Kimchi with @nilbarcode

Yesterday I spent a relaxed Saturday afternoon with Evangeline learning how to make kimchi at the Canberra Environment Centre, and met some lovely people along the way!

Evangeline is a self taught kimchi cook and as she’s a busy mum, she’s got all the short cuts.

I was very impressed to learn that it’s actully quite easy to pull together a batch of that great tasting, ancient Korean fermented food and that it tastes completely different as it ages.

Great just made as a salad…

…or a few weeks old (without chilli this batch!)

…or really tangy and tasty after a year!

Apparently it’s the low pH and the salt that keeps it safe from the ‘bad’ bacteria but it does encourage the useful bacteria to flourish.

After combining the roughly chopped Asian cabbage with a brine to wilt it…

…you add a puree of garlic, ginger and onion with a bit or sugar or fruit and some fish sauce. Last you add the chilli flakes.

It’s a good idea to buy the salt, fish sauce and chilli flakes from Korean grocery stores for the best flavour and effect.

There’s plenty of additonal options to add like carrot, spring onion or leek and then you leave it all at room temparature to bubble away, before sealing it in an airtight container and refrigerating it!

Evangleine has plenty of ideas on ways to serve and eat kimchi at different  ‘ages’ but I especially liked the sound of the kimchi topped hot dogs and kimchi stir fried with meat.

But having just tried Evangelie’s batch with a just poached egg, I’m a complete fan! So delicious!

Looking forward to creating my own batch soon!