Krazy For Kimchi 배추 김치!/Loco Para Kimchi 배추 김치

Hello all!! If you’ve been wondering where I’ve been for the last month or so, I have been trying out new recipes and having challenges. I also have been doing a little bit of early Christmas shopping and trying to configure things for my future plans.

I always look to improve my cookery skills in anyway possible, and this past week, I might have just surpassed myself by making Kimchi.. What’s Kimchi, you ask? Kimchi is fermented, spicy cabbage(And other vegetables), common on a lot of Korean dinner tables. The cabbage has a sour taste and is used more as a side dish, but gets used in stews like Pork Kimchi Stew(Kimchi Jjigae-돼지고기 김치찌개), and Kimchi Fried Rice(김치 볶음밥).

I had always liked Kimchi, but didn’t know how to make it.. Until I had a whole sweetheart cabbage that was in danger of going bad in the fridge. I tried to think of ways to make this cabbage go to good use and came across lactic fermented cabbage recipes, and this blog: Crazy Korean Cooking. I set about making this and found it incredibly easy to do. Fermented foods are full of probiotics, due to the growth of good bacteria during the process which releases lactic acid which is good for digestion and the immune system. Here are the pictures of my first time Kimchi Click for Original Recipe Here:

 

1 Week fermented Kimchi!!

Close up of Kimchi! Very Pungent Smell, but full of probiotics and vitamins.

Kimchi serving in ramekin

 

All this yummy goodness, and all I did was three steps: Brine, drain and season! After the fermentation process, which may take a week, refrigeration is recommended; Although this can keep very well in a cool cupboard for a very good while. ** Please note that when you go onto the webpage for the Kimchi recipe, that if you omit the anchovy sauce/dried shrimp, the flavour will not be that different! So for the sake of my vegan/shellfish allergy/Jewish friends, I did this batch without seafood, and it tasted very good!!

I am now onto my next project: Fermented Chayote, Cucumber and Winter Radish.

 

My next Lactic Fermentation project! Created 14/Oct/2016… Waiting for fermentation..

 

So, everyone, watch this space, more recipes coming soon!

 

 

 

Update:

29/10/2016-

The pickling of this finally happened… But it ended up being a touch too salty! So it had to go for that reason.. 😦

The flavours from the spices came through very well,and It would have been better if I’d rinsed it a few times before fermentation. Aw well! Onwards and upwards to more fermentation experiments!

 

Spring Vegetable Rice- Arroz Con Vegetales de Primavera

Think you can’t make vegetable rice like the supermarket? Think again!!

2 Spring Onions
Half a White Onion,
2 Carrots diced or 1 Large Carrot diced
5-6 leaves of Savoy Cabbage, chopped
1 Red Bell Pepper, diced
3-4 cloves of Garlic crushed and minced
3 Stalks of Celery, diced

1 Teaspoon each of Dried Thyme, Mint, Black Mustard Seeds, Pimento Powder and Coriander seeds-The seeds need to be ground in a coffee/spice grinder.
1 1/2 Cups Of Basmati Rice, rinsed at least 3 times.
Vegetable Oil to sauté the vegetables
Salt and Cracked Black Pepper to taste

METHOD

Peel, chop, wash and slice the vegetables to bitesize pieces. Fry the onions, garlic and vegetables on a medium heat for them to fry and soften, but not, darken in colour. Add the seasonings after grinding the coriander and black mustard seeds. In total, fry for around 10 minutes or until softening begins.

Rinse the rice in a sieve, and add to the pot. Stir, to coat in the seasonings and then add water to cover the contents. Turn the stove on a low heat, and leave for 20-30 minutes or until the rice is tender, and doubled in volume. Add extra drops of liquid if necessary, if the rice grains haven’t cooked yet. You are essentially looking to steam cook the rice. Serve with Barbecue Ribs, Chicken, Roast/Stewed Beef, or Quorn style Chicken pieces in Korma Sauce. Disfrutalo!!

Dinie’s Mum’s Coleslaw/Coleslaw Del Mama De Dinie

This is a recipe, that I kinda stole from my mum….. You can add any thing that you want to your coleslaw… Be as creative as you want!

INGREDIENTS

1 Small Cabbage

5 Medium Sized Carrots

Half  Of  An Onion

1-2 Sweet Peppers

2 Spring Onions

2 Tablespoons of Vinegar/Lemon Juice

1 Heaped Teaspoon of  both Wholegrain and English Mustard

Half a Jar of Mayonnaise

Salt and Black Pepper, to taste

METHOD

Use the slicing attachment on a food processor, and slice the cabbage, onion and carrots. Rinse the vegetable in a colander, and drain. If necessary, squeeze any more water out of the vegetables-Especially the carrots which have a high water content! when the veggies are free of water, place in a container. Wash and slice the spring onions, and add to the bowl. Cut in half and de-seed the pepper. Use the food processor to slice it into pieces.Add them to the bowl.  Add the mayonnaise, vinegar/lemon juice, two mustards and seasoning. Mix thoroughly and leave to chill for at least 2 hours. Enjoy as part of picnic refreshments.