Spicy Kimchi: Traditional Korean Peking Cabbage Recipes

30.04.2021

Kimchi is a popular Korean food that has become one of the symbols that perfectly embodies its culture. In Korea, this dish is considered the main one, as it is dietary, burns fat, strengthens the immune system, and helps in the fight against colds and hangovers. Depending on the ingredients, the food's geographic origin and the time of year, kimchi is prepared differently. The most common option is Chinese cabbage.

Basic Peking Cabbage Kimchi Recipe

I started my acquaintance with the process of preparing the incomparable Korean food with the recipe, which I will describe below. I knew that the classic version assumes the presence of a larger number of different ingredients, but this method bribed me with its simplicity, and later it made me happy with the results.

Ingredients:

3 kg of Chinese cabbage;
100 g of garlic;
30 ml of sunflower oil;
6 liters of water;
6 tbsp. l. salt;
100 g ready-made mixture of dried paprika, coriander and hot red pepper.

Cooking steps:

Rinse the heads of Chinese cabbage under cold running water and cut in half lengthwise.
For pickling, choose fresh and crispy cabbage.
Transfer the cabbage to a large saucepan.
For salting, you can use an enamel pan or stainless steel container
Prepare the brine by mixing salt and water.
Use coarse salt and be careful to completely dissolve the crystals in the water
Fill the cabbage with brine, put oppression on top and leave in a warm place for 2 days.
As oppression, you can use a large plate and a jar of water
After the indicated time, drain the liquid.
Pour the seasoning mixture into a bowl, pour 1 glass of boiling water, let stand for 10 minutes.
Thanks to boiling water, dry seasonings will swell, and also activate their taste and aroma
Chop the peeled garlic cloves.
Garlic can be chopped in a blender or chopped very finely with a knife
Pour refined sunflower oil into the seasoning mixture.
The best option for refueling is odorless sunflower oil
Add chopped garlic to the dressing.
Garlic will give the dish a special aroma and taste.
Mix all ingredients thoroughly.
To obtain the required consistency, stir the dressing for at least 2 minutes.
Opening the cabbage layers slightly, coat each Peking leaf well with the hot mixture.
Grease the cabbage leaves gently so as not to break the bases of the heads of cabbage.
Place the cabbage halves tightly in a suitable container, cover and leave again for 2 days.
Turn the cabbage halves every 6-8 hours to soak the cabbage evenly.
Transfer the finished snack to a plastic container with a tight-fitting lid and place in the refrigerator. The shelf life of the product is 2 weeks.
Before serving, cut the cabbage into small pieces and lightly drizzle with vegetable oil.
Serve the cabbage after cutting it into pieces

Video: how to cook traditional kimchi

Kimchi with shrimps and green onions

I confess that this recipe has not yet been tested by me personally. More precisely, I was lucky enough to enjoy the taste of traditional kimchi, but I don't have enough time to cook it myself. It so happened that about 15 years ago, 3 Korean families settled on our street at the same time. We got to know each other and often invited each other to visit, not forgetting to put dishes typical for our people on the table. Shrimp kimchi was the best I had a chance to taste in those days.

Ingredients:

3 kg of Chinese cabbage;
100 g of salt;
400 ml of water;
2 tbsp. l. rice flour;
2 tbsp. l. Sahara;
200 g of white radish;
100 g carrots;
7-8 feathers of green onions;
20 cloves of garlic;
2 tsp grated ginger;
1 onion;
120 ml fish sauce;
50 g of pickled shrimp;
300 g of kochukaru pepper.

Cooking steps:

Cut the washed and dried heads of Peking cabbage with a sharp knife at the base as shown in the picture below.
Gently, so as not to tear the delicate leaves, divide the heads of cabbage into 2-4 parts.
Separate the cabbage parts to keep the leaves as intact as possible.
Lightly wetting the sheets with water, brush them with salt.
Use more salt in the thicker parts of the leaves.
Transfer the workpiece to a large container and leave for 2–2.5 hours.
Turning the vegetable over every few hours will ensure even salting.
Rinse the leaves well under running water, rinsing off the salt.
When washing the cabbage, pay attention to completely remove the remaining salt.
Cut off the coarse lower parts of the cabbage and divide the cabbage into pieces, 2-3 leaves together.
Grate the peeled radish and carrots so that you get thin long straws.
Pass the garlic through a press.
Grate the onion, finely chop the green onion feathers and shrimp with a sharp knife.
Canned or boiled seafood can be used as a snack.
Pour rice flour into a saucepan, cover with water, stir. Heat the mixture to a boil, add 1 tbsp. l. granulated sugar, boil for a minute. Remove the gruel from the stove and let it cool.
Place chopped garlic, ginger and onion in a bowl.
Add shrimp.
Mix sauce ingredients in a convenient high-sided bowl
Pour in the fish sauce and add the kochukara pepper.
Pepper kochukaru will give the dish a unique touch, inherent only in Korean cuisine.
Mix all ingredients well.
Stir the sauce for 3-4 minutes
Put vegetables and green onions in a bowl with dressing, mix everything again.
Mix the ingredients of the dressing so that the spicy mixture completely covers the pieces of vegetables.
Put the resulting paste on the sheets of Chinese cabbage and spread evenly over the entire surface.
Thoroughly coat each cabbage leaf, spreading the paste on both sides
Roll the sheets into rolls and place tightly in a large jar, saucepan, or any other suitable container.
When forming cabbage rolls, do not twist them too much, so as not to damage the fragile leaves.
Leave the snack in a warm place for 2-3 days, then move it to the refrigerator and store for no more than 3 weeks.
Before serving, kimchi can be sprinkled with sesame seeds

Video: Korean cabbage kimchi

Kimchi with red fish and Chinese pears

Another wonderful, in my opinion, version of kimchi. I have not tried or prepared this dish, but just from the list of its constituent products and mouth-watering photos, there is a great desire to enjoy this dish.

Ingredients:

1 head of Chinese cabbage;
1 radish;
2-3 Chinese pears;
50 ml fish sauce;
200 g ready-made kimchi sauce;
3 cm of ginger root;
50 g salt;
10 g granulated sugar;
50 g of Korean adjika yannem;
100 g salted red fish.

Cooking steps:

Prepare the food you need.