Baek-Kimchi, white Kimchi not spicy.

Baek Kimchi is my favourite Kimchi. I like the pure taste of this Kimchi. It doesn’t contain fish sauce(Jeotgal 젓갈) nor chilli powder which are very important ingredients of most kinds of Kimchi. Just cabbage, salt, some garlic and ginger and the time make the great savour. “Where is it from? What makes this savour?” wonder I.

 

 

Baek Kimchi

 

1kg Chinese cabbage, 200g white radish, one cloves of garlic, one stalk of green onion (or chives)
5 g ginger, one red or green pepper, 1/2 pear.

 

Seasoning: 80g coarse sea salt*, 2 tsp sea salt

 

Preparation for the cabbage:
1. Cut the cabbage into two or four vertically depends on the size.
2. Sprinkle the half the salt between the leaves of the cabbage.
3. Dissolve the other half salt in 1 L water and pour the water over the salted cabbage.
4. Leave the cabbage for 4~6 hours**.
5. Rinse the cabbage and drain well for an hour.

Stuffing:
1. Slice the garlic and the ginger.
2. Cut the green onion or the chive in 3 cm long.
3. Cut the pear in pieces.
4. Cut the radish in Julienne.
5. Bring the radish in a big bowl. Sprinkle with little salt and add chives.
6. Stuff the radish mix in every one or two layers of the cabbage.
7. Put the stuffed cabbage tightly into a container and add the ginger and garlic slices, the pear and red pepper.
8. Pour a cup (200ml) of water with one tea spoon of salt.

Fermentation:
Put the container of Kimchi in a room temperature (20 degree Celsius) for two days then keep in the refrigerator.

Tips

If you don’t like to cut the radish in julienne, you can cut the radish in a pieces and salt like cabbage. Put them together with cabbage. (Top photo)

Remarks

*The ratio of salt is measured with grey sea salt of Guérande and fleur de sel. The saltiness may vary depend on the salt. However I strongly recommend NOT using table salt. ** If the cabbage is in more than two layers, you have to change the layers to get even dose of saltiness.

 

When it is fermented and ready to eat, serve only the stuffed cabbage discard the slices of garlic and pear. However slice the red pepper to decorate on the top of the Baek Kimchi.