Kimjang, Making and Sharing Kimchi - EP.01
[Special Online Korean Cuisine Cooking Series]
“Kimjang, Making and Sharing Kimchi with Chef Hooni Kim”
- Episode #1. “Baechu Kimchi & Suyuk” -
The Korean Cultural Center New York (KCCNY) is excited to present an online Korean Cuisine Cooking Series “Kimjang, Making and Sharing Kimchi” introducing various Korean kimchi currently popular around the world. Chef Hooni Kim, Owner and Chef of Danji, Meju restaurants, and Little Banchan Shop in New York, will demonstrate how everyone can make kimchi at home with various ingredients with techniques!
As part of the Korean food culture education program, KCCNY is launching 4 episodes that feature easy-to-follow kimchi recipes.
Kimjang is an annual preparation and preservation of kimchi in the winter season. Kimchi, a fermented vegetable dish, is a traditional Korean dish that is now enjoyed worldwide. Accompanying almost every meal, kimchi has many variations and forms and is known for its high nutritional value and many scientifically proven health benefits. Regions, temperatures, and other environmental conditions have led to the creation of more than 100 different types of kimchi. The most common types of kimchi served are baechu (napa cabbage) kimchi and kkakdugi (radish) kimchi.
For Episode 1, Chef Hooni Kim shares recipes and tips for the most traditional and common Korean kimchi, cabbage kimchi, that many people make and store to enjoy throughout the winter.
Chef Kim will also be sharing an additional dish, suyuk (boiled pork belly), that often accompanies fresh kimchi. Many Koreans cook suyuk on the day of kimjang, as the combination of kimchi and pork make for an incredible combo.
This special cooking series is the third online cooking lecture program following KCCNY's “New Korean Cuisine Made Simple” and “Soul Food: Exploring Korean Street Food.”
Baechu Kimchi (Napa Cabbage Kimchi)
[RECIPE]
INGREDIENTS
5 pounds Napa cabbage
2 large heads or 3 smaller ones
2 cups coarse salt (*Preferably from the Andes or Himalayan Mountains.)
8 cups spring water
MARINADE
6 cups coarse gochugaru (Korean red chili flakes )
2 cups kelp broth
2 cups spring water
½ cup sweet glutinous rice flour
½ cup pureed salted shrimp
1 cup pureed white onion
3 cups pureed Asian pear (or apples if Asian Pear is not sweet)
¼ cup anchovy sauce or ½ cup fish sauce
2 heads garlic, separated into cloves, peeled, and minced
1 tablespoon minced ginger
½ medium Korean radish or daikon radish, peeled and cut into matchsticks using a mandoline
2 bunches scallions, white and green parts, cut into 1-inch batons
CLEAN & BRINE CABBAGE
1. Remove any wilted or brown outer leaves on the cabbage and discard
2. Cut the heads lengthwise in half, leaving the cores attached to hold the leaves together.
3. Use 3 tablespoons of salt for each half of the cabbage(s).
4. Take 2 tablespoons of salt and massage it into the core and ⅓ of the cabbage nearest to the core.
5. Take another tablespoon of salt and sprinkle it through the rest of the ⅔ of cabbage leaves, spreading it through them as evenly as possible.
6. Repeat with the rest of the cabbage half.
7. Put them in a large container and add just enough water (if spring water is too expensive you can use filtered water) to cover half of the cabbage and add the rest of the salt into the water.
8. Cover with plastic wrap.
9. Within 2-3 hours, the cabbage should be completely immersed in the liquid brine. If not then remove the cabbage in the container so that the top layer becomes the bottom layer.
10. Leave it to brine at room temperature for a total of 10-12 hours.
11. By the end of the brining period, the cabbage leaves should be pliable enough to bend from the stem by ninety degrees without breaking.
12. When they reach this texture, drain the cabbage in a colander in the sink, rinse the salt off with cold spring or filtered water, and wring the leaves out.
13. Taste the brined cabbage to make sure it is seasoned but not overly salty. If it is bland, sprinkle on a bit more salt and put it back in the container for another hour.
14. Wring the leaves out without rinsing. If it is too salty then put the brined cabbage in a large bowl of spring water for an hour so some of the salt can escape into the water.
15. Rinse well again and wring the leaves out. Put the brined cabbage in a large, non-reactive bowl.
PREPARING MARINADE
1. While the cabbage is brining, make the marinade so the flavors have time to meld.
2. Mix the gochugaru with dashi in a large non-reactive bowl and let it hydrate at room temperature for 2 hours. It will form a paste-like texture and will retain its bright color.
3. Mix the spring water and rice flour in a small pot set over low heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Whisk occasionally so the flour doesn’t burn at the bottom of the pot.
4. Once the mixture becomes thick and begins to look like Elmer’s glue, remove from heat and whisk well to blend.
5. Transfer to a large bowl, add the hydrated gochugaru paste, shrimp puree, white onion puree, Asian pear puree (if the Asian Pear is out of season and not of good quality, you may replace with apples), anchovy sauce, garlic, ginger, radish, and scallions and mix well.
6. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, and up to 1 day, before using.
MAKING KIMCHI
1. Wearing gloves, grab a handful of the marinade and rub it generously onto every leaf of the brined cabbage.
2. The cabbage should be completely covered in the red marinade both inside and out.
3. Pack them into a large lidded container, or several smaller ones, that you can leave in the fridge for weeks.
4. Once all of the cabbage is in the container, pour the marinade over the top, cover, and refrigerate until it ferments into kimchi.
5. This usually takes 2-3 weeks.
**Tips from Chef Hooni Kim**
Put the jars in a black shopping bag or garbage bag to make sure the kimchi sees no light during fermentation. Fermentation is at its best when there is no light and oxygen. Many recipes will tell you to leave the kimchi out overnight at room temperature to quicken the pace of fermentation. Chef Kim finds that although the kimchi will ferment faster this way the overall flavor is not always good. Too often the sour flavor achieved by fermentation overwhelms the deep intense kimchi flavor and the balance is off.
Although kimchi is best left undisturbed, chef Kim still recommends you open the jars and taste the kimchi every 3-4 days to learn the effects of fermentation on the flavor of kimchi. The first signs of fermentation will appear in 7-9 days, when you see small bubbles in the marinade and the leaves become slightly carbonated. The texture of the thick whites of the cabbage will still be crisp and fresh. The sweetness of the cabbage will be more prevalent than the sour acidity of the lactic acid. The garlic aroma will still taste a bit raw, and if you added raw seafood you will definitely be able to taste its presence. After 2-3 weeks all those ingredients will have melded into a harmonious single flavor that balances sweet, sour, salty, and spicy. This is when chef Kim likes his Napa kimchi the best. It still tastes fresh, the texture is a little crunchy, and you can definitely taste the fermentation.
As the fermentation continues the carbonation will disappear and the cabbage will become softer, its acidity will increase, and the flavors will mature and deepen. The garlic and raw seafood flavors will soften. You can keep this kimchi for months in a regular refrigerator to make your own aged kimchi.
Suyuk (Boiled Pork Belly)
[RECIPE]
INGREDIENTS
6 cups water
6"x6" dry kelp
4 dry shiitake mushroom
3 lbs pork belly
1 onion-cut into quarters
8 cloves garlic
1 inch knob ginger
20 peppercorn
1 Tbsp doenjang (optional)
Freshly shucked oysters (optional)
COOKING
1. In a large stock pot add water, kelp, and mushroom.
2. Heat on high until it starts to simmer.
3. Add the rest of the ingredients and wait until it boils.
4. Lower heat to low temp and place lid.
5. Braise for 75 minutes until the pork belly is soft and tender.
6. Remove pork belly, slice and serve right away with the freshly made kimjang kimchi.
7. Serve with some freshly shucked oysters for a special treat.
BIOS
Chef Hooni Kim
Chef Hooni Kim trained at Daniel and Masa before opening Danji, the first Michelin-starred Korean restaurant in the world. This year he opened Meju, a Korean fermentation restaurant and Little Banchan Shop, a retail Korean ingredient and prepared foods boutique in LIC, NY. Chef Hooni is the author of My Korea: Traditional Flavors Modern Recipes published in 2020 by W.W. Norton. Born in Seoul, he divides his time between New York City and Korea, where he is the founder of Yori Chunsa, a nonprofit that feeds and trains orphans to become cooks.