Kimchi (Napa Cabbage)

Ingredients

• 3 pounds napa cabbage
• 1/3 cup salt
• 2 tbsp sweet rice flour
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 cup water
• 4 cloves crushed garlic
• 1 tbsp ginger paste
• 1 onion, roughly chopped
• 1/3 cup fish sauce
• 1 cup gochugaru
• 1 leek, chopped
• 1 bunch green onions (diagonally sliced)
• 1/2 cup carrot, julienned
• 1/2 cup daikon, julienned

Instructions

Yields 2 quarts of kimchi

1. Cut the cabbage lengthwise into quarters and remove the cores. Chop it up into bite size pieces.
2. Soak the pieces of cabbage in cold water and put the soaked cabbage into a large basin. Sprinkle salt.
3. Every 30 minutes, turn the cabbage over to salt evenly (total salting time will be 1½ hours).  1½ hours later, rinse the cabbage in cold water 3 times to clean it thoroughly.
4. Drain the cabbage and set aside.
5. Make porridge by putting water and sweet rice flour in a pot, mix well, and bring to a boil. Keep stirring until the porridge makes bubbles (about 5 minutes).
6. Add sugar. Stir and cook for a few more minutes until it’s translucent.  Cool it down.
7. Place the cold porridge into a food processor. Now you will add all your ingredients one by one.  Add fish sauce, hot pepper flakes, crushed garlic, minced ginger, and minced onion.  Blend until well mixed, about 30 seconds.
8. Get out a bowl and add green onions, chopped leek, Korean radish, and carrot.
9. Mix all ingredients well and your kimchi paste is done.
10. Put the paste in a large basin and add all the cabbage. Mix by hand.
11. Put the kimchi into an onggi or glass jar and store at room temp.
12. Two days later, open the lid of the Kimchi container. You may see some bubbles with lots of liquids, or maybe sour smells. That means it’s already being fermented.
13. Leave it at room temp longer for more sourness (for kimchi-jjigae).  Refrigerate in a glass jar for up to 8 weeks.