Cabbage Kimchi

This recipe was given to me by my friend Chi.  Chi is a great cook among other things and she was nice enough to share this with some of us.   This is basically a summer time Kimchi and isn't fermented for such a long time.  During a hot summer 12 - 24 hours is enough, depending on how hot it is in your house.

Cabbage Kimchi - Chi Hyun Han

Ingredients

 1 Head of Cabbage - Remove outer leaves and tear into bite sized pieces
1 1/2 Cup Sea Salt  + 8 Liters Water for Brining
1 Large Onion - Sliced
8 Stalks Scallions - Cut into 4-5 cm portions
2 Heaping Tbsps Minced Garlic
1 Tbsp Sugar
1 Tbsp Korean Brined Shrimp (Saeu-jeot) --> If you can't purchase this in your area, increase the amount of Fish Sauce* to 1/4 Cup
3/4 Cup Korean Chili Flakes
1/8 Cup Fish Sauce*
1/2 Cup Water
The biggest bowl in your house

Step 1:  Put the pieces of cabbage in salt water at a ratio of 1/5 cups : 8 liters and brine for 2 hours.

Step 2:  Prepare the onion slices, garlic and scallions.

Step 3:  After 2 hours, drain the cabbage and rinse them once or if you're using Spanish sea salt (gruesa), just drain it.


Step 4:  Put the cabbage into a big bowl with the sliced onions, scallions garlic, sugar, brined shrimp, the fish sauce and chili flakes.

Step 5:  Wear gloves to protect your hands and mix the ingredients so that the chili and everything else is spread evenly.  Massage the ingredients gently while doing so.

Step 6:  When everything is mixed quite well and quite wet, put this into your airtight container and pour in 1/2 Cup water.

Let it ferment at room temperature in the summer for roughly 24 hours.

Taste it at this point to see if it's ready.  If it is store it in the refrigerator.  If not, leave it out for a few more hours, testing it every 2 hours or so.

When it's ready it will look something like this, but please taste it to make sure!