Sides

Mild Kimchi

Recipe adapted from: The Backyard Homestead Book of Kitchen Know-How, Andrea Chesman

If you like your kimchi hot, increase the amount of chili paste. 

Mild Kimchi

Prep Time

20 minutes

Cook Time

0 minutes

Yield

2 Quarts

Ingredients

8 cups cabbage, Napa (or chinese, cut into 2 inch pieces)
1 daikon (6 inch piece, peeled and sliced)
2 carrot (sliced)
4 cloves garlic (minced)
2 tablespoons gochujang (Korean chili paste)
1 teaspoon ginger, fresh (minced)
1 cup water
1 1⁄2 teaspoons salt, fine (or pickling salt, canning salt)

Instructions

Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl.  Mix with your hands to evenly distribute the seasonings, rubbing them into the vegetables. Let stand for at least 2 hours, up to 6 hours.

Pack the mixture into a clean 1-quart canning jar.  Add enough of the liquid released into the bowl to cover the mixture and fill the jar to the top.  If the liquid released by the vegetables doesn’t cover the vegetables, make the brine: Combine the water and salt in a saucepan or glass jar and heat on top of the stove or in a microwave just enough to dissolve the salt.  Let cool to room temperature, then pour enough brine to cover the mixture and fill to the top.  Cover the jar to exclude air but do not tighten the screwband.

Set the jar on a saucer where the temperature will remain constant: 65° to 75°F is ideal. Watch for fermentation to begin.  Brine will be forced out of the jar and you will see small bubbles, like carbonation, rising in the jar.

Begin tasting after 3 days and refrigerate after 3 to 5 days.  The kimchi continue to age and develop flavor. Store in the refrigerator.  It will keep for several months.