This is the recipe I used. I used either multi colored chard or tuscan kale instead of the nappa cabbage. For the sweet rice flour I pulverized short grain rice. I used soaked and blended mix of sea vegetables instead of the fish. I did not use daikon. We are really liking both kimchis, I prefer the kale one. I went a little overboard on the hot pepper though. ____________________________________________________ Mak Kimchi Recipe by Amy Kim of Kimchi Mom. ingredients: 7 lbs. of napa cabbage about 1/3 cup kosher salt 1 cup sweet rice flour (Mochiko is a popular brand) 2 cups water 3/4 cup red pepper flakes, medium coarseness 1/4 cup chopped saewoo jjut (salted shrimp) 3 tablespoons fish sauce A scant 1/2 cup sugar 5-7 green onion stalks, chopped 2 oz. ginger (2-inch long, 1-inch diameter piece), minced 8-9 medium garlic cloves, minced 3 medium carrots, julienned 1 medium-sized daikon or 1 small mu (Korean radish), thinly sliced in 2-inch sections water directions: Preparing the sweet rice flour paste: Whisk together the sweet rice flour and water in a small saucepan. Keep whisking the mixture until bubbles form on the surface. Once this occurs, take the saucepan off the heat and set aside to cool. Preparing the cabbage: Discard any wilted or discolored leaves. Starting at the base of the stem, cut the cabbage about one-third of the way down. Then pull apart the cabbage halves to completely separate them. Do the same with the halved portions - cut and pull apart. Repeat for all the cabbage heads. At this point, you can give the quarters a quick rinse under running water and shake off any excess water. Trim the core at a diagonal. Cut the quarters into 2-inch wide pieces and place in an oversized bowl (I used a 12 qt. bowl) or use a couple of large bowls. Sprinkle generously with salt. Alternate layers of cabbage and salt. Once all the cabbage is cut, give the cabbage a toss and sprinkle more salt on top. Place a weight on top of the cabbage. Two dinner plates works well for me. Let the salted cabbage sit for at least 3 hours. Don't worry if you go over (in the video, I let mine sit overnight since I couldn't tend to it at 3 hours). After 1 hour, give the cabbage another toss. Preparing the sauce: While the cabbage is close to being ready, prepare the red pepper sauce. In a medium bowl, mix kochukaru (red pepper flakes), water, saewoo jjut, fish sauce, green onions, sugar, ginger, garlic, rice flour paste, and about a 1/2 cup water. Mix thoroughly. Taste. It should be balanced � not too salty, not too fishy, not to spicy and not too sweet. Adjust seasonings at this point. The consistently should be akin to very thick batter. Add a bit more water if necessary. Mix in carrots and radish. Set aside. Once the cabbage is ready (the volume of the cabbage should have decreased, and it should be a bit wilted), rinse the cabbage under cold running water and let drain in a colander. Once drained, place the cabbage in a large bowl. At this point you may want to put clean plastic gloves on especially if you have sensitive skin. Add the sauce to the cabbage. Thoroughly mix the sauce and cabbage and make sure every piece of cabbage is coated with the red pepper sauce. Taste. If it needs more salt, add a bit of fish sauce. But you don�t want it to be too salty. Transfer the cabbage mixture into a large glass jar. Press down on the cabbage as you are filling the jar. Leave about 1-inch of space from the top. Don�t throw the empty bowl in the sink just yet. Pour in about 1 cup of water into the bowl. Add about a teaspoon of salt to start, and stir. Swirl the water around to make sure you get all the remaining pepper mixture. Taste. Again, you don�t want it too salty � just a hint of salt. Fill the jar with the water until it barely covers the cabbage. Press down on the cabbage again and make sure the liquid has made its way throughout the jar. Close the lid tightly. Leave the jars at room temperature** for about a day away from direct sunlight. I leave mine out for about 24-30 hours. This is when the magic happens. You may want to place the jar in a shallow bowl or plate in case there is leakage. After those 24 or so excruciating hours, sample the kimchi. There should be a slight tang. At this point it is ready to be refrigerated. You can eat the kimchi right away, but I prefer to wait at least a week to indulge. The kimchi will continue to ferment at a much slower pace in the refrigerator and will keep for about 4 weeks. The kimchi will turn really sour at this point and if you have any left in the jar, it will be perfect for jigae, fried rice, ramen or jun. ___________________

I believe you, Rachelellen, that the fish sauce will make especially good kimchee. I am eager to try that in my next batch. It won't take long to use up the current batch. I will add more red pepper next time also. What I made is kind of mild for my taste. I got a BIG bag of the red pepper from an Asian store run by a Korean family. When I told them I wanted it for kimchee they quickly showed me the right one. There was nothing in English on the package which would have helped me to know it was for kimchee. It is just a bit courser than most powdered spices, similar to course ground black pepper. I have several large daikon radishes in my garden. I will use some for kimchee. Rachelellen, do you know if it is possible to make the Japanese pickled radish at home? Regarding the, er, pungency of kimchee, it's one of those odd things about tastes. Why are we repulsed by spoiled food but attracted to foods that are "spoiled on purpose"? Stinky cheese, for example, is very close to repulsive, and is repulsive to some, but many people love it. Jim

Ack, Arlene, that's too bad. I like a lot of different kinds of foods, and I keep trying the ones I don't like. That 7 year rule, you know. I'm picky, but I'm adventurous, if that makes sense. I'll try nearly anything once, but don't care for extremely strong flavors. Nothing really incendiary hot, mouth puckeringly sour, extremely bitter. I'm a middle of the road adventurer, LOL. Whole Foods has artisnal kimchi? Wow. I can even get commercial kimchi here in my small grocery, canned in jars with pink lids. It tastes more like sauerkraut than anything, though, and Elery doesn't like it very well. If we found a very good commercial kimchi we might just buy that. No, scratch that. We wouldn't. You know me, I gotta MAKE IT MYSELF! (grin) Plus Elery shares with his son and his daughter has a friend that makes kimchi soup, so now she wants some too. We're definitely going to try a bunch of recipes, maybe Elery can get a batch mild enough for me. Annie

Here are some photos of my pickles, after three days of fermenting (Warning: jars have a blue tint):You can see the one cabbage rib that I added, hoping this would help fermentation.Maybe I added too many Bay leaves, but I find their flavor very mild. The carrots were cut into eighths, lengthwise. Here is the kimchi, after two days of supposed fermenting (still using blue jars):The carrots were julienned by hand, and I used regular cabbage instead of Napa because that's what was at the farmers' market. Note that the liquid at the top is rather dark, due to the darkness of my Korean chili flakes. I've had them for a while, stored properly, but I think I might need to get new ones, but these have always been dark.This one does not look like it is fermenting, although if it is, it is doing so very slowly. The jars all measure 73° with my thermometer gun, but they are probably somewhat cooler at night. The pickles started bubbling after one day and spilled over into the bowl that I had placed the jar in. The top of the airlock has little holes in it, to allow excess pressure to escape. This is the first time I've used this kind of lid and my first time attempting to ferment something. In the past, I've made refrigerator pickles using brine plus vinegar, but these have no vinegar added. Should I be concerned about the kimchi? I'll post photos again in a couple of days, which is when it is supposed to be ready - the pickles are supposed to be ready tomorrow. The pickles already look a bit cloudy (as I expected), but the kimchi does not. Has anyone else used these airlock lids? They remind me of a chemistry experiment.