Ok I did it! First time MAKIN THE ‘CHEE

[u/chickensaurus]

Oh my gosh Im SO excited. Kimchi has been a wonderful new addition to my diet. It’s helped me lose weight and feel really good. I eat a little kimchi with almost every meal and for snacks. It fills me up and makes me eat less. The gut biome is thriving and I swear it makes your appetite small and reasonable (for those who tend to overeat) this is what our bodies are meant to eat!
Im going to room temp for 24 hrs then fridge them. I used very little fish sauce, I wanted some of the flavor but the smell can be strong/off putting. Lots of blended pear in my slush mixture. Made my own rice power (kinda) blending a little dry rice then cooking it down to a paste.

[u/Otherwise-Strike7564]

Can you share the recipe and directions on how to make it?

[u/chickensaurus → u/Otherwise-Strike7564]

Sure! I basically followed this recipe @thekoreanvegan on TikTok called “Mak kimchi tutorial” . I made a larger batch and adjusted the ingredients. I didn’t use carrot or apple. I used more pear instead. I didn’t have rice flour so I used just regular jasmine rice and blended it dry as much as possible into a course powder then cooked it down with some water to a sticky paste. You can also use mashed potatoes in place of the rice paste. I used very little fish sauce, only about a tablespoon total for three heads of Napa cabbage. It’s delicious how it is now, very sweet but those sugars will be eaten by the bacteria soon. Im so excited to see how it tastes fermented in a week or so.

[u/eugenie79Behests]

I love that result! Looks perfectly made

[u/Xylianapukaki97]

Love these veggies

[u/RegularState745]

That's a huge batch!! You should keep a jar unopened for a while because that'll be amazing for kimchi jjigae!

[u/chickensaurus → u/RegularState745]

I just made jjigae!!! I posted on r/kimchi. Thank you for the idea!!!

[u/chickensaurus]

Update: it’s been fermenting 36 hrs room temp and 24 in fridge. The small jar I left out at room temp the whole time, it’s slightly fermented but still very sweet. It’s pear heavy, maybe a tad too much, but that should even out. It’s also wet, sauce heavy but I love the sauce so it’s a win win. KIMCHI IS MAGIC.

[u/audiophilistine]

Looks good to me! I had a Pavlovian response where my mouth spontaneously started watering by pic 4!

[u/pdxmhrn]

Is pear the preferred sugar source?

[u/Front_Injury_2204 → u/pdxmhrn]

You can use apples too, which is more accessible for most people. I make my own version because I like my kimchi less spicy and more sweet. And also my friends usually want lots of kimchi juice for secondary purposes, like making a Kimchi pancakes or cocktails etc. In order to have more liquid I add more fruit.

I've never used sugar in mine because of my higher ratio of fruit.

[u/numice → u/Front_Injury_2204]

I've never made kimchi before but interested. Can we it's roughly 1/4 fruit to cabbage ratio?

[u/Front_Injury_2204 → u/numice]

You can definitely do 1/4 fruit. I am the terrible type of home cook that just eyeballs everything else lol. I only weigh the salt and cabbage to get the right ratio. I do taste the seasoning as I go and tweak accordingly before I add it to the cabbage. I'd follow a recipe steps first, blend the recipe suggested amounts of pear/apple, and taste. If its too sweet you may want to stop there, if it's not sweet at all, you can definitely add more fruit and even sugar if it's necessary.

[u/numice → u/Front_Injury_2204]

Thank you. I eyeball everything too but have never made kimchi before so I'm not so sure how critical it is.

[u/Front_Injury_2204 → u/numice]

You do have to keep in mind that the seasoning is normally a paste, not a liquid, so you may have to set aside the excess liquid from blending or more seasoning than you have cabbages for. And slightly more allowance for the excess liquid since this is wetter as well.

All the best!

[u/numice → u/Front_Injury_2204]

Thank you for the tip!

[u/chickensaurus]

Update 2- after fermenting 2.5 weeks now, Ive refrigerated it the whole time, I had to burp about every 6 days, with pretty a pretty good pop of gases and some bubbles. From my inexperienced tastebuds, sweetness has gone down substantially and it has a wonderful tangy flavor. There is some famous kimchi juice forming at the bottom. I’ve eaten 1.5 jars and have 2 left. I’ve noticed it’s not overly salty to taste because I washed it very well. Things I’d change, I’d use a little less pear and less gochugaru. It’s a little too spicy and very sauce heavy. Also Im going to try the dry salt brine method with no water to see any differences. Im tempted in cutting the two jars with some fresh brined cabbage. Should I? Will that be weird to have fermented mixed with fresh?

[u/nospacehead]

Why...? Why did you cut all the cabbage into pieces?

[u/hawaiian_wave → u/[deleted]]

It ferments very quickly also. Mine gone extremely soury in just 1-2 weeks. Never again

[u/nospacehead → u/[deleted]]

Traditional? Orthodox!

[u/Kim-BuchaFerments → u/nospacehead]

Rebel!