Off the cuff Purple Sauerkraut

[Oldskewl]

^Looks good! Let us know how it turns out. I whipped up a batch of firecracker kraut tonight. I really prefer using pickle pipes on wide mouth jars than this darn fermenter. But I ran out of wide mouth quart jars. I'm just finishing up a batch of kimchi now. I plan to try a batch of kimchi kraut next batch.

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1502158154.928725.jpg

 

[richbrew99]

This is my first go at making Kraut & Kimchi, now I have to wait a couple weeks to give it a taste test!

Can you share your recipe/process for the kimchi? I tried once and it didn't turn out so well.

 

[Oldskewl]

I used this recipe and I think it turned out better than any kimchi I ever bought at the store. I used 4 TBS gochugaru and had a nice heat. Also I would save a bit of the drained water from the cabbage to add at the end to ensure the cabbage is submerged. I had to add RO water. Still turned out fine.

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1502588723.031412.jpg

http://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-easy-kimchi-at-home-189390

 

[user 211287]

That recipe should turn out fine but its got a lot of salt. I hope you rinsed it well after weeping. I use about 2 tbs per 2lbs of cabbage and rinse 3 times after weeping. The Assi brand of gochugaru i use has a fair amount of salt in it.

Yep store bought kimchi sucks. Its usually loaded with preservatives, way more salt than is needed and its pasteurized so the good lacto bacteria is dead.

BTW if you have left over paste it freezes well. I do it all the time. Save it for your next batch.

 

[richbrew99]

Thanks for the link and the tips. Will give this a shot!

 

[user 211287]

I let mine set out for only 3 days usually at room temp. It nearly always smells sour by then. After it smells sour it goes in the fridge for a couple weeks. Its not bad after just a couple days but its great after a month. Really old kimchi is for stew. Its by far the best once its around 3 months or older.

Ive made LOTS of kimchi jjiggae and its killer with Chinese BBQ pork

This one is with kimchi and radish kimchi

Kimchi stew with short grain rice....I love this stuff. Making another batch tomorrow.

Kimchi fried rice with lots of pork added

 

[Oldskewl]

Interesting that you pointed out the amount of salt. 1/4 c equates to about 4 TBS. When I look at the 2 kraut recipes, they use 2 TBS and 1 TBS per 2 LB head of cabbage. But they do not require a rinsing. I looked at my Gochugaru and it does have 60mg of sodium per serving(forgot to look at the serving size). I guess the extra salt in the Kimchi recipe probably speeds up the weaping?!?! I didn't realize the store bought kimchi was pasturized. It is still usually fermenting in the jar.

That recipe should turn out fine but its got a lot of salt. I hope you rinsed it well after weeping. I use about 2 tbs per 2lbs of cabbage and rinse 3 times after weeping. The Assi brand of gochugaru i use has a fair amount of salt in it.

Yep store bought kimchi sucks. Its usually loaded with preservatives, way more salt than is needed and its pasteurized so the good lacto bacteria is dead.

BTW if you have left over paste it freezes well. I do it all the time. Save it for your next batch.

 

[Oldskewl]

I did the same. 3 days at 70 degrees and then into the fridge. Only lasted about 5 weeks though. I enjoyed it every step of the way. I may need to give that Kimchi stew a try though. That looks yummy!

I let mine set out for only 3 days usually at room temp. It nearly always smells sour by then. After it smells sour it goes in the fridge for a couple weeks. Its not bad after just a couple days but its great after a month. Really old kimchi is for stew. Its by far the best once its around 3 months or older.

Ive made LOTS of kimchi jjiggae and its killer with Chinese BBQ pork

This one is with kimchi and radish kimchi

Kimchi stew with short grain rice....I love this stuff. Making another batch tomorrow.

Kimchi fried rice with lots of pork added

 

[user 211287]

Kimchi stew is the pinnacle of enjoying RIPE kimchi. I can eat it cold too but old kimchi is stellar for stew. Its the rage in Korea but you will likely never see it used in a restaurant in the USA. Ive had kimchi that was around 6 months old and tasted great.

BTW pasteurized can still ferment. Ive made a hot sauce that was boiled and bottled. I forgot i left it out after opening it and in about 4 days it exploded. Lacto bacteria can handle pH down to around 3.6 without much problem but it slows down a great deal.

Maangchi has a good kimchi jjiggae recipe but i like mine better. Main difference is i marinate the pork first (soy sauce, pepper flakes, garlic and sweet rice wine) then strirfry it with a little pepper paste. (gochujang) Add kimchi and onion, stirfry a few more minutes before adding dashi stock, kimchi juice and more pepper flakes. Add just enough liquid to come up even with the meat and veggies. Cook it until the kimchi is tender enough to your liking. I dont like mine turned to mush but longer cooking does make a richer tasting broth.

And no im not Korean but i did live in Osan for a little while.

 

[Dimax]

Can you share your recipe/process for the kimchi? I tried once and it didn't turn out so well.

Here is the link for making the Kimchi
https://www.makesauerkraut.com/kimchi/

I have not sampled mine yet it's only in it's second week.

 

[user 211287]

This is what i call kimchi light. Its 4 14oz bags of Dole slaw mix wept in 4-5 tsp of canning salt. 2 TBS of gochugaru that has a pretty fair amount of salt in it. Radish shreds are good in it too, even plain old radish.

Use a packer to get it tight in the fermenter.

Both lids in place. Inner one holds the "kraut" down.

 

[Oldskewl]

Wow that would make for some quick kimchi! Saves all the time chopping up the veggies. I just made a batch of kimchi tonight. Julienne the daikon is what takes the most time.

 

[S-Met]

Kimchi stew is the pinnacle of enjoying RIPE kimchi. I can eat it cold too but old kimchi is stellar for stew. Its the rage in Korea but you will likely never see it used in a restaurant in the USA.

Check out the menu below. Kimchi jigae, one of my favs on the menu, or the osam kimchi pot (not on the menu). They start out with 3-6 different small kimchi plates while you wait for your food. And a shot of sake with every draft beer.
Aura Korean & Japanese Restaurant
www.eataura.com

 

[user 211287]

Looks good but glass noodles and spam are not normally used in kimchi jjigae. Thats more like budae jjigae aka army base stew. The Korean place i go to most often literally covers the table in banchans. (little side dishes) and all you can eat refills of them too. Around 12 or so of them all over for a table of 2.

http://www.asiankitchenstl.com/menu

 

[user 211287]

Wow that would make for some quick kimchi! Saves all the time chopping up the veggies. I just made a batch of kimchi tonight. Julienne the daikon is what takes the most time.

Yes but its awful thin for most uses. Works fine in stirfried noodle dishes and kimchi pancakes though. Its also green cabbage instead of nappa. Green cabbage kimchi is called yang baechu kimchi. Nappa kimchi is tong baechu kimchi or just baechu kimchi.

Experiment for sure though with different cabbage, radish and even turnips or kohlrabi. They all make delicious kimchi or even simple ferments. When i make ggaktugi (radish kimchi) i mix either turnip or kholrabi with the radish. Cut them differently so you can tell them apart. Taiwanese cabbage makes really really good kraut or kimchi. Its very similar to green cabbage but hard to find unless you have a LARGE Asian market.

IMO the ONLY rule in making kimchi is the pepper flakes. Ive tried other peppers and none taste quite the same as sun dried Korean pepper flakes. Korean Buddhist monks dont even add garlic or fish products to theirs. Aside from the peppers i would highly recommend good fish sauce like RedBoat40n or NewTown 60n. Megachef Premium isnt bad either. It does have some added sugar but thats fine for ferments.

 

[Oldskewl]

Went to the store to buy the ingredients to make some kimchi. But they didn’t have any Napa cabbage. So it was time to give the Evilgrins coleslaw mix kimchi a try. The website of the recipe I usually follow was down so I used a different one. Little heavy on the onion or garlic from the first samples. I’ll give it a few days in the fridge to mellow out. It definitely was a quick way to make kimchi!

 

[user 211287]

I made a batch of it a few weeks ago. This time i made the effort to use a 2% salt mix and Korean pepper flakes that are much lower in sodium. I used less too but they are also hotter then the ones i normally use. No rinsing so its much closer to a kraut recipe. Turned out great for stuff like brats and hotdogs. Its super sour now.

The slaw mix version has less uses but its very convenient for what it is. Use whatever kind of cabbage you like. Get a kraut cutter or good madoline. I really like Taiwan cabbage for kimchi. Its kinda hard to find unless you have a good Chinese market.

I use this cheap Weston cutter. Turns a head of cabbage into slaw in a minute or two.
https://www.amazon.com/Weston-Cabbage-Shredder-70-1401-W-Stainless/dp/B00196NOZM

 

[Temptd2]

That looks really good! I need to make some kimchi too. Have some good purple cabbage sauerkraut but looking forward to the spicy stuff.

I'm looking at your chairs there and realized they look familiar because we apparently have the same ones!

 

[Staestc]

I have not been following this thread at all. I know kimchi after about 45 trips to South Korea. Don’t think I ever had red cabbage kimchi in Korea but entirely possible I did. What I did have, in Sheppard’s Garden in England, at the Polish Mexican Bistro, was a Red cabbage sour kraut that was just phenomenal with kielbasa. Not sure if it was a long Aged lactic or what, but I still want to make it. It was just phenomenal!

 

[Oldskewl]

That looks really good! I need to make some kimchi too. Have some good purple cabbage sauerkraut but looking forward to the spicy stuff.

I'm looking at your chairs there and realized they look familiar because we apparently have the same ones!

Bought the chairs at Wolfs furniture. Along with the table and hutch. Bought the matching barstools and trash can at a discount furniture store months later. Finish on the table hasn’t held up too well for daily use. I have the desire to sand it down and refinish it.

 

[Temptd2]

Wait - there is a matching trash can???

 

[Temptd2]

Travis LOL at Polish Mexican bistro in England! Now that’s a high-speed cultural collision for sure!

 

[Oldskewl]

Here is the matching trash can! Lol!

 

[Temptd2]

View attachment 629205

Here is the matching trash can! Lol!

NICE!!! Where the heck did you find that??

 

[user 211287]

Made a batch of one of my faves. I add a secret ingredient though....Some pear added to the paste with onion, garlic and Redboat. Toss all that into the Nutribullet with a couple tbs of water. Add a few tbs of gochugaru and let that set while the radish weeps in a mix of 50/50 salt/sugar.

After 1-2hrs of weeping drain off the liquid that comes out of the radish but DONT throw it away yet. You may need a little of it to top it off in the jar.

Return the drained radish to the bowl with chopped green onion and mix in your paste. Mix it up real good so its all coated well.

Pack it into a mason jar or fermenter. If using a Mason just dont crank the lid down or use a lid with a air lock. I didnt bother because it only sets out a few days before going in the fridge for a couple weeks

Top off with some of the liquid from the weeping as needed. Making sure to get it all down into the jar so any air bubble are removed.

Its good now after almost 3 days. Just checked and its bubbling away. Ready for the fridge tonite. ATM it smells sour but the sugars tame down the sour a ton atm. Within a week or two it will be pucker sour.

Kkakdugi...(Radish Kimchi)...More or less Maangchi's recipe with a little pear added.

 

[Oldskewl]

Interesting! I assume that is Daikon radish?

 

[user 211287]

I used daikon but traditional is a Korean radish. I cant tell much of a difference really and "mu" is a large rounder radish. I can get these at our Korean market cheap but 1 would have filled more than a quart jar. I used a piece of daikon about a foot long. Its also sweet pickled another way with vinegar and sugar. Then served with fried chicken.

 

[user 211287]

Kraut day.
3 16oz bags Wally World Slaw mix....they dont carry the Dole
2% canning salt by weight (27 grams)
1 heaping TBS of HOT Korean pepper flakes...These are Korean origin not China grown. Very expensive and much hotter.
1 TBS of juice from the last batch of kraut

Weeping now for 2 hours. Mixing it up every 30min.

 

[Oldskewl]

Evilgrin, any recommended brand of gochugaru? I ran out in the middle of making kimchi tonight. Ran to the Asian store and they were out. Apparently they have not been able to get it the last 2 orders due to the corona virus. I’ve used Assi brand in the past. I came across this searching tonight. Lot more expensive though%

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0791C6Y9L

 

[user 211287]

That one is highend Korean pepper flakes.

You probably want this though...Its a coarse grind and a tad milder
https://www.amazon.com/Premium-Kore...B7RC9FPXC54&psc=1&refRID=SZCEQXJFKB7RC9FPXC54