This is the kimchee recipe and some recommended retailers for Korean ingredients that our teachers Inga Min and her friend Yunsil shared with us at the recent Sustainable Living Arts School learning party. If you didn’t make this one, we hope you get a chance to learn with Inga and Yunsil again. Nothing like learning from our local experts!

KIMCHEE RECIPE

Ingredients:
* 6 pounds/ 3 medium-sized napa cabbage
* 3 cups coarse salt
* 12 cups of water
* 1 tablespoon minced garlic
* 1 cup red pepper powder
* 3 tablespoons white sugar

Recommended:
* Rue: 2 cups of white flour and 4 cups of water
* 3 tablespoons green onion in ½ inch lengths
* 4 ounces scallions/ onions, cut in 1-inch lengths
* 1 teaspoon finely minced gingerroot
* ¾ cup anchovy sauce
* 1 cup fresh shrimp paste, finely chopped

Optional:
* mustard greens, sliced white radish, watercress
* 1 cup oysters (for short-term kimchee, not long winter ferment)

1. Cut cabbages lengthwise into two or four sections.
2. Mix 2 cups of salt into the water in a container. Use your hand and mix the rest of the salt
evenly between the leaves especially at the stem end.
3. Cover and let it pickle for 3 hours. Make sure all of the cabbage is submerged in the brine, but not soaking in a pool of water. The salt draws out the water from the cabbage. You don’t want to lose the flavor of the cabbage in the water. Toss, turn over and pickle it for 3 more hours. Or leave it overnight if you want the cabbage to ferment longer. The cabbage should taste salty and be less crunchy, but not entirely limp. Strain the cabbage and discard the salt water.
4. Rinse the cabbage thoroughly 3 or 4 times and drain most of the brine. You can slice the cabbage into 1 to 1 ½ inch squares or leave it whole.
5. In a mixing bowl, combine all of the seasonings and let it sit for 10 minutes. Add the green onions, vegetables and oysters last if you are using them. Taste test and add more salt as needed.

OPTIONAL RUE
This is optional. Mix 2 cups of flour with 4 cups of water in a sauce pan. Bring it to a boil and keep stirring until you get a rue-like consistency. Let the rue cool down to room temperature, at least 30 minutes. Mix all of the seasonings into the rue and let it sit for 10 minutes. This rue should not be used for summer kimchee or radish kimchee.
6. Blend the seasoning into the leaves using your hands. Massage the seasoning between the leaves into the cabbage, don’t just stuff it in there. You will want to wear gloves if you have sensitive hands.
7. Tightly pack the cabbage in a jar or plastic container. Press the cabbage down to get rid of air pockets. Stuff the seasoning and loose pieces of cabbage to fill the spaces in between the heads of cabbage. Layer the loose pieces on top to make a bit of a seal. Store at 70 degrees for at least 24 hours up to 72 hours ferment or keep it out longer if you prefer. The warmer the room, the faster it will ferment. This is up to you. Once you are happy with the flavor, keep it in the fridge or a cool place. If you keep it in a cool cellar and only bring up what you need for the fridge, it should last for a while.

GROCERY SHOPPING
Downtown: H-Mart, 590 Robson St (southwest corner of Seymour)
Phone 604-609-4567

Broadway & Fraser: There used to be a Hannarum in a stripmall by the Pojang Macha restaurant at Broadway & Fraser. I don’t know if it’s still there, and I can’t find any sign of it on the internet.

Coquitlam: Hannarum, 205-329 North Rd
(604) 939-0135

When I told my mom I was curating a learning party on how to make kimchee, she laughed and asked why we don’t just go to the store. I reminded her how many hours our family spent making kimchee together in the kitchen, and how I loved being fed kimchee paste wrapped in freshly fermented cabbage by my father’s hand. He would never let me touch it because it was too spicy for my hands, but not my stomach. I also told her I thought it was important to preserve and share our cooking traditions with others who wanted to learn. She didn’t buy any of it, but she understood when I told her it would cost half the price for me to make my own kimchee at home.

I singularly consume at least a gallon of kimchee a month. I can’t believe I’m admitting this publicly, but it’s the truth. As a condo living spinster (the first sentence in this paragraph could explain why), I never considered making kimchee for myself at home because I didn’t think I had space and I thought it would be too difficult. Now that I know how simple and economical it is to make a fresh batch in a small space, I want to make it a monthly cooking ritual.

As a Korean-Canadian gal who learned how to make kimchee with my parents, I was never allowed to participate in the mixing of the kimchee paste or the stuffing of the paste into the cabbage because my “skin was too delicate”. I never understood how hazardous the kimchee mix was until I watched Rob–the only person tall enough to reach into the cooler and mix our kimchee paste—mix the batch of chilis, garlic, ginger and other goodies up and get blinded by the intensity of the mix. He was told by Inga and Yunsil that he put a lot of “soul” into his mixing and that the mix would be good.

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The kimchee is great, and I think there was a lot of “soul” put into the kimchee by all participants of the learning party. As Yunsil said to Inga who translated to me “Don’t stuff the cabbage with the mix, massage the mix into the cabbage.” She was right; you could see the reaction in the cabbage immediately. I think this was the best tip of the day, love the cabbage.

Without a doubt, there was a lot of cabbage loving going on at the kimchee learning party. There were 8 working participants, 7 ‘helpers’, husbands, dishwashers, pot grabbers, mixers, one girl and one toddler. Altogether, 15 people made 40 lbs of kimchee in 90 minutes! There was about 2 hours of prep work including cleaning, brining and washing the cabbage before the party.

This was my first experience curating a party for SLAS, and I really enjoyed the experience. I enjoyed the process of learning how to curate a party with Keira, and working wtih Inga and Yunsil. It was special for me because I got to share it with Elaine and Rob, the hosts, who I became friends with in Korea. I also thought it was great to see Heesoon and her daughter, Serenne, work side by side making kimchee. Inga, our instructor, and Yunsil, her assistant, also had a wonderful experience working with us and are eager to do it again. Inga’s husband also tried kimchee for the first time, and it was a genuinely touching moment.

Stay tuned for another kimchee learning party in May.