Macrobiotic Kimchi

Remember that Kimchi Soup I was telling you guys about? How there was no macro kimchi to be found, and you should probably make your own?

Well guess what? I did!

And now I'm going to share my trials, tribulations, and shattering, exploding jars with you!

So it's not the prettiest picture. I wish I had a camera that didn't look like something Wario played with in his N64 dream castle, but I don't. Not yet, at least.

I'm so excited to share this recipe with you, and to share this kimchi with the staff at the Kushi Institute. We're an excitable bunch. The prospect of free koji spores or a homemade batch of natto can titillate us for days. This kimchi is pretty much the most scandalous thing to happen since the dumpster was emptied.

HOMEMADE MACROBIOTIC KIMCHI

1 4-5 lb napa cabbage
5 carrots
2 packs of scallions
1 onion
1 head of garlic
1/2 lb. ginger root, fresh
4 dried ancho chili peppers
4-5 tbsp. salt
8 c. water

Chop your cabbage into big, wide slices. The water will wick out of them, so don't worry about their being too large. Slice your carrots into thin ribbons. Your scallions can be cut large, into about 3-4 inch sections, and your onions can be cut into eighths. Combine all vegetables in a bowl, and begin to squeeze them. Here at KI, we call that "Pressed saladizing" them. You're basically breaking down the cell walls a little bit so they absorb the salt water faster.

Combine salt and water, then submerge and press the veggies, as though you were doing a pressed salad. Leave them under pressure for a few hours, until the veggies start absorbing some of the water. Make sure all the stragglers are submerged, because you don't want anything poking above water for sanitation issues.

After you remove your heavy thing, drain (and save) the water. Mince your garlic, grate your ginger, and crush your chili peppers. Mash them into a pulp (wearing gloves!!), and massage them into your kimchi.

Press vegetables tightly into a jar, filling in any gaps with salt water. I banged my jars on the table a few times to get the bubbles out. Make sure they're full to the top, store in a room-temperature location, and let them chill out for at least 7 days!

BEWARE THE EXPLODING JARS: Check on your jars every morning. If the lids feel extremely tight, it's okay to open and drain them a little. The vegetables will wick liquid, and nobody wants a pressure explosion. I put my jars in a plastic box, and everybody made fun of me until one of them exploded and I didn't have to face a disaster! Ha ha!

When your kimchi is done, if it's too salty, feel free to rinse them. The fizz and pop to my kimchi makes it feel more ALIVE than any food I've ever made before. How blessed are we, to have fresh, alive food?

It's awesome.