自家製泡菜Home-Made Cabbage Kimchi

Prep 1 h·Cook 5 min·Rest 26h 30m

1. 1You're here
   Step 1.

   Cut a short slit in the base of each cabbage and pull it apart by hand into halves, then quarters, so the leaves stay whole.

   2 kg Chinese leaf (napa cabbage), 1 large or 2 small heads

   Knife work
2. 2
   Step 2.

   Rinse the quarters, then sprinkle salt between the leaves, more on the thick white stems than the leafy tops.

   2 kg Chinese leaf (napa cabbage), 1 large or 2 small heads150 g Coarse sea salt (not iodised table salt)

   Marinate
3. 3
   Step 3.

   Leave for 2 hours, turning the quarters every 30 minutes, until the stems bend without snapping.

   2 kg Chinese leaf (napa cabbage), 1 large or 2 small heads

   2 h

   Wok-chan's tip鑊仔貼士

   Bend the thickest stem: if it snaps, give it another 30 minutes.
4. 4
   Step 4.

   Rinse three times in cold water to wash off the salt, then drain cut-side down for 30 minutes.

   2 kg Chinese leaf (napa cabbage), 1 large or 2 small heads

   30 min
5. 5
   Step 5.

   Meanwhile whisk the glutinous rice flour into the water in a small pan and cook, stirring, for 3–4 minutes into a thin porridge. Leave to cool.

   2 tbsp Glutinous rice flour250 ml Water

   4 minSauce making / reducing
6. 6
   Step 6.

   Blend the garlic, ginger, pear, fish sauce and salted shrimp to a smooth purée.

   40 g Garlic (about 1 head), peeled15 g Ginger, peeled½ Asian pear or apple, cored4 tbsp Fish sauce1 tbsp Korean salted shrimp (saeujeot)

   Blend / purée
7. 7
   Step 7.

   Mix the cooled porridge, gochugaru, purée and sugar into a thick red paste and leave for 15 minutes so the chilli swells.

   2 tbsp Glutinous rice flour60 g Gochugaru (Korean chilli flakes)40 g Garlic (about 1 head), peeled1 tbsp Sugar

8. 8
   Step 8.

   Cut the mooli into matchsticks and the spring onions into 3 cm lengths. Stir both into the paste.

   300 g Mooli, peeled6 stalks Spring onions

   Knife work
9. 9
   Step 9.

   Wearing gloves, spread the paste over every leaf of each quarter, working from the outside in.

   2 kg Chinese leaf (napa cabbage), 1 large or 2 small heads60 g Gochugaru (Korean chilli flakes)300 g Mooli, peeled

10. 10
    Step 10.

    Fold each quarter in half and pack tightly into a clean jar or tub, pressing out the air and leaving 3 cm of headspace.

    2 kg Chinese leaf (napa cabbage), 1 large or 2 small heads

11. 11
    Step 11.

    Leave at room temperature for 1–2 days until it smells sour and bubbles when pressed, then move it to the fridge.

    2 kg Chinese leaf (napa cabbage), 1 large or 2 small heads

    Wok-chan's tip鑊仔貼士

    Press it down and open the lid once a day while it's out, or the gas can push juice over the top.