Making Kimchi

A friend on mine that runs a farm up in Virginia called me this morning to ask me if I wanted some Bok Choy, as she was over run with it from her garden. I said, “Sure, bring me five heads of it! I’ll think of something to do with it.”

Here are the five beautiful heads of Bok Choy she brought me. Bok Choy is a Chinese vegetable that is classified as a cabbage, looks more like celery and contains leaves resembling lettuce.

I opted to dehydrate two of the heads for making soup later on. I wanted to keep one for a fresh stir-fry meal in the next couple of days. That left me with two Bok Choy heads left. But what should I do with them?

I discovered that Korean Kimchi is typically made with Napa Cabbage but can be made with Bok Choy as well. What is Kimchi? Kimchi is a traditional Korean fermented spicy dish most commonly made with napa cabbage and other vegetables such as radish, green onion, chive, carrots and cucumber. Kimchi is the most common side dish in Korean cuisine. Kimchi is also a main ingredient for other common Korean dishes such as Kimchi stew. I have never made Kimchi before but there is a first time for everything.

After a bit of chopping, measuring and mixing this is what my Kimchi looks like…

It is not done yet as it still needs to ferment for 2-3 days to get that sour tang you find in dill pickles and sauerkraut. Then I will put it in the fridge where it will be good for 2-4 months.