Wow! What can I say? As most of you know I am a huge gargantuan lover of Korean cuisine and I am so pleased today to be able to feature another guest poster of mine, the lovely Hyosun of Eating and Living (A Korean American's Mom Cooking). I got to know Hyosun when I was looking through the blogosphere for Korean food and I was so impressed with her beautiful and mouthwatering Korean dishes. For today, Hyosun has very kindly shared with us her recipe for traditional napa cabbage kimchi - a staple at most Korean meals and I for one am one of its' adoring fans and I can't wait to try out her recipe. So, please welcome Hyosun and do hop over to her blog to check out more of her signature dishes!
Kamsahamnida Hyosun-shi! :)
Hi, I'm Hyosun from
Eating and Living, the Korean homecooking blog. I am so excited to be guest posting on this beautiful blog. I've been a huge admirer of J's blog and it's an incredible honor for me to be here today. I've been thinking hard about what I would share with you all for quite some time. Looking through her blog, I thought a
kimchi recipe would be helpful to go with the impressive spread of Korean recipes on this blog. So I am going to share my recipe on how to make traditional napa cabbage
kimchi , (aka
poggi kimchi).
I probably don't need to tell you that
kimchi is the best-known Korean dish and Korean eat
kimchi literally everyday with every meal.
Kimchi is basically a catch-all Korean term for fermented vegetables. There are hundreds of kimchi varieties in Korea. The napa cabbage
kimchi is the most common variety. Depending on the types, quality and ratio of the seasoning ingredients,
kimchi tastes vary widely. Every household has its' own methods. Making better
kimchi is a frequent conversation subject when my middle-aged Korean friends get together.
Various
jeotgal (salted seafood) are used in
kimchi for the distinct pungency and depth of flavors and to aid the fermentation process.
Saeujeot (salted shrimp) and
myulchiaekjeot (fish sauce made with anchovies) are the two that are most commonly used. I usually make
kimchi with 5-10 cabbages at a time. Why so much? Besides the fact that we Koreans eat
kimchi everyday, I am a typical Korean mom who makes a massive amount of
kimchi to supply to my grown-up children. Both my mother and mother-in-law did that for us for a long time, so I am definitely continuing the tradition. Also, my family loves every dish made with well-fermented
kimchi, such as
kimchi jjigae, kimchi mandu, kimchi bibimguksu, kimchi bokkeumbap, kimchi jeon, tofu kimchi etc. To help you start making
kimchi at home, I came up with a recipe using one nappa cabbage. Through this recipe, I hope you'll find that it's really not that difficult to make good
kimchi at home. Enjoy!