I love fermented foods, not only for the taste, but for the good bacteria that benefit my gut. When I got up, there was a soft rain falling, and it was to last most of the day. I was out of kimchi, so I decided to go to the grocery store and pick up a large cabbage and a Daikon radish for pickling.
I got sticker shock when I saw the price of the radish, $9.00. It would have been half that if I went to the Asian market, but that is on the other side of town. I only go that far when I have to go to the doctors. So, making the ferments was more expensive than I'm used to paying. I do have Chinese cabbage and daikon radish growing in the large raised bed, which will be ready for the next large batch.
Half of the radish went into the kimchi, and the other half got pickled. I sliced up some carrots for the kimchi before cleaning and chopping the cabbage.
Once all the leaves were washed, I cut them up and layered them with coarse sea salt to soften the cabbage, radish, and carrots. It took over three hours for the mixture to be ready for the sauce.
First, I have to make a slurry with rice flour and water before adding the green onion, minced garlic, sesame seed, fish sauce, oyster sauce, Korean red pepper, and hot pepper paste. Once the sauce is made, I toss it with the vegetables and put the kimchi in a large vessel to ferment for 5 days on the kitchen counter. Once it stops bubbling, I fill smaller jars with kimchi and refrigerate it.
Now, I have both of my favorites back in stock to enjoy with lunch. It helps with staying on the keto diet, which is sometimes hard for me to stick to. Here is a Kimchi Recipe I made two years ago, sharing the process in greater detail using similar ingredients. Thanks for stopping by today. Enjoy the weekend.
