Summary

Ingredients

• 2 heads Chinese cabbage, approx. .5 kg, ensure that it is good quality
• 150 g salt, iodine-free
• 1 carrot (s)
• 1 small radish (icicles)
• 1 onion (s), white
• 1 bunch spring onion (s)
• 1 bunch chives, Chinese, or chives garlic
• 1 bulb garlic, small
• 1 piece (s) ginger root
• 1 pear (s), peeled and pitted
• 4 tablespoon chilli flakes, Korean, (Gochu garu), important for a good aroma and a rich, light red color
• 1 teaspoon chilli powder, more or less depending on the desired degree spiciness
• 1 teaspoon, heaped sugar
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch (sticky rice flour), if available, otherwise cornstarch
• 100 ml fish sauce, Thai or Vietnamese, or to taste
• 150 g fish or seafood, e.. raw fish fillet or prawns, marinated in fish sauce, cured shrim

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Instructions

1. “The” classic Korean specialty, for which, depending on the province, practically every type of vegetable and fruit can be used. The variant presented here - with or without fish - is also one of the most popular in South Korea.
2. Wash the vegetables and peel them if necessary. Remove the outer leaves of the Chinese cabbage and cut it in half lengthways by cutting only half of the stem with a sharp knife and tearing the rest apart by hand. Soak the cabbage halves briefly in clear water and then salt them well, leaf by leaf. Make sure that there is enough salt between the leaf axils. Leave to work in a bowl for 2-3 hours, turning occasionally.
3. In the meantime, stir the rice flour in a little water and bring to the boil briefly with a cup of water in a saucepan, stirring constantly. Then put in a large bowl, add the sugar and let cool. Marinate finely chopped fish / seafood in the fish sauce. Julienne the carrot and radish in the shape of a match. Grate the pear, onion, garlic and ginger (if necessary with a mixer) and put everything together with the chilli flakes and chilli powder, with fish / seafood incl. Fish sauce in the bowl with the rice flour paste and stir to a marinade.
4. When the time comes, rinse the drained Chinese cabbage with clean water in at least 2 passes. Squeeze out well and let drain. Cut the spring onions and chives into oblique strips 3-4 cm long, the white of the spring onion a little finer. Pour into the marinade and season generously with salt. Fill the Chinese cabbage halves with the marinade sheet by sheet. The use of rubber gloves is recommended during this process.
5. Layer the marinated cabbage piece by piece, with the cut surface facing up, firmly in a suitable container (Tupperware is well suited). Swirl the bowl with the remnants of the marinade with half a cup of water and pour over the cabbage. Close the container and place in a constantly warm place (approx. 20 ° C). When the kimchi starts to ferment - this often doesn`t take longer than 1-2 days, it`s best to do a taste test every day - put it in the refrigerator. After 8-10 days you can taste it for the first time. The kimchi can be preserved at 5 ° C for a few months.
6. Tips:
7. The addition of fish or seafood is optional. If you don`t want this, you can of course leave out both (including the fish sauce).
8. Pickled kimchi should be well covered with liquid. If it is tightly packed, it will happen all by itself. I would strongly advise against topping up with water after marinating and pickling.
9. Quartering the Chinese cabbage is only useful and necessary if heads weighing 4-5 kg (so-called Napa Cabbages) are available. This should rarely be the case in Central Europe.
10. With Chinese cabbage kimchi, only the center of the halves is officially used. The stalk can be nibbled, the top leaves can be used to make a delicious soup, e.g. with tofu or rice noodles. Otherwise, rice is the first choice as a side dish - it doesn`t necessarily have to be Korean sticky rice.