UBER-KIMCHI

SEPTEMBER 28, 2005

I FINALLY put together my first batch of Kimchi the other day. Whoo woooh! My fifteen liter Harsch Fermentation Crock is about three quarters full, not exactly the small trial batch recommended. No worries, my daughter predicted last night after a heady sniff that it will disappear in no time. I did loosely use The Ultimate Kimchi Recipe by Eric Armstrong... most importantly, the attitude & techniques.

First, the most daunting part about this for me is that I have never seen, smelled, nor tasted Kimchi. So I was heartened when Tansy stuck her face into the opening & bobbed up all excited exclaiming "WOW, KIMCHI!" I have been preparing for this culinary adventure for a couple of years... btw, another daughter, Mollea, piped up "HEY, shut that, it STINKS!" LOL

I began with my largest stainless bowl, it is pretty huge (12 quarts?). 3 large Napa cabbages quartered & cut into one inch strips filled it up. I rescued the cores & sliced them thinly, hoping for a variety in texture. Then I incorporated the Celtic sea salt. Next a few small heads of some form of red cabbage my daughter was given by an elderly Hmong couple, loose & curly heads with lots of white mixed in with the red. It wanted to be included.

Most of the ingredients came from our local farmer's market, & our garden. Our daikon radishes grew only to be a few inches long, so a generous amount of kohlrabi was added as well. Three apples from the orchard, minus the worms. Four lovely fresh beets. Three HUGE bunches worth of the nicest green onions I have ever seen (a good two feet long), but mostly the green part.. a tiny acorn squash peeled & sliced, so crisp & sweet.

A half of a jicama begged to be included. A variety of fresh peppers, some sweet & some hot, slivered. Fresh living carrots so sweet & crisp. as I incorporated new stuff, the mixture continued to settle down so that the bowl never got to overflowing but just about. I did use one thin oriental eggplant, my only trepidation. I hope that wasn't a mistake. My intuition said to add it. Lastly, one of the kids went down to the creek and harvested an armful of the freshly renewed watercress that is so abundant. It goes to seed in the summer, the timing couldn't have been more perfect. The spiciness and deep green color were the final needed touch.

This Kimchi created itself, I was but the facilitator. I dissected a grapefruit (had no lemons or limes) & mangled it in another bowl. Added 9 huge fresh cloves of crushed garlic, locally grown here in Wisconsin. Part of what is so neat about this is all of the love that went in to growing the ingredients, literally dozens of people had a hand in this ultimately. Some unrefined rice vinegar, generous handfuls of sesame seeds, sesame oil. Then I ground in my coffee grinder 5 varieties of hot dried peppers I had on hand, and added a few handfuls of the very fragrant chili/paprika blend that is a staple for us. All in all, about a dozen different types of peppers are included. Lastly I grated a generous amount of ginger root. And added a dribble of raw apple cider vinegar.

I tasted the veggie mix and decided it needed a teensy bit more sea salt. Then I massaged the chili paste into the veggies. Couldn't resist licking my fingers when I finished, a perfect blend of spicy peppers, garlic, sesame, & ginger. YUM! The amount of seasoning covered the mixture perfectly, couldn't have planned it better. Altogether I spent seven hours lovingly participating in this process. After all of my worries about doing it "right" it turned out that I knew exactly what to do (felt very familiar). My crock rests on the floor next to my bed, and the fall weather is crisply perfect for slowly fermenting.

I am bedbound, and in quite a bit of pain usually. I covered my bed with a crisp white cotton covering & sat Naked Goddess/Buddha style making the most glorious mess! Twas a healing/spiritual experience, very Zen. I wanted to wait a few days before tasting it, perhaps today. The smell is intoxicating, very seductive. I am salivating just thinking about it.


UPDATE: The Kimchi turned out FABULOUS... very intense with a wonderful array of textures, visually pleasing, nearly intoxicating. We bottled it in smallish jars, the sort filled with Nutella & olives & such. There are a few still stashed in the back corners of the fridge (for special occasions). BUT the real corker is this... due to lack of enough jars at the time, a fair amount (perhaps a third) was left in the crock to be dealt with later. Now, precisely one and a half years hence, the Kimchi still lurks within my lovely crock next to my bed, and I am terrified to open it & see what's happened. Perhaps it is the veggie equivalent of Limburger cheese... but then, I adore stinky cheese, perhaps I will adore super aged Kimchi as well.

Oh yah.... I am no longer bedbound, or housebound! Thus is the power of Kimchi, moreso the power of LOVE!!!
smooch,
Auntie Hattie