the salt is removed.

Prepare the following:

7-12 diagonally sliced green onions
2 cups asian chives cut into 2 inches in length
2 cups of shredded korean radish (left-over from the cubes that you used before)

Combine the porridge and the ingredients above.

Make sure the water from the cabbages drip off before starting to spread the paste on the leaves. You will see on my slideshow how my paste looks like (it will make you salivate if you love Kimchi like me – LOL!)

Start spreading the paste on the leaves and leave some paste for your cubed radishes (Kaktugi). Put your homemade Kimchi into an air-tight sealed container or glass jar.

Make sure you use a clean spoon each time you get a portion of your Kimchi when you eat. Also, press down on your Kimchi after getting your serving to make sure there is no air in between your cabbages. Eat this fresh or wait until it’s bubbly and fermented.

Put the Kimchi container at room temperature for a day then keep it in the refrigerator after the first day of fermentation. In a few days, you will see some bubbles and you will start smelling the sour Kimchi. That means it’s ready being fermented.

Enjoy your Kimchi!!!!

MAANGCHI where I learned how to make Kimchi

Making Mak Kimchi

04/22/201005/04/2010 | Doyd

Mak Kimchi
Originally uploaded by doyd74

I discovered making my own Kimchi back in 2008. Thanks to Maangchi, I am now a certified home-made kimchi maker. At first, it was a challenge, then after I made my first successful batch, it was addicting.

Using fresh ingredients, I am sure of the taste and quality of what I am making. Makes it perfect to create other kimchi recipes like kimchi pancake, kimchi soup, kimchi fried rice and a lot more!!! Funny, I got my husband hooked-up on eating kimchi. He says I have influenced him to eat a lot of food he never imagined himself eating (i.e., squash, oatmeal, etc.).

I have a collection of step by step photos on how I made this kimchi. Enjoy viewing!