Do you want to make your own Kimchi and don’t want it too spicy or you don’t have a food processor?
I wanted to make Kimchi because I was wanting that Samgyupsal feel for dinner. And we all are familiar that when you say Korean cuisine = never without Kimchi.
I also wanted to lower the spices a bit and knew that there is such a thing as white kimchi which does not have the gochujaro in it (red pepper flakes). This is also a good alternative to those who don’t have that in their local markets.
After some researching around, I found that it is possible to make GRATE Kimchi… Grated instead of processed 😂 that is!
Currently don’t have a food processor or a blender so I really had to look into other possibilities. And so thankful there was a way.
look at all that onion turning into mush 🧅
AND IT TASTES LEGIT.
Here’s how to make it!
🍲Ingredients
- 2 Napa Cabbages 🥬🥬
- salt, a lot!
- garlic (12 cloves)
- ginger (2-3 thumb sizes)
- red onions (2 bulbs)
- radish medium sized (1 pc)
- carrot medium sized (1pc) cut to thin strips
- apple small to medium sized (1pc)
- red chilies 🌶️ (4pcs)
- flour (2 tsp)
- fish sauce (3tsp)
Utensils:
- grater
- big bowl
- jar or food containers with lids
Fast Method Preparation
Kimchi takes a lot of patience.
It relies on brining the cabbage and fermenting all ingredients together, so preparation means you will have to wait 1-4hrs to brining and around 24-48 hrs before it tastes legit like the sweet and sour flavored kimchi that we know.
Take note this is NOT the traditional LONG version prep.
⏳Brining 1 hr (for crispier cabbage)
⏳Fermentation 24 hrs
And it tastes best actually on the second day onward but you can eat it on the first 24 hrs of letting it ferment. Just sayin :D
Some recommend brining for ⏳4hrs
And letting it ferment for ⏳3 days before eating.
It is up to you if you wanna wait or excited to just eat that crunchy kimchi.
STEP 1: Brining the Napa Cabbage
So here is my chunky cabbages they’re in this big stainless steel bowl.
I take a LOT of salt and just cover all the leaves and also mix it in the water and just let the cabbage shrink in the solution.
I timed this for 1 hour, note it can be soaked up to 4 hrs. I did not want it to be super salty or super wrinkly or soggy so washing it, cutting and draining it earlier was my choice.
after an hour of soaking I rinsed all the salt away and cut them into bite size pieces.
Step 2: Grating the Mixture
here are all the ingredients in one picture.
There’s no step which veggie or fruit comes first. But I usually just start with this respective order:
Garlic, onion, ginger, radish, carrot, apple, chili 🌶️
Step 3: Mix Slurry
They call this slurry. It is basically any type of flour mixed with water and fish sauce that is added to the kimchi to help it ferment better and of course be the “sauce” thing.
You mix 2tsp flour with water and mix until pasty. (Unsure if this is too much but it turned out fine) And add some fish sauce.
They advise to refrigerate a few minutes before adding it in. Anyway, that is your slurry.
This was my first time trying this I am quite unsure if they use lukewarm water or hot to mix but I used normal temp water.
Step 4: Mix everything well and Store in a cool dry place
I also chopped some of the carrot left overs.
I didnt grate them all. As mentioned in the ingredients list, its supposed to be cut in sticks.
Hi! Excited for the result. At this point I was unsure of the success or the taste.
DAY 1-3 of Fermentation
We tasted it after 24 hours, not all was fermented but it definitely had that kimchi smell already and some were already sour.
It did not magically turn into crispy kawali porkchops 😂🤣 But….
It was so yum eating it together!
Fast forward to third day
On the third day it has definitely blended so well. And smells really well done hehe!
Taste Difference
One thing I appreciate about this method is that it is practical especially if you have no food processor.
A difference in the taste?
Actually it taste the same with other white kimchis and red too (it is just not spicy)
What I noticed that was particularly new with this was since it is not finely blended, it is just finely grated, there are more fleshy pieces of the radish, garlic, gingers that you once in a while taste a strong flavor and recognize them and say “oh this is the ginger taste”, “oh I think the radish taste is strong with this bite” and sometimes you feel how garlicy it is too. It is a fun new experience to have. Not to mention the best part is having all the nutritional benefits unchanged due to the NO HEAT preparations. You get your prebiotics and probiotics!
Thank you so much for taking the time to read my post and view the pictures. For any concerns or advice I am happy to read them in the comments!