New batch of carrots and new kimchi started!

[Beer666]

Red Boat is widely regarded as one of the best that are widely available. A premium fish sauce will have only two ingredients: anchovies and salt. Cheaper brands may include water, MSG, and other additives.

Thanks for the info. I picked up some dried anchovies this week so i might try a small batch with some of them until i can find the sauce.

 

[Yooper]

Are most of you adding fish sauce? Stinks but i really like it.

Absolutely!
It's either that or raw oysters, so I go with the fish sauce.

 

[user 211287]

I only use RedBoat but there are a couple others that work fine too. There is a Korean fish sauce brand that is just anchovy, salt and water too. They sell 2 kinds so you have to read the label to make sure you get the right one.

Should be the blue bottle Chung Jung One i think is the name. Its pretty cheap at Asian markets.
https://www.amazon.com/Premium-Anch...F0RDRVC/ref=pd_lpo_2?pd_rd_i=B00F0RDRVC&psc=1

 

[jtratcliff]

It's either that or raw oysters, so I go with the fish sauce.

Maangchi uses fermented squid...

https://www.maangchi.com/recipe/easy-kimchi

 

[Yooper]

Maangchi uses fermented squid...

https://www.maangchi.com/recipe/easy-kimchi

I know! I wish I had the guts to do that. I can get oysters easier than fresh squid, but even so................

 

[user 211287]

There is a salted shrimp that is used too.
https://www.maangchi.com/ingredient/salted-shrimp

 

[user 211287]

BTW, the Amazon price for gochugaru is insane. My markets sell kilo bags as low as $8 for Assi brand. Korean origin cost around $16-18 for a pound. You might be able to order from Hmart cheaper than Amazon.

MAKE SURE TO FREEZE GOCHUGARU AFTER YOU OPEN THE BAG....It WILL mold if you dont.

 

[user 211287]

They have plenty of variety of kimchi, just want to take my own stab at it...cuzz...well why not.

Try this, i call it kimchi light. I make this for brats. Good in noodles too like ramen.
2-3 bags of Dole Slaw mix 14oz each
Sea salt (2% by weight) which will be 16grams for 800grams of slaw mix
1-2 TBS of Korean pepper flakes per bag
1 TBS fish sauce per bag.
2 Green onion and 2 garlic cloves per bag of slaw mix.

Combine salt and slaw mix. Let it weep for a couple hours. Stir several times while it weeps
Add the rest of the stuff and mix well.
Pack it into Mason jar/s with a fermenter lid
Leave it at room temp for 2-3 days
Toss it in the fridge for a month or more.

For me the older the better because old kimchi is the best for soup/stew. Ive got kimchi well over a year old. It makes the absolute best kimchi stew. Old kimchi at my market is expensive. I can get huge jars cheap but that little bag of 2yr is like $8 and its worth it if you want amazing kimchi jjiggae.

One of my Costcos sells kimchi and it aint too damn bad. I toss it in the back of the fridge and forget about it. Its really good after it sets a couple more months.

 

[Beer666]

I know! I wish I had the guts to do that. I can get oysters easier than fresh squid, but even so................

You know what it would take someone braver than myself to try and ferment oysters. Had food poisoning twice from them and not something i want to repeat. lol.

 

[Knightshade]

Have to give some thanks for everybody bumping this thread because it reminded me that I had bought Napa cabbage and daikon to try again.

“Oh shoot..”
“Dang it…can’t believe I forgot..”
“Dude..seriously, go chop up the damn cabbage already.”

So yeah..this is my take 2, small batch last night

 

[Beer666]

Had to make a new batch of this as i have eaten half a jar before its even finished fermenting. Tastes pretty good after a week but can defitely go longer. Here is the recipe i use collated from various people on youtube.

Puree;
2 small onions
1 small apple
bulb of garlic
small piece of ginger
1 scotch bonnet
1 Jalapeno
1tsp sugar
splash of apple juice
splash of water

To this paste add 45ml of fish sauce
15ml of pink salt
50g korean chilli flakes and some more juice or water if neccessary

Then you mix this sauce with 1 salted napa cabbage
3 small carrots and half a daikon thinly sliced
1 bunch of scallions

 

[user 211287]

My paste is
Asian pear....sub a bosc pear if you cant get them
Gochugaru...Coarse Korean pepper flakes
Fish sauce.. Redboat if making small enough batches.
Onion
Garlic
Just enough water to puree it

This works excellent for Kkakdugi.....radish kimchi. A bit less pear if making cabbage kimchi. You wont really taste it anyway once its fully fermented but some like kkakdugi to be slightly sweeter while its a bit fresher.

If you make more paste than needed it freezes fine. Make ice cubes of it if you make way too much. Save the ice cube paste in a bag for later....PS get separate trays just for this. I do it for pepper/garlic pastes too. Each cube gets a tablespoon of my pepper paste so its easy to use in recipes.

 

[Knightshade]

My 2nd small batch turned out great! I’ll prob do it again just to make sure I can duplicate then I’ll start adding more stuff.

 

[DubbelTrubbel]

Great to see some others who are also into making kimchi! I made 3 barches so far, they all turned out really good.

1st time was on an online cooking course during lockdown. Since then I discovered Maangchi's youtube channel and adapted her recipe.
I do not add in that shrimp stuff, but some kikkoman soy sauce.

Are most of you adding fish sauce? Stinks but i really like it.

For fish sauce I am using the 'three crab brand' one.
Compared to other brands it seems milder, more complex and not as pungent. More expensive though.

I recommend to give that one try if you can get hold of a bottle. Especially if you are into asian cuisine. We use it sometimes for wok dishes as well

 

[user 211287]

3 Crabs is very low end fish sauce. Super cheap here vs the others. If making small batches just get Redboat 40n or the New Town 60n. They are both excellent Vietnamese made fish sauce. Another good one not listed in the comparison is Chung Jung One PREMIUM made in Korea. Got to pay attention to the label because they sell a cheap one too.
https://ourdailybrine.com/fish-sauce-taste-test/
Good fish sauce should only have anchovies, salt and maybe water. Anything else is not needed but ive tried some that are ok with a little sugar added. MegaChef in the brown bottle is ok for Thai fish sauce. I like it much better than the blue bottle and its cheap for good fish sauce.
https://www.megachefsauce.com/en/product/0
If you have a market that caters to Koreans look for this one. Its much cheaper than Redboat and great for kimchi. Just verify on the label that nothing else is added.
https://www.amazon.com/Premium-Anchovy-Sauce-Small-Chung-jung-one/dp/B00F0RDRVC

 

[user 211287]

My new batch is another "easy kimchi" for hotdogs/brats/ect. The difference this time is im going to use my vacuum sealer and toss it in the bag until it needs more room. Then transfer it into glass jar.

1 14oz bag dole slaw mix
2% Korean sun dried sea salt for the slaw mix
1-2 TBS Korean pepper flakes (Korean Origin) not just gochugaru.
1 TBS of Redboat 40n
1 TBS minced garlic

Weep the slaw mix in the sea salt for an hour. Stir every 15min
Add the rest and mix well
Put it all in a quart or maybe a gallon vacuum sealer bag and seal
Leave in a warmer dark place for a few days until the bag starts to inflate from the fermentation
Put in the fridge and keep an eye on it. Making sure the bag is not close to bursting.

 

[user 211287]

 

[DubbelTrubbel]

3 Crabs is very low end fish sauce. Super cheap here vs the others. If making small batches just get Redboat 40n or the New Town 60n. They are both excellent Vietnamese made fish sauce. Another good one not listed in the comparison is Chung Jung One PREMIUM made in Korea. Got to pay attention to the label because they sell a cheap one too.
https://ourdailybrine.com/fish-sauce-taste-test/
Good fish sauce should only have anchovies, salt and maybe water. Anything else is not needed but ive tried some that are ok with a little sugar added. MegaChef in the brown bottle is ok for Thai fish sauce. I like it much better than the blue bottle and its cheap for good fish sauce.
https://www.megachefsauce.com/en/product/0
If you have a market that caters to Koreans look for this one. Its much cheaper than Redboat and great for kimchi. Just verify on the label that nothing else is added.
https://www.amazon.com/Premium-Anchovy-Sauce-Small-Chung-jung-one/dp/B00F0RDRVC

Are you sure? Maybe those are counterfeits - it's being knocked off due to the popularity.
In any case I didn't say it was high end. But definitely not low end in my experience.
Or perhaps I just got lucky with my bottle and it varies due to bad quality control.

That tasting test on the blog I find ridiculous though.
(small rant imminent)
How's 'smells like the stuff between your toes' a professional review on a fermented product?
Aside from being gross, if we really want to go there it would fit the bill for half the world's fermented food products.
(rant mode OFF)

Thank you for your suggestions. Korean shops we do not really have here, though I think there may be online ones, I will look into it.
Red boat I heard about already but I haven't tried it yet.

 

[user 211287]

Look at the ingredient list in 3 crabs and compare it to the MegaChef brown bottle. Real fish sauce is just salt and anchovies left to ferment. Some such as Thai fish sauce has some added sugar but its really low in the brown bottle.

 

[user 211287]

3 days in a semi warm spot the bag inflated some so it is fermenting. That is how i always start kimchi. Kraut i let set out much longer before going in the fridge.

It appears to be inflating more still in the fridge. I turn the bag over each day to make sure it all stays wet. Im going to keep doing this for atleast a couple weeks or until the pressure needs to be released....I love adding stuff like this to instant ramen. You can probably do the same thing with Chinese mustard greens. Ive fermented them before also.