Kimchi Day

Fermented foods help promote good gut health and creates beneficial enzymes, vitamins and fatty acids. Processed foods can breakdown our good bacteria in our gut. It is important to keep the good bacteria in the gut because it helps us keep the bad bacteria in check.  

Kimchi is a Korean dish.  It is fermented cabbage and flavored with various veggies to give it a unique taste. There are over 100 different kinds of kimchi all with different flavors and aromas.  Kimchi is a super food and is full of antioxidants, vitamins A, B and C as well as probiotic bacteria.  We use Kimchi as one of the ways to promote good gut health in our family.  Here is the process that I went through yesterday.  

Kimchi is Korean Sauerkraut

1 head Napa cabbage, cored and shredded
1 bunch green onions, chopped
1 cup carrots, grated
1/2 cup daikon radish, grated
1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1/2 teaspoon dried chili flakes
1 tablespoon sea salt
4 tablespoons whey (if not available, use an additional 1 tablespoon salt)

Place vegetables, ginger, garlic, red chili flakes, sea salt and whey in a bowl and pound with a wooden pounder or meat hammer to release juices. Place in a quart-sized, wide-mouth mason jar and press down firmly with a pounder or meat hammer until juices come to the top of cabbage. The top of the vegetables should be at lease 1 inch below the top of the jar. Cover tightly and keep at room temperature for about 3 days before transferring to cold storage.

This is the recipe I use as a guideline. I could not find daikon radish so I used red radish. I also omitted the chili flakes because I don't like things really hot. I also save a leaf of cabbage for the end to add on top.

Here are all the veggies ready.

Now it is time to shred.

I know the recipe states to add everything together including the salt, but I add the salt in after everything comes out of the shredder.

I don't have a pounder or a meat hammer, I just use my hands and mash it all together.  This only takes about 5 minutes.  

Once it is mixed well. It is ready to go into a jar. 

I add a leaf of napa cabbage on the top.  I use it to help push down all of the veggies and to cover it.  I squish it down so that the juice is sitting on top. 

Add the lid loosely.  In three days we will have kimchi.