Kimchi is an ancient Korean recipe that has been around for 100’s of years as a way of preserving food. Before our ancestors knew exactly why fermented food was so amazing for the body, they knew it has powerful benefits to their health and well-being.
The great thing about Kimchi and other fermented foods is that it preserves the nutrients and prebiotics found in the vegetables, while creating an environment to grow probiotics. Now you ask what is the difference between pre and pro biotics? To put it simply, probiotics are the “good” bacteria for your gut and prebiotics are the food for that bacteria. You need a balance of both to keep it alive and healthy!
The base of Kimchi is cabbage, specifically napa cabbage is used most. From there you can experiment with different veggies such as daikon radish, carrots, green onions, peppers, with additions such as green apple, ginger, turmeric, lemongrass, lime or other citrus.
It is fun to experiment and find combinations you like best!
Kimchi is an awesome breakfast addition, on the side with eggs or sausage. I love it in lettuce wraps with turkey, avocado, and sprouts for lunch. If it gets a little too fermented for your tastes you can still use it in soups and stews or baked into a savory plantain pancake (yum!)
I want you to open your imagination and palate to tasting and trying new things! Because you may just find your favorite new food 😉
Watch the video for more information and an outline of the recipe is below:
Easy Kimchi
1 head napa cabbage
.5-1 head purple cabbage
1 large daikon radish
4 carrots
7 green onions
8 garlic cloves
~2 inches ginger
1 inch turmeric
.5 green apple
3 tbsp fish sauce
.5-1 tbsp coconut aminos
1 tsp red curry paste
1) Brine cabbage in 1/4 c. salt by covering shredded cabbage in salt and water for 1 hour. Place heavy plate on top of cabbage and water in a bowl to help keep it completely submerged.
Rinse the cabbage thoroughly to remove salt before mixing with other ingredients.
2) Combine all ingredients and mix well in large bowl
3) In large mason jar or wide mouth container put a couple cups of mixture in and crush down with end of meat hammer or wooden muddler. Keep smashing mixture until the juices rise to top of mixture, add more in and keep smashing down until all of the cabbage mixture is in the container and juices are to the top of the vegetables.
4) Cover with light kitchen towel or paper towel and place in corner of kitchen out of direct sunlight. Let sit and ferment for 3-10 days, check on it and make sure the juices continue to cover the vegetables. Place in fridge, keep in mind it will continue to ferment slowly in the fridge.
5) Ready to eat and enjoy!
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