Written By Stephanie Hamborsky, Edited by Kaki Hunter
Kimchi originated centuries ago, and the globalization of cuisines has resulted in many unique variations of this traditional Korean side dish featuring salted, fermented vegetables and bold seasonings. Moab’s Kaki Hunter, an avid natural builder, co-author of Earthbag Building, and creator of KAKOLA Granola (Kaki-made granola) and Kaki-Chi (Kaki-made kimchi), offered up some of her fermentation secrets during a free Moonflower-sponsored class on Thursday, September 6th. Kaki demonstrated the entire kimchi-making process from start to finish and enticed us all with a few of her signature kimchi blends.
STEP 1: Preparing the vegetables and brine
Prior to the class, Kaki placed the vegetables on ice to “crisp” them. Class participants began by chopping fresh vegetables: cabbage, carrots, radishes, and oodles of garlic and ginger. TIP: one can easily peel fresh ginger root with a spoon by gently scraping away the super thin skin revealing the flesh. Kaki prefers to juice the ginger to avoid chewing the fibrous root. Others who enjoy ginger in substantial bursts may choose to add the diced ginger directly into the chopped vegetable blend. The students then added various spices and seasonings to the mix such as red chili flakes, fennel seed, chili powder, coriander, black peppercorns, and a sprinkle of coconut sugar. The whole array was tossed by hand to thoroughly distribute the seasonings evenly.
They then prepared a brine by juicing the reserved solid cores of the cabbages, the thick outer leaves, some of the ribs from the larger cabbage leaves, and lots of whole celery. They put the juice into a quart jar with 1-tablespoon of salt.
STEP 2: Preparing the ferment
Students transferred the vegetables from the mixing bowl into a wide clear plastic tub in which the fermentation would occur (this could also be a wide mouth glass jar or a crock). Then Kaki gently compressed the vegetables with an oak dowel making sure to keep the vegetables undamaged so they would remain crisp.
Next came the juice/brine. Kaki mixed a small amount of a special probiotic blend (Vital-10 developed by Klaire Labs) to the juice/brine then poured it over the kimchi. She placed a plate over the vegetables weighted with a river rock (pre-sterilized by boiling) on top to maintain compression during the fermentation process. The initial ferment produces a lot of gas from the microbial activity causing the vegetables to rise (and eventually sink back down) so make sure there is enough room in the container for these volume fluctuations. If you are using a glass jar keep the lid loose or it could explode! The ratio between the juice and chopped vegetables is roughly one to four, though considerable room exists for deviation. The fresh squeezed vegetable juice does the job of keeping the kimchi submerged in plenty of juice and is a great elixir!
Ever notice the light bluish powder on the surface of cabbage leaves, along with juniper berries, plums, and grapes? That powder is a naturally occurring wild bacterium. This wild bacterium contributes to transforming cabbage into sauerkraut, grapes into wine and our potpourri of vegetables into tangy, delicious, crunchy kimchi, but to be on the safe Kaki adds a reliable probiotic from a reputable manufacturer. Kaki cautioned class participants that producing soggy or mushy vegetables through the fermentation process usually indicates contamination by yeast instead of the presence of healthy bacteria. She suggests trying out some of the probiotic blends at the Moonflower to test their effectiveness in a small batch of kimchi. If the ferment is tangy and the vegetables remain crisp, you’ll know it’s a viable living product. If it turns to slime, you’ll know it’s a dud!
STEP 3: Playing the waiting game
The freshly made kimchi should be left in an easy access, cool, dry place to facilitate regular monitoring. If it’s too warm it can risk overpopulating yeast. Give it a sniff and taste test the ferment every few days to make sure it’s getting sour and still feels crunchy. After 5-7 days it should be tangy and crunchy. Then it’s ready to transfer into sterile jars. Kaki sterilizes her jars in a steam bath or soaking them in soapy water and iodine for 15 minutes. She uses an oak dowel to compress the finished kimchi into her sterilized jars always leaving extra room at the top to cover with the juice. She suggests wiping the top of the jar with a paper towel to ensure they are thoroughly dry before screwing on the lid (to prevent corrosion from contact with the acidic juices) or use plastic lids. Store the jars (with the lids medium tight) in the refrigerator. The kimchi will continue to ferment in the fridge but at a slower pace.
Kimchi can be and eaten by itself, added to sandwiches, steamed rice, as a condiment with meats, combined with traditional Asian dishes or whatever trips your trigger.
Try the following “Kak-Chi” ingredient blends for wonderfully flavorful kimchi:
- “Asian” Chili Spice: green cabbage, napa cabbage, carrots, jicama, red radish, daikon radish, garlic, ginger, jalapeno, ground dried red chilis, coconut sugar, sea salt, probiotic blend
- Rose Mild: red cabbage, carrots, red radishes, fennel seed, sea salt, celery juice, probiotic blend
- Green Pickle: green cabbage, jicama, red radish, daikon radish, carrots, celery juice, sea salt, mustard seed, dill seed, coriander seed, fennel seed, white peppercorn, black peppercorn, probiotic blend