a continuation…

April 2, Day 6 of COVID Quarantine Lock Down…

Movie: Crash Landing On You (a NETFLIX Korean Series) – About a South Korean girl named Se-ri Yoon, who get’s caught in a tornado while paragliding for a commercial. She flies away and finds herself across the border in the DMZ on the North Korean side. She is found by Captain Jung Hyuk Ri, who instead of taking her in as a captive adopts her as his suppose to be fiance. They plan her return to the south but every attempt seems to fail. Things get complicated and then they fall in love, which makes things even more complicated. Then there is a lot of chasing and comedy and falling in love and twist in the story and then a sort of happy ending. Over all it’s good fun to watch when you want to be entertained while challenging your reading skill at the same time because of all the sub titles.

It’s nice to be focused on watching a tv series just to take your mind out of all the bullshit that is happening around the world. America has now over taken Italy in terms of COVID19 infected and deaths. U.K’s Prime Minster Boris Johnson, falls ill and test positive of corona virus. Citizens of the Philippines goes on rally asking the president to resign amidst the virus outbreak. And back home in Australia, people are still going crazy over fucking toilet paper.

Total madness, I need keep busy, I need to cook or bake or make something Korean. Feeling inspired by the food from the film, today I’m going to make KIMCHI!

Kimchi is a staple in Korean cuisine, a side dish of fermented vegetables mainly napa cabbage with radish, leeks, spring onions and carrots. It is seasoned with gochugaru (red pepper flakes), ginger, garlic, onions and shrimp paste. It is a good source of probiotics which is good for your metabolism. It also has other health benefits which includes, boosting your immune system, promotes weight loss, fights inflammations in the body and is also said to slow the ageing process.

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Kimchi

2 whole Napa Cabbage (approximately 6kgs in total)

1 cup (200 gms) Rock Salt

1 whole Leeks (cut up about 1 inch thick)

3 pcs Spring Onions (cut 2 inches long)

1 pc White Daikon Radish (sliced into batonnets)

2 pcs Carrots (julienne)

2 pcs Pears ( cored and diced)

2 pcs Red Onions (diced)

8 cloves Garlic

1 pc Ginger (about 2 inches, peeled)

1/2 cup (120mls) Fish Sauce (Korean Style)

1/2 cup (85gms) Gochugaru (Korean pepper flakes)

1/3 cup (65gms) Sugar

2 cups (480mls) Water

1/4 cup (40gms) All Purpose Flour

STEP 1 – Soak cabbage in water for half an hour then drain it but not to dry (wet cabbage absorbs the salting better). Cut into nice chunky pieces then toss with the salt making sure it is evenly distributed. Cover and let it sit in the salt for 1 hour.

STEP 2 – While the cabbage is salting, make the porridge. place your water in a pot and then mix in your flour and sugar. Mix well until there are no more lumps. Heat your mixture while continuously stirring until it thickens like a paste. Set aside to cool

STEP 3 – Wash all your other veggies and then drain them and mix them in a bowl. Set aside till ready to use.

STEP 4 – Combine pears, onions, garlic, ginger, fish sauce and gochugaru in a food processor and blend till smooth. Add the porridge to the spice mix and blend well.

STEP 5 – Wash and rinse the leaves and mix it with the other veggies. Pour spice mix porridge over the veggies and toss well making sure it is seasoned evenly with the spice mix porridge.

*the reason for the porridge is for it to be thick enough to coat each piece of veggie for an even fermentation later on.

STEP 6 – Pack the veggie mix into a container preferably glass, ceramic or plastic. Press down and add weights on it to make sure you don’t get any air pockets. Leave a bit of head room in what ever container you decide to use. This will keep it from over flowing when fermentation starts. Leave in a cool dry place away from sunlight for 7 days to 2 weeks, depending on how much fermentation you want.

STEP 7 – Transfer to smaller continuers and keep in the fridge. It will last for months.

*I can’t wait to try this, I would usually have this with a meat or fish dish and steamed rice. You can have it with whatever you feel like. Kimchi Burgers, Kimchi Fried Rice, Kimchi Pan Cakes…

Happy Cooking and always remember to cook with your heart…