My Favorite Kimchi Of All Time.

Cooking Time: 105 minutes
Recipe Difficulty: Intermediate
Servings Amount: 15

Recipe Lead: …for when you feel like wearing your mother’s kitchen gloves…

Ingredients

Fishy Sauce.

• 6 cups water
• 2 sheets dashima*
• 1 cup clamshell mushrooms
• 1 medium shallot
• 6 cloves garlic
• 1 tbsp black peppercorns
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 2 tbsp mirin

Kimchi.

• 2 lbs (5-6) Korean baby radishes`
• 1/4 cup course sea salt
• 1/8 cup sweet white rice flour^
• 1 cup water
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1/4 cup Korean pepper powder
• 1/8 cup Fishy Sauce
• 6 cloves garlic (minced)
• 1/4 onion (julienned)
• 1 cup garlic chives***
• 2 stalks scallions (chopped)

Fish Sauce.

1.  Place dashima, shallot, garlic (crushed), mushrooms and peppercorns in large pot and add water.
2. Bring to boil and then simmer for at least one hour.
3. Remove dashima, garlic, mushrooms, etc. and place liquid in medium saucepan.
4. Add remaining ingredients and bring mixture to boil.  Let simmer until sauce becomes concentrated and viscous.
5. Strain through mesh sieve into mason jar or other container.  Place in fridge or freezer and use as substitute for fish sauce.

Kimchi.

1.  Peel and rinse baby radishes.  Cut radishes lengthwise, without removing the greens.
2. Place radishes in a large bowl and add salt, ensuring that the radishes are evenly coated.
3. Allow radishes to sit for 30 minutes.  Flip radishes and allow them to sit another 30 minutes.
4. After about one hour, you will notice fluid at the bottom of your bowl and your radishes will be “bendy.”  Give them a thorough rinse to remove excess salt and dirt (from both the radishes and the leaves).
5. In a small saucepan, dissolve rice flour into 1 cup of water over low heat.
6. Once water begins to thicken, add 2 tbsp of sugar until sugar dissolves.  Remove from heat.
7. Add minced garlic, Korean pepper powder, and Fishy sauce and stir, until you get a thick red paste.
8. Add kimchi paste, scallions (chopped), onions (julienned), and Korean chives to radishes and, using your hands (gloved!), coat each radish.
9. Place radishes and remaining kimchi paste into air tight container and store in fridge for several days (it can take 10-14 days) until “ripe.”

*Dashima is dried kelp.  You can get some here or at your local Asian grocery store.
**Do not confuse sweet white rice flour with rice flour.  You can get sweet white rice flour here.
***Korean chives are also referred to as garlic chives.  You can usually get them at your local grocery store.  If not, head over to your Asian grocery store.
^You can get Korean pepper powder here.
`Korean baby radishes look like this.

You may be able to get some at your local grocery store; otherwise, you’ll have to head over to your local Asian grocery store.