Kimchi

Its December and there is not alot of anything left in the garden, just a few sorry sprouts and half a ton of Jerusalem artichokes. The only other crop to be had is the mooli , the last planting of last year with left over seeds.

Mooli or diakon makes lovely Kimchi and as i have become slightly obsessed with the slight fizz, crunch and chilli spike of the South Korean invention this year i thought it was time to have a go myself.

I supplemented our crop with some chinese cabbage, garlic, ginger and spring onion.

Kimchi

I am not sure the amounts matter much here as i think its mostly down to personal preference. After a thorough google and a chat with The three Tuns, Great Bedwyn (who make a mean Kimchi)i have come to the conclusion that there are few limits to the different ingredients and methods you can use to make this tasty fermented snack.

Rough recipie

2 chinese cabbage

500g daikon peeled and cut into matchsticks

half a cup of maldon salt

2 tablesppons garlic puree

1 tablespoon grated ginger

150g gouchujang chilli paste

1 bunch spring onion

2 tablespoons of fish sauce

1 tablespoon sugar

Cut the cabbage into strips, put into a bowl add the salt and massage a bit. Add water to cover (mineral) and let stand for a few hours.

Drain and rinse the cabbage, allow to dry off as you do the next bit.

Combine the garlic, ginger, sugar, fish sauce and chilli paste and combine with the chopped cabbage with your hands (gloves are recommended). Rub together well.

Stick into sterilized jars with a bit of space at the top and let stand out of the frige for a few days till you start to see bubbles forming.Put it in the fridge and leave for a couple of weeks.

Eat with rice, noodles, ramen, cheese on toast, dumplings, rice paper rolls, from the jar, with eggs for breakfast, in a burger or with a hotdog, as a dip for prawns etc etc etc