THE PRESERVATIONIST

THE PRESERVATIONIST KIMCHI

Easy to make, this Korean obsession is healthful as well as delicious

BY JORDAN CHAMPAGNE • PHOTOGRAPHY BY MARGAUX GIBBONS

Kimchi is one of my favorite foods to think of as a medicine.

A simple combination of fresh vegetables, including cabbage, carrots and radishes, fermented in a salt water brine with generous amounts of ginger, chilis, onions and garlic, this spicy traditional Korean condiment is a very nutrient-dense food, rich in vitamins and minerals. It’s also teeming with beneficial bacteria and is very alkalizing and supportive to our digestive tracts and immune systems. ere is something so satisfying about eating this tangy, crunchy pickle preserve and feeling the sour heat on your throat when you have a cold.

I can remember one time I had the bright idea to bring along some kimchi on an airplane to help me stay healthy on my trip. After we reached altitude, I opened the jar under pressure from all the bacterial activity and instantly realized my mistake! “Oh no, oh no, please go back in there,” I said to the gredients often include daikon radishes, carrots and scallions but can include many different vegetables (loose leafy greens, mushrooms, peppers, turnips, cucumbers and pumpkin, for example), as well as fruits. Seafood is often added in the coastal areas of Korea.

At Happy Girl Kitchen Co. we prefer to make a very simple, clean-tasting kimchi with a good amount of ginger and chili. I love to put a lot of daikon radish in my kimchi, as digging daikon pieces from the jars is like going on a treasure hunt. Enjoy creating some of your own variations and make this Korean treasure your own!

odors that had rushed out of the jar. Opening a jar of kimchi in the confined atmosphere of an airplane is one sure way to get the attention of people sitting nearby—either interest or horror! I decided to tighten down the lid and save my treat for when I was in the fresh, open air.

Being highly versatile, kimchi is found as a condiment at every Korean meal. On average, Koreans each eat 1/3 pound of kimchi per day, even more than the 1/4 pound of sauerkraut that the average German eats each day. Regional variations abound and there are many different recipes according to the season and climate where it is being made, but kimchi can make even a simple meal of rice turn into something quite substantial. e base of kimchi is tender cabbage, like the Chinese (napa) cabbage we are familiar with, which has a more delicate texture than the hardier green cabbage heads used to make traditional European sauerkraut. e other in-

Jordan Champagne is the co-owner and founder of Happy Girl Kitchen Co. She has a passion for preserving the local, organic harvest and loves sharing her secrets at the workshops she teaches across the region.

Courtesy Jordan Champagne, Happy Girl Kitchen Co. and Café in Pacific Grove

A Korean national passion, kimchi is often eaten at every meal, including breakfast! Chinese (napa) cabbage is the base, and the pickle usually includes radishes or turnips, scallions and other vegetables, and often, seafood. It is commonly seasoned with ginger, garlic, hot red chili peppers and sometimes fish sauce. e aromas created are enlivening themselves. My father, a pilot during the Korean War, told of smelling kimchi while flying in his jet.

Making kimchi is very similar to making sauerkraut. However, it is usually eaten “younger,” as it seems to ferment faster. is recipe will take at least one week to ferment.

Yields 1 quart

1 pound Chinese (napa) cabbage or bok choy 1 daikon or other radish 1 to 2 carrots 1 to 2 onions, scallions or leeks 3 to 4 garlic cloves 3 tablespoons fresh ginger root, grated 3 to 4 hot red chilis, dried (hot chili sauce or chili powder may be substituted) Sea salt Optional: Add fish sauce (without preservatives) to spice mixture

Combine 4 tablespoons sea salt with 4 cups non-chlorinated water to make a brine.

Chop the cabbage, carrots and radishes. Since Chinese cabbage is more delicate than green cabbage and will shrink as it ferments, slice into larger chunks than you imagine enjoying later.

Cover the vegetables with the brine and weigh down with something heavy to keep submerged. Let them soak for a few hours or overnight, until they are soft.

Prepare the spices by chopping the garlic, grating the ginger, crushing the chilis and

slicing the onions. en mix them all together and set aside.

Drain the brine off the cabbage and reserve. Taste the vegetables and judge their saltiness—if they taste too salty, then rinse them off a bit. If you can’t taste salt, then add a little bit at a time, tasting after each addition.

Combine the vegetables and spices.

Pack mixture into a glass jar or vessel of your choice and pour over enough of the reserved brine to cover the mixture. Press the vegetables tightly into the jar, punching out air bubbles.

Weigh down the mixture with a smaller glass jar or plastic bag filled with the extra brine or just push the vegetables down with your fingers every day.

Ferment in a warm place (not more than 70° degrees F) like a kitchen counter, for about one week or until it is as sour as you like.

Remove the weight, cap the jar tightly and store it in your refrigerator where it will keep for months.