Neulgeun-hobak-kimchi (Aged Pumpkin Kimchi)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Large nonreactive mixing bowls
• •Heavy chef's knife or cleaver for mature pumpkin
• •Kitchen gloves
• •2.5 to 3 liter onggi or glass fermentation jar

Instructions

1. 1

   Salt the cabbage

   Put the cabbage in a large bowl. Dissolve 60g of the salt in 4 cups water and pour it over the cabbage, then turn the leaves so every piece gets wet. Let it stand 1 hour, turning every 20 minutes. The thick white ribs should bend without snapping; that bend is how you know the salt reached the center.

   Do not salt the pumpkin with the cabbage. Pumpkin drinks salt quickly at the cut surface and can turn harsh before it ever ferments.
2. 2

   Salt the radish

   Toss the radish with 20g of the remaining salt in a separate bowl and let it stand 35 minutes. Radish needs its own salt because it gives off water faster than cabbage. If you throw everything together now, the cabbage will still be stiff while the radish has already gone limp.

3. 3

   Prepare the pumpkin

   Peel, seed, and slice the mature pumpkin into pieces about 1/2 inch thick and 2 inches long. Sprinkle with the last 10g salt and let it stand only 15 minutes, then pat dry. This small salting seasons the surface without pulling out so much moisture that the pumpkin breaks down early.

4. 4

   Rinse and drain

   Rinse the cabbage once under cold water and drain it well for 20 minutes. Rinse the radish quickly and drain it too. Taste one cabbage rib. It should be pleasantly salty, not seawater salty, because the seasoning paste will bring more salt.

5. 5

   Cook rice paste

   Whisk the glutinous rice flour with 1/2 cup water in a small pan. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring, until it turns glossy and lightly thick, about 2 minutes. Cool it completely. The paste helps the seasoning cling to the pumpkin and feeds fermentation gently; hot paste would bruise the vegetables and dull the garlic.

6. 6

   Mix the seasoning

   In a large bowl, mix the cooled rice paste, gochugaru, fish sauce, chopped salted shrimp, garlic, ginger, grated onion, and pear if using. Let it sit 10 minutes so the gochugaru blooms and softens. Taste the paste on a piece of radish. It should be salty and rounded, with sweetness underneath, not sugary.

7. 7

   Coat the vegetables

   Add the drained cabbage, radish, pumpkin, scallions, and red chili to the seasoning. Mix by hand, gently but thoroughly, lifting from the bottom so the pumpkin slices do not crack. Every surface should be red, but not buried in paste. Let it taste like itself.

8. 8

   Pack the jar

   Pack the kimchi tightly into a clean 2.5 to 3 liter onggi or glass jar, pressing down after each handful to remove air pockets. Leave at least 1 inch of headspace. Scrape any seasoning left in the bowl over the top, then press the top layer down until a little brine rises. Air trapped in the jar makes uneven fermentation, and this kimchi deserves better than chance.

9. 9

   Ferment and chill

   Set the jar at cool room temperature, about 18 to 20 C, for 1 to 2 days, opening the lid once a day to release pressure and pressing the vegetables back under their brine with a clean spoon. When it smells lightly sour and the pumpkin edge bends without collapsing, move it to the refrigerator. It is good after 3 days, fuller after 1 week, and ready for jjigae after 2 to 3 weeks.

10. 10

    Serve or stew

    Serve the kimchi cold or cool as a banchan, cutting any large pumpkin pieces into bite-size pieces at the table. Once it turns sharply sour, simmer it with pork, tofu, and a little kimchi brine for hobak-kimchi-jjigae. That is not a rescue. That is the second dish this kimchi was always heading toward.

Chef Tips

• •Choose a mature pumpkin with a hard skin, dry stem, and deep orange flesh. If you cannot find Korean neulgeun hobak, use kabocha or a dense winter squash. Butternut works in a modern kitchen, though it is softer, so cut it a little thicker.
• •Wear gloves when mixing. Not for delicacy, for accuracy. Bare hands get tired from chili and salt, and tired hands start breaking the pumpkin.
• •Do not add gochujang. This kimchi gets its color and clean heat from gochugaru, and gochujang would make the jar sweet, thick, and muddy.
• •For a vegetarian version, replace the fish sauce and salted shrimp with 3 tablespoons soup soy sauce (guk-ganjang) and 1 tablespoon doenjang loosened with 1 tablespoon water. The flavor will be quieter and less ocean-deep, but it will ferment honestly.
• •Use clean utensils every time you take kimchi from the jar. Keep it refrigerated once it begins to sour, and discard it if you see fuzzy mold, smell spoilage rather than clean sourness, or find the vegetables slimy in a way that is not just softened pumpkin.

Advance Preparation

• •This kimchi is made ahead by nature. It needs 1 to 2 days at cool room temperature, then at least 1 more day refrigerated before the seasoning settles.
• •For banchan, eat it from day 3 through the first week. For jjigae, let part of the jar sour in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 weeks.
• •The pumpkin can be peeled and cut 1 day ahead. Keep it covered in the refrigerator, but do not salt it until the day you make the kimchi.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 225g)