Vegan Kimchi

Have you heard of kimchi?  It is a Korean staple, and is consumed at every meal by Korean people.  It is spicy fermented cabbage or radish, and I’m going to share a recipe with you.  Not only is it delicious, but it’s also very healthy.  These days there seems to be so much focus on gut health and probiotics, and kimchi has lots of probiotics from the fermentation process.

For this particular type of kimchi, you will need a large Korean radish, green onions, Korean ground red pepper, garlic, salt, sugar, ginger and soy sauce. 

Hold the radish lengthwise and slice disks.  Then cut each disk into little cubes, and put them all in a bowl.  Mix in 2 tbsp sugar and 2 tbsp of salt.  Let it sit for half an hour, it will pull the water from the radish, and also impart flavor.

After half an hour, drain all the liquid and save it in a dish.  Add 2 tbsp minced garlic, 1 tsp ginger, 2/3 cup red pepper, 4 stalks of chopped green onion, 1/3 cup of radish juice that you put aside, and 1/2 cup soy sauce to the radish.

Mix it all together, and make sure every piece of radish is well coated.

If you have a glass jar to store it in, or a mason jar, use it!  The kimchi will stain plastic and leave a smell on it.  I didn’t have glass so I put it in a disposable Whole Foods container.

Now put it in the fridge and let it ferment.  It should be ready to eat in 1-2 weeks, though you can start eating it immediately if you like.  Now why is this called vegan kimchi?  Well, traditional kimchi has fish sauce and sometime shrimp in it.  The soy sauce is a nice substitute for the fish sauce.

I hope you try this, and enjoy!