Baek-kimchi (White Napa Cabbage Kimchi)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Large basin for salting cabbage
• •2-liter glass jar or kimchi container with lid
• •Fine sieve or clean cotton cloth
• •Small pot for sweet rice paste
• •Fermentation weight or small clean plate

Instructions

1. 1

   Quarter the cabbage

   Trim only the browned base of the cabbage, keeping enough core to hold each quarter together. Cut a short slit through the core, then pull the cabbage apart with your hands so the leaves tear naturally instead of being crushed by the knife. Rinse lightly and shake off excess water.

2. 2

   Salt the cabbage

   Dissolve 1/4 cup coarse sea salt in 4 cups water in a large basin. Dip each cabbage quarter in the brine, then lift it out and sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup coarse salt between the leaves, using more at the thick white ribs and less at the green tips. Set the quarters cut side up in the basin and let them salt for 3 to 4 hours, turning once halfway.

   The thick rib is the measure. It should bend without snapping, but it should not collapse. If your cabbage is very large or winter-thick, give it another 30 minutes.
3. 3

   Make the paste

   Whisk the sweet rice flour with 1/2 cup water in a small pot until smooth. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring, until it turns glossy and lightly thickened, about 3 minutes. Cool completely. This paste gives the brine a little body and food for fermentation, not sweetness for its own sake.

4. 4

   Prepare the brine

   Blend or grate the pear with the garlic, ginger, onion, fish sauce or soup soy sauce, sugar, fine sea salt, cooled rice paste, and 2 cups water. Strain through a fine sieve or clean cloth into a bowl, pressing gently. The brine should be clear enough to see the pale cabbage through it, and it should taste slightly saltier than soup because the cabbage and vegetables will dilute it.

5. 5

   Rinse and drain

   Rinse the salted cabbage under cool running water 2 to 3 times, lifting between the leaves to remove excess salt. Taste a piece from the thick rib. It should be seasoned all the way through, not raw-salty on the outside and watery inside. Drain cut side down for 30 minutes so the finished kimchi is crisp instead of waterlogged.

6. 6

   Mix the filling

   In a bowl, combine the julienned radish, julienned pear, scallions, carrot if using, sliced jujubes, and pine nuts. Add 1/2 cup of the strained brine and toss gently by hand. Do not bruise the pear. Baek-kimchi has no chili to cover rough handling, so the cut vegetables should stay clean and distinct.

7. 7

   Fill the leaves

   Lay one cabbage quarter open in your palm and tuck small amounts of filling between the leaves, especially near the base. Use about 1/4 of the filling for each quarter. Fold the outer leaf around the bundle to hold it together. Pack each bundle into a clean 2-liter jar or lidded container, cut side up, without crushing it.

8. 8

   Add the brine

   Pour the remaining strained brine over the packed cabbage until it is just covered. Press down gently with clean hands or a fermentation weight so no dry leaves sit above the liquid. Leave at least 1 inch of headspace, because fermentation pushes the brine upward. Cover with a lid, but do not tighten it hard for the first day.

9. 9

   Ferment and chill

   Leave the jar at cool room temperature, about 18 to 21 C, for 24 to 48 hours. Open once a day over the sink to release pressure and press the cabbage back under the brine with a clean utensil. When the brine smells cleanly sour and tastes lightly tart, refrigerate it. It is good after 3 days cold and best from day 5 to day 14.

10. 10

    Serve cleanly

    Cut only what you will serve, using clean scissors or a clean knife, and return the rest to the brine. Serve cold, with a spoonful of the clear brine. That brine is part of the dish, especially beside rice, grilled meat, mandu, or juk (rice porridge).

Chef Tips

• •Use Korean coarse sea salt if you can. Table salt is too sharp and fine for cabbage salting, and it races into the leaves before the ribs have time to relax.
• •A Korean pear is best because it gives juice, fragrance, and mild sweetness without turning the brine heavy. If you cannot find one, use an Asian pear. A firm Bosc pear will work in the brine, but it is less good as julienne filling.
• •Fish sauce gives depth, but soup soy sauce keeps the kimchi vegetarian if you choose carefully. For a temple-style direction, omit fish sauce, use soup soy sauce, and skip garlic and scallion; add a little more ginger and pear so the brine still has shape.
• •White kimchi should not be aggressively sour on day one. Let the room-temperature ferment wake it, then move it cold. In the refrigerator it becomes clean, round, and refreshing instead of harsh.
• •If the brine becomes slimy, smells rotten, or shows fuzzy mold, discard it. Sour and fizzy is fermentation. Rotten, bitter, or moldy is not food.

Advance Preparation

• •Baek-kimchi needs at least 1 day at room temperature and 2 to 3 days in the refrigerator before it tastes settled. Make it ahead for a meal rather than the morning you want to serve it.
• •The vegetables can be cut while the cabbage salts, but do not julienne the pear too early or it browns. Cut pear last, just before mixing the filling.
• •Once refrigerated, keep the cabbage submerged under brine and use clean utensils every time. It keeps 3 to 4 weeks, growing more tart as it rests.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 100g)