As fall stretches on feeding us short beautiful days and long cold nights, we prepare for the inevitable – winter. All our canning jars are full (please drop off any unwanted ones), so now we are freezing, drying, and fermenting.
A fermented staple in our larder is kim chi. This is a Korean sauerkraut which has become a daily tonic for the Quiet Creek family. Interns, visitors, and our boys eat a tablespoon daily to keep the doctor at bay.
We’ve developed our own kim chi recipe over the years using fall produce. With a base of cabbage, we chop in kale, broccoli, radish, beet, carrot, celery, and/or onion. This crunchy blend is flavored with whey, hot pepper, sea salt, garlic, and ginger. It sits in glass jars for three days on the counter at room temperature. Lactobacillus bacteria found in the whey, air, and vegetable skins ferments the combo into a spicy, tangy, and textured condiment.
Korean friends from church have tried Quiet Creek’s kim chi. They politely smile, and shake their heads saying “thank you, but not real kim chi.”
Last week we invited the Kim family over to learn their technique.
Jen, Jung, Isaac and Joyce enthusiastically accepted our offer. They brought their authentic hot pepper paste made with fish sauce, garlic, a hot, sweet pepper, and rice water. We supplied the Napa cabbage, daikon radish, leeks, and carrots. The result was REAL and incredibly delicious. Claire and Walker couldn’t stop eating it.
Now our winter storage is stocked with many fermented products: Pearl’s purple kim chi, Lucy’s miso, Rusty’s cheese, Claire’s sourdough bread, and the Kim’s brilliant orange kim chi. We look forward to winter, a great time for eating.
A fermented staple in our larder is kim chi. This is a Korean sauerkraut which has become a daily tonic for the Quiet Creek family. Interns, visitors, and our boys eat a tablespoon daily to keep the doctor at bay.
We’ve developed our own kim chi recipe over the years using fall produce. With a base of cabbage, we chop in kale, broccoli, radish, beet, carrot, celery, and/or onion. This crunchy blend is flavored with whey, hot pepper, sea salt, garlic, and ginger. It sits in glass jars for three days on the counter at room temperature. Lactobacillus bacteria found in the whey, air, and vegetable skins ferments the combo into a spicy, tangy, and textured condiment.
Korean friends from church have tried Quiet Creek’s kim chi. They politely smile, and shake their heads saying “thank you, but not real kim chi.”
Last week we invited the Kim family over to learn their technique.
Jen, Jung, Isaac and Joyce enthusiastically accepted our offer. They brought their authentic hot pepper paste made with fish sauce, garlic, a hot, sweet pepper, and rice water. We supplied the Napa cabbage, daikon radish, leeks, and carrots. The result was REAL and incredibly delicious. Claire and Walker couldn’t stop eating it.
Now our winter storage is stocked with many fermented products: Pearl’s purple kim chi, Lucy’s miso, Rusty’s cheese, Claire’s sourdough bread, and the Kim’s brilliant orange kim chi. We look forward to winter, a great time for eating.
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