Kimchi

About

For the spicy-addicts out there – this hot Kimchi salad will either satisfy your need for heat or just make you crave it all the more! With just a few small keto adjustments, this Kimchi recipe makes for an excellent side dish or a spicy, crunchy topping to your favorite meals. Mix it into soups or salads as well!

Ingredients

18 ounce cabbage, green, raw
2 ½ ounce carrots
4 ½ ounce radish
3 clove garlic
½ ounce ginger root, raw
1 package stevia leaf noncaloric sweetener (green packet)
¼ cup, chopped green onions
¼ teaspoon fish sauce (nam pla or nuoc mam)
¼ cup sambal oelek paste of chili by rooster
2 tablespoon water

Instructions

Prepare a small head of cabbage by slicing it into quarters and removing the hard core. Slice the cabbage into a mixture of thin and wide strips (kimchi has a mix of thin and chunky pieces). Set the cabbage shreds, amounting to 18 oz in weight, in a large bowl or pot.
Sprinkle ¼ cup of salt over the cabbage (not listed in ingredient list) and a ½ c. of water. Coat the cabbage in the salt and water mixture and set it aside. Let the cabbage wilt for 1 hour – the salt will naturally extract the liquids.
Meanwhile, slice the carrots and radishes in an assortment of thin and wide pieces. The key is to not leave pieces that are too thick, or else the pickling liquid cannot penetrate the ingredients fully. Julienne and round slices are best.
In a bowl, grate the garlic cloves and ginger root. You can use a zester (citrus plane) for this. You should get a pale yellow paste from both.
Add all remaining ingredients in the bowl of garlic and ginger. Mix together this spicy chili paste and set it aside for later.
Once the cabbage is done wilting, transfer it to a colander in a sink. Rinse the salt off the cabbage in 2-3 rounds, squeezing all the liquid out of the cabbage. Return the clean cabbage to your large bowl free of excess liquid.
Add the carrot and radish mix as well as the chili sauce mix into the bowl of cabbage. Fold the ingredients together so everything is coated in the spicy kimchi sauce.
Use a pair of tongs to transfer the kimchi into a 24 oz glass canning jar. All the kimchi should fit, so make sure to pack down the ingredients. Some liquid may begin to collect at the bottom, which is good. Once packed, seal the jar tightly and leave it at room temperature.
Let the jar sit, undisturbed for 24 hours. After 24 hours, you can enjoy as you’d like. For additional instructions on fermenting the kimchi, follow the optional final step below.
Leave the jar of kimchi at room temperature for 3-5 days maximum before storing it in a refrigerator. Once every 24 hours during the 3-5 days of fermentation, “burp” the kimchi by opening the jar for a few seconds, and then tightly closing once more. You should see air bubbles develop throughout the process. After the 5 days, you can refrigerate and enjoy!