How To Make Kimchi at Home: Joe Yonan's Eat Your Vegetables Cookbook

Last week I posted a recipe for Grilled Cheese Sandwich with Kimchi and Apples inspired by Joe Yonan's latest cookbook, Eat Your Vegetables. 

I also promised to share Joe's recipe for kimchi, and since my parents did not raise a liar, here you go!

How To Make Kimchi at Home: Joe Yonan's Eat Your Vegetables Cookbook
Recipe courtesy of Joe Yonan

Notes from Joe: if you are a vegetarian, "use 4 teaspoons of red miso instead of the oyster and fish sauces to approximate that funky depth."

Also, huge thank you to my friend Cecilia for sharing her Korean chili flakes with me.

{Verbatim from the cookbook}

Ingredients
1 head napa cabbage (1 1/2 to 2 pounds), cored and cut into 2-inch pieces
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1/4 cup Korean red chile flakes
6 cloves garlic, peeled
1 (2-inch) piece fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
2 tablespoons water (***I had to increase this to 4 tablespoons)
2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons oyster sauce (optional)
2 teaspoons fish sauce (optional)

Directions

Toss the cabbage with the salt in a large bowl. Let it sit until it exudes liquids and wilts, 60 to 90 minutes. Lift the cabbage out of the excess liquid by the handful, squeeze it dry, and transfer it to another bowl, discarding the liquid. Do not rinse the cabbage.

Combine the chile flakes, garlic, ginger, water, sugar, oyster sauce, and fish sauce in the bowl of a food processor. Process until smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl if needed.

Add to the cabbage mixture, tossing to combine, and let sit, covered, at room temperature overnight, then transfer to an airtight container and move to the refrigerator. Wait at least a few days before using the kimchi, which will get more pungent as the days go by and is at its best for about a month, although you can eat it for longer if you like it really funky (which I do).

This was incredibly easy to make and I loved the flavor.

Make it!!!!