Korean Spicy Cabbage
1.
Choose cabbage:
The cabbage suitable for making spicy cabbage only needs to remember three key points: green leaves, yellow hearts, and hard roots. Many places call this kind of cabbage yellow sprouts. Yellow sprouts are a group of Chinese cabbage, and they are rare and precious new vegetable species that are grown in greenhouses in the north and harvested in autumn and winter in the south. (PS: Unfortunately I didn't get it, so I had to use ordinary Chinese cabbage instead of ㅠ.ㅠ)
2.
Chili powder:
Choosing the right chili powder is also a key factor in making spicy cabbage. Four points: the color should be correct, not too spicy, smell light, and feel soft. Many farmer’s markets also sell imported Korean chili powder in the seasoning area (PS: suspected to be a fake, but still better than the average). Buying the wrong chili powder is very worrying, just try it.
3.
pear:
Pears play a role in making the taste of spicy cabbage refreshing and crisp, so you should also choose pears with a crisper taste, such as crystal pear, white pear, apple pear, etc.
4.
Shrimp paste and fish sauce:
The shrimp paste and fish sauce for spicy cabbage may not be the same as everyone is familiar with. It is recommended to buy them at Korean food stores. These two things are used less, but the taste is very different when put and not put. Of course, some people do not like the umami taste of this kind of seafood.
5.
Auxiliary equipment:
It is recommended to have a mixer, so many materials have to be powdered, it is more painful if there is no chance of mixing. (PS: Many juicers can also act as a blender, but it is still recommended to use them separately.)
The other is the fresh-keeping box, because the spicy cabbage has to be sealed and stored for a few days before taking it out for a better taste.
6.
Take out the cabbage, pick the leaves one by one and put them in the sink to rinse with cold water (why not pickle the whole one? Because that is very laborious!). Rinse with water makes it easier for coarse salt to adhere
7.
Pour about 100g of coarse salt into the bowl. Eva chose medium-sized Gongjing salt (240g), which took less than half a packet. The process of pickling cabbage is the most important part of the whole process. The taste should not be weak or salty (PS: Eva tried it N times. ㅠ.ㅠ). It is recommended to use the same product for beginners
8.
Start with the largest leaf and apply the salt, mainly on the roots, just a little bit on the leaves, just apply one side (concave). About half of the salt (50g) in the bowl is used in this process, weigh it before applying. Put one piece of salt on it and place it in the basin from largest to smallest as shown in the picture below.
9.
The remaining small pieces are also smeared with salt and placed on the top as shown in the figure below. After covering it, sprinkle salt on the top two or three times (as shown in the picture below). Fill the salt bowl with water to dissolve the remaining salt and slowly pour it around the edge of the basin. (Don't use hot water to speed up the melting of the salt, and don't just go in at will when you pour the water, it will wash away the salt from the cabbage)
10.
Okay, find a place to marinate for 2 hours first. During this period, you can make hot sauce first, and then come back to see the marinating process after 2 hours. (PS: Remember to time it!)
After 2 hours, we have to turn over the whole marinated cabbage. After two hours of marinating, the cabbage has softened a bit. It should be easier to turn over.
11.
After another 2 hours, let’s take a look at how the cabbage is marinated. The inspection method is very simple. Pick up a medium-sized leaf and fold the root (as shown in the figure below), and reach the point that it can be completely folded and will not break. It means success! If it hasn't reached this level, let it marinate for a while. (It’s not good if it’s too soft)
12.
Rinse the marinated cabbage in the sink, and put it in a sieve to drain the water (30-40 minutes). (PS: Because there is no sieve, I used a steamer steamer instead. ㅠ.ㅠ)
13.
To make the hot sauce:
First of all, we need to make some glutinous rice, we only need two or three spoons. Spicy cabbage juice is more viscous, and sticky rice serves this purpose. The rice made from pure glutinous rice also tastes very good, you can take this opportunity to try it
14.
Select appropriate amount (as shown in the picture below) white radish, carrot, garlic, ginger, pear, onion and cut into small cubes
15.
Put all the cut ingredients into the blender, add 5-6 spoons of chili powder, 2-3 spoons of shrimp paste (according to personal preference), and 2 spoons of glutinous rice. Do not add salt, MSG and other condiments in this step
16.
Now, close the lid, charge up, and start stirring! The hot sauce for kimchi is done. Think about how tiring it would be without a blender. . . . . .
Cover the stirred hot sauce and put it in the refrigerator for 30 minutes before taking it out for use (not frozen, 囧)
17.
Cut half a white radish into shreds and sprinkle with a small amount of chili powder to mix, set aside for about 5 minutes to color
18.
Take out 5 shallots and cut into 4-5cm long strips
19.
Take out the previously prepared chili sauce from the refrigerator and put it into a container with shredded radish and green onions, add 2 tablespoons of fine salt, 1 tablespoon of MSG, 3 tablespoons of soft sugar, and 2 tablespoons of fish sauce. Taste the marinated cabbage before adding salt, and adjust the amount of salt according to the saltiness of the marinade. If the salt is salty, you can leave it out in this step. Sugar can be more or less according to personal preference, no problem, or it can be omitted
20.
In the last step, mix the ingredients mixed in the previous step with the well-drained pickled cabbage and you're done
Tips:
The prepared spicy cabbage will taste better if you put it in a room temperature of 18-20 degrees for half a day, and then put it in the fresh-keeping box and put it in the refrigerator for three or four days before eating it!