You say kim chi, I say kim chee

What a great start to the week!  I’ve been at work for 7 hours now and with no air conditioning!  The building's air conditioner chiller system had decide to break down and if you don't already know, I live in the Caribbean where it is like 30 C - 25 C all the time!  Management supplied us with 1 fan between 4 people so we could comfortably work. Thanks, but that’s not going to make it better. Then after about 6 hours of sweating in the heat, we were supplied with a variety of ice cream treats, Gatorade and water.  Of course the ice cream won me over and I was able to last a couple more hours.  All thanks to the sugar rush.  Although, you had to eat the ice really really quick because it will melt before you can even enjoy it! So, not only do I feel sweaty but now I feel fat as well.  I’m not usually a whiner (whatever my husband says is not true!) Let me tell you, it feels like I'm in a Bikram’s hot yoga studio right now!  The crappy thing is you never get to the Shavasana pose (which is my favourite part of any yoga class).

Ok…back to my post. As mentioned last week, here is my Kimchee recipe.  I’ve made Kimchee for many years and made it the traditional way and the quick and easy way.  I have found this method works best for me and tastes the best.

Ingredients:

•10 cups of water

•2 Napa cabbages, washed and cut into 2-inch squares

•1 cup coarse salt (or kosher or sea salt)

•1 Tbsp finely grated garlic (use a micro plane or grater)

•1 Tbsp finely grated ginger (use a micro plane or grater)

•½ cup red pepper flakes (kochukaru is the traditional Korean kind and it not as spicy so you use more and it gives the kim chee that nice red spicy color. You can use  ordinary red pepper flakes that you can find in any grocery store, just put in as little or as much as you want depending on how spicy you like your kim chee.) ***

•2 Tbsp Sambal Oelek (again depending on how spicy you want it.  You can omit the red pepper flakes and use just this.  I prefer this as it has such a great flavor) ***

•3 Tbsp sugar

•2 Tbsp of rice wine vinegar

•5 scallions cut into 1/2 inch pieces

•2 Tbsp fish sauce (It smells awful but gives the kim chee it's flavor) ***

Preparation:

1. In large nonreactive bowl or pot, mix salt into water.

2. Add cabbage to salt water and if necessary, weigh down with large plate so leaves are all submerged.

3. Soak cabbage for 5-6 hours or overnight.

4. Remove cabbage and rinse very well with cold water to remove all the salt, squeezing out excess liquid.

5. In a large bowl, mix garlic, ginger, red pepper flakes, Sambal Oelek, sugar, vinegar and scallions.

6. Add cabbage and coat with seasoning mixture.

7. Pack the seasoned cabbage into a large airtight jar with lid.

8. You can enjoy the Kim Chee right away and place it in the refrigerator; it will last for about 2 weeks.  If you really like ferment kim chee place it in a cool place for 2-3 days before serving or putting in refrigerator.

****I don't usually measure.  This is a estimate of what I put into my kim chee, you should adjust the ingredients depending our your tastes*****

Ok, I think I’ve been a good citizen for long enough…I’m gonna bounce the heck outtta of this sweatshop…  J  Going straight the beach with my little munchkin and then take a nice cool dip in our pool.

Happy Monday!