The farmers' market has gorgeous Napa cabbage so it's time to make a
batch of kim chee. While I have a couple of Korean cookbooks, I thought
I'd look around on the web for new ideas. I must say that some people
have a weird idea of what kim chee is.

One recipe included a whole head of cabbage and one lonely dried red
pepper (among other things). This is, I think, kim chee for protestants.

Another included some honey. No, really, honey! Kim chee dessert, I
guess.

Yet another included vinegar, which defeats the basic premise of kim
chee which is fermentation to produce sourness via lactic acid.

On the more interesting side, some kim chees include anchovies, other
seafood, and other vegetables.

So, I went back to my old favorite, as follows:

1 large head Chinese cabbage, cut into 1-2 inch pieces, washed, and
drained.

1c peeled and julienned daikon

4 scallions, green and white parts, cut in 1" lengths

1/2 c peeled and julienned carrots

3 large cloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced

1" piece ginger, peeled and julienned

2 TB Thai fish sauce

2 TB kosher salt

1-3 TB Korean ground red pepper, depending on your tolerance for heat

=========

Toss together all ingredients and put in a non-reactive container. Leave
at room temperature for a day. Press down with a clean utensil such as a
potato masher - the cabbage should yield enough liquid to cover or
almost cover the ingredients. Let sit for a other 3-4 days then dig in!


--
Peter Aitken
Visit my recipe and kitchen myths pages at www.pgacon.com/cooking.htm

"Peter A" > wrote in message
...
> The farmers' market has gorgeous Napa cabbage so it's time to make a
> batch of kim chee. While I have a couple of Korean cookbooks, I thought
> I'd look around on the web for new ideas. I must say that some people
> have a weird idea of what kim chee is.
>
> One recipe included a whole head of cabbage and one lonely dried red
> pepper (among other things). This is, I think, kim chee for protestants.
>
> Another included some honey. No, really, honey! Kim chee dessert, I
> guess.
>
> Yet another included vinegar, which defeats the basic premise of kim
> chee which is fermentation to produce sourness via lactic acid.
>
> On the more interesting side, some kim chees include anchovies, other
> seafood, and other vegetables.
>
> So, I went back to my old favorite, as follows:
>
> 1 large head Chinese cabbage, cut into 1-2 inch pieces, washed, and
> drained.
>
> 1c peeled and julienned daikon
>
> 4 scallions, green and white parts, cut in 1" lengths
>
> 1/2 c peeled and julienned carrots
>
> 3 large cloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
>
> 1" piece ginger, peeled and julienned
>
> 2 TB Thai fish sauce
>
> 2 TB kosher salt
>
> 1-3 TB Korean ground red pepper, depending on your tolerance for heat
>
> =========
>
> Toss together all ingredients and put in a non-reactive container. Leave
> at room temperature for a day. Press down with a clean utensil such as a
> potato masher - the cabbage should yield enough liquid to cover or
> almost cover the ingredients. Let sit for a other 3-4 days then dig in!

Thanks, this looks interesting. Never heard of daikon though. I'll google.

OT but intriguing to me. I live in a town which is largely populated with
Indians. When I'm at the supermarket, I see them loading bags with ginger.
Never could figure out what they might make with it!

elaine

On 2006-11-11, Peter A > wrote:

> 1-3 TB Korean ground red pepper, depending on your tolerance for heat

Is Korean pepper the same as most Asian peppers like bird, tanaka, Thai, etc?
If I can't find Korean pepper, what's the best alternative?

nb

"Peter A" > wrote in message
...
> The farmers' market has gorgeous Napa cabbage so it's time to make a
> batch of kim chee. While I have a couple of Korean cookbooks, I thought
> I'd look around on the web for new ideas. I must say that some people
> have a weird idea of what kim chee is.
>
> One recipe included a whole head of cabbage and one lonely dried red
> pepper (among other things). This is, I think, kim chee for protestants.
>
> Another included some honey. No, really, honey! Kim chee dessert, I
> guess.
>
> Yet another included vinegar, which defeats the basic premise of kim
> chee which is fermentation to produce sourness via lactic acid.
>
> On the more interesting side, some kim chees include anchovies, other
> seafood, and other vegetables.
>
> So, I went back to my old favorite, as follows:
>
> 1 large head Chinese cabbage, cut into 1-2 inch pieces, washed, and
> drained.
>
> 1c peeled and julienned daikon
>
> 4 scallions, green and white parts, cut in 1" lengths
>
> 1/2 c peeled and julienned carrots
>
> 3 large cloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
>
> 1" piece ginger, peeled and julienned
>
> 2 TB Thai fish sauce
>
> 2 TB kosher salt
>
> 1-3 TB Korean ground red pepper, depending on your tolerance for heat
>
> =========
>
> Toss together all ingredients and put in a non-reactive container. Leave
> at room temperature for a day. Press down with a clean utensil such as a
> potato masher - the cabbage should yield enough liquid to cover or
> almost cover the ingredients. Let sit for a other 3-4 days then dig in!
>
>
> --
> Peter Aitken
> Visit my recipe and kitchen myths pages at www.pgacon.com/cooking.htm


this is a pretty good source of Korean and other Asian recipes.;
http://www.desertmodernism.com/blog/korea/

In article >,
says...
> On 2006-11-11, Peter A > wrote:
>
> > 1-3 TB Korean ground red pepper, depending on your tolerance for heat
>
> Is Korean pepper the same as most Asian peppers like bird, tanaka, Thai, etc?
> If I can't find Korean pepper, what's the best alternative?
>
> nb
>

I don't know the details. I bought ground Korean pepper at a Korean
grocery - it looks like cayenne but seems to be a bit hotter, but that's
based on very limited experience. I bet cayenne would work just as well.

--
Peter Aitken
Visit my recipe and kitchen myths pages at www.pgacon.com/cooking.htm

Here is a blog with photos illustrating how to make kim chee.
http://chowtimes.com/2006/07/kimchee.html


"Gunner" <gunner@ spam.com> wrote in message
...
>
> "Peter A" > wrote in message
> ...
>> The farmers' market has gorgeous Napa cabbage so it's time to make a
>> batch of kim chee. While I have a couple of Korean cookbooks, I thought
>> I'd look around on the web for new ideas. I must say that some people
>> have a weird idea of what kim chee is.
>>
>> One recipe included a whole head of cabbage and one lonely dried red
>> pepper (among other things). This is, I think, kim chee for protestants.
>>
>> Another included some honey. No, really, honey! Kim chee dessert, I
>> guess.
>>
>> Yet another included vinegar, which defeats the basic premise of kim
>> chee which is fermentation to produce sourness via lactic acid.
>>
>> On the more interesting side, some kim chees include anchovies, other
>> seafood, and other vegetables.
>>
>> So, I went back to my old favorite, as follows:
>>
>> 1 large head Chinese cabbage, cut into 1-2 inch pieces, washed, and
>> drained.
>>
>> 1c peeled and julienned daikon
>>
>> 4 scallions, green and white parts, cut in 1" lengths
>>
>> 1/2 c peeled and julienned carrots
>>
>> 3 large cloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
>>
>> 1" piece ginger, peeled and julienned
>>
>> 2 TB Thai fish sauce
>>
>> 2 TB kosher salt
>>
>> 1-3 TB Korean ground red pepper, depending on your tolerance for heat
>>
>> =========
>>
>> Toss together all ingredients and put in a non-reactive container. Leave
>> at room temperature for a day. Press down with a clean utensil such as a
>> potato masher - the cabbage should yield enough liquid to cover or
>> almost cover the ingredients. Let sit for a other 3-4 days then dig in!
>>
>>
>> --
>> Peter Aitken
>> Visit my recipe and kitchen myths pages at www.pgacon.com/cooking.htm
>
>
> this is a pretty good source of Korean and other Asian recipes.;
> http://www.desertmodernism.com/blog/korea/
>

[..]
> Thanks, this looks interesting. Never heard of daikon though. I'll google.
>
> OT but intriguing to me. I live in a town which is largely populated with
> Indians. When I'm at the supermarket, I see them loading bags with ginger.
> Never could figure out what they might make with it!

Ginger is used in almost everything in South Asia from curries to tea.

>
> elaine

Btw daikon is a close relative to carrot.


>
> OT but intriguing to me. I live in a town which is largely populated with
> Indians. When I'm at the supermarket, I see them loading bags with ginger.
> Never could figure out what they might make with it!
>
> elaine

Steve Wertz wrote:

>
> I like the fermented shrimp taste much better than using the fish
> sauce.

Sounds worthwhile trying. Sometimes I like the taste of fish sauce and
sometimes it just doesn't work.



>
> A excellent site for kimchi is:
> http://www.kimchi.or.kr/eng/main.jsp
> (Best viewed with IE)
>
> -sw

_.-In rec.food.cooking, elaine wrote the following -._
> OT but intriguing to me. I live in a town which is largely populated with
> Indians. When I'm at the supermarket, I see them loading bags with ginger.
> Never could figure out what they might make with it!

Two weeks ago I cooked a lot of Indian food and ginger was added just
as often as any other spice.
Here they are and all but the last one has a picture.

Boti Gosht *** http://www.fauxascii.com/food/Boti_Gosht.html (ginger)
Labdhara Gosht **** http://www.fauxascii.com/food/Labdhara_Gosht.html (ginger)
Matar Makhani **** http://www.fauxascii.com/food/Matar_Makhani.html
Zeera Aloo **** http://www.fauxascii.com/food/Zeera_Aloo.html
Grilled Timatar *** http://www.fauxascii.com/food/Grilled_Timatar.html
Turmeric Rice **** http://www.fauxascii.com/food/Turmeric_Rice.html
Lamb Balchao *** http://www.fauxascii.com/food/Lamb_Balchao.html (ginger)

--
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\ \ \ \ \ \ ASCII artist
:F_P:-O- -O- -O- -O- -O- -O- -O-
\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \

I used to have a Korean friend that was a botanist. He told me the
very best kim chee is made using platycodon roots. We know this as
balloon flower here. It is very strong and even Koreans that eat a lot
of kim chee can only eat a little at a time. Sorry, I never had enough
roots to try it myself, also don't know how to prepare it.