Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Everything tastes better with Kim Chi


Alright, I suppose it wouldn’t pair well with ice cream, though I DID just discover a recipe for sweet potato and kimchi pancakes, so it’s not completely out of the question. If you don’t know what Kimchi is, you’re in for a real treat! Kimchi is a Korean dish made of vegetables, typically cabbage and radishes, which are salted, seasoned, and stored in sealed containers to undergo lactic acid fermentation. You can purchase Kimchi mild or spicy, or you can make it from scratch if you’re adventurous like that. Think sauerkraut, only much, much yummier.

Don’t let the word ‘fermentation’ scare you. Humans have been fermenting food for thousands of years and you’ve probably been enjoying fermented beverages since you were a teenager turned 21 years old. Beer, wine, yogurt, chocolate, vanilla, kombucha, kefir, tabasco, miso, creme fraiche, and vinegar are all fermented products. To read more about the health benefits of fermented foods, read Wild Fermentation by Sandor Katz. An excerpt from the book can be read here. Sally Fallon’s Nourishing Traditions also has a chapter on fermentation.

You can eat Kimchi as-is, use it to make a stewKimchi quesadillas, or fried rice (as pictured below). My very favorite recipe of all is Cynthia Lair's version of Bebimbap breakfast. Everything Cynthia touches turns to gold. Try it! You won’t regret it.





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