Name: Emily Arnold
Class Year: 2012
Country of Residence: United States

Why is this recipe great? What’s its backstory? 

In March 2018 I started teaching myself Korean.  About a year later I built up the nerve to ask the Korean woman who works at my chiropractor’s if she knew of anyone who might be interested in language exchange. To which she held up her hand and said “ME! ME!” 

For the next year we met almost weekly and she has shared with me many aspects of Korean culture.  One of my favorite things we do is exchange recipes while we talk.  And one of my favorite Korean dishes we have made is kimchi. 

Kimchi

Makes 2 quarts . Takes approx. 2.5 hours

Ingredients:

• 1 Napa Cabbage
• 1 handful salt
• 2-3 cups water
• 200 ml water or vegetable broth
• ½ Tbsp rice flour
• 1 onion
• ½-1 cup Korean radish
• ½ apple
• 4  green onions
• 5-6 cloves garlic
• 3 Tbsp fish sauce
• 1 tsp ginger paste
• ½ cup crushed red pepper flakes (Gochugaru, 고추가루)
• 1-2 Tbsp shrimp (optional)
• Small bunch Chinese chives (optional)
• ½ medium carrot

Instructions:

Prepare Cabbage

• 1 Napa cabbage, quartered
• Slice quartered cabbage diagonally, should result in bite sized pieces that have a mixture of leaf and stem textures
• Mix a handful of salt with 2-3 cups of water
• Gently coat cabbage with salt water
• Soak cabbage for 1.5 hours, gently flipping the cabbage every 30 minutes
• After 1.5 hours, rinse cabbage thoroughly and let drain for 30 minutes

Sauce

• Combine 200 ml water or vegetable broth with ½ Tbsp rice flour over medium heat
• When mixture has formed a thick gravy and comes to a boil immediately remove from heat and let cool
• Blend mixture with
  • ½ onion
  • ½-1 cup Korean radish
  • ½ apple
  • 2  green onions
  • 5-6 cloves garlic
  • 3 Tbsp fish sauce
  • 1 tsp ginger paste
  • ½ cup crushed red pepper flakes (Gochugaru, 고추가루)
  • 1-2 Tbsp shrimp (optional)

Combine Ingredients

• Combine drained cabbage with
  • ½ onion (sliced thinly)
  • 2 green onions (sliced thinly)
  • Small bunch Chinese chives (optional)
  • ½ medium carrot (sliced thinly)
• Gently coat cabbage and vegetable mixture with sauce. 
• Store in refrigerator to keep fresh or on counter for faster fermentation

Source:

Kim Sunny, with alterations by Emily Arnold