kimchi

Pshhh looks just like David Leb's...but with a crappier picture!
ferment my friends!

The Spread:

Doing some worldly food stalking I cam across a kimchi recipe on David Lebovitz and it's actually much easier than I thought! Once you get your economy-sized korean chili paste and chili power, you're good to go (outside of the likes of K-town, it's go big or go home).

I followed the recipe here: except I didn't use a glass jar, which I WOULD do. Canning jars are pretty cheap...like a dollar or two, so no excuses! Mine didn't ferment like I wanted it to, but it smells and looks like a pretty batch, so no complaints! Best things about kimchi: you can put it on legions of rice, make yummy beef dishes with the broth, hooray! (Go questing for a heart-warming recipe made with meat, veggies, tofu: it's kimchi jigae)

What you'll need:

1 large Napa cabbage (2 pounds, 1kg)
2 tablespoons coarse salt (do not use fine table salt)

1/3 cup (80ml) white rice vinegar
3 tablespoons Korean chili pepper paste (gochujang)
1 tablespoon very-finely minced garlic
2 tablespoons coarse Korean chili powder (gokchu garu)
1/2 tablespoon very-finely minced fresh ginger
4 scallions, sliced in 2-inch (5cm) batons, including the green part

1 glass jar (a quart will be fine)

get these in K-Town, or regular old Chinese markets sell some of this stuff.

The Recipe.

S.