My Papa’s Kimchi

In lieu of fast approaching Father’s Day, I have a very special guest post, brought to you by my Papa!  Well he didn’t write this post, but he’s the one who made the following kimchi recipe and willingly posed for pictures!  🙂  Can’t believe it’s been over a month since I’ve had a “The Dish” post.

Ingredients (I don’t know the exact measurements that he used but here is a rough guesstimate, best thing to do is taste as you go!)

  • 2 heads of napa cabbage
  • 1 daikon radish
  • 3 tablespoons salt
  • 6 green onions
  • 1 cup of garlic (minced)
  • 3 tablespoons fish sauce
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1/2 cup korean pepper powder

Directions

1. Chop up napa cabbage into squares and daikon radish into strips.  (At this point, many people may soak these veggies in salt + water (brine) overnight but we cut out this step because my Dad’s visit to KC was too short!)

2. In a medium bowl, mix in the green onions, garlic, korean pepper powder, fish sauce and 1 tablespoon salt to create the “sauce”.

3. In another mixing bowl, layer in the the vegetables and the sauce, adding more salt as you go until you’ve used the rest of the 2 tablespoons.  And like I stated above, tasting and tweaking as you mix is the way to go!

4. Let the kimchi ferment in the bowl for 3-6 days before transferring to canning jars.

I’m sure there are other things you could add to the kimchi like ginger, onion, pepper or you could use different sauces, but I like my papa’s kimchi, it’s SUPER delish with the perfect amount of spice and even better that it is easy to make!  Oh and if you were wondering, kimchi is traditionally a Korean dish, but we’re Taiwanese.  🙂

If you feel like you have too much kimchi, another thing me and my husband like to make is kimchi fried rice!  My Korean sister-in-law, Jieun, taught me how to make it when she came to visit us awhile back!  Basically you can mix chopped up kimchi, day old rice, frozen veggies, and tuna or salmon in a wok together until everything is cooked and that’s it, so easy and so delicious!  Enjoy!

28 Comments

  1. June 16, 2010 / 6:16 am

    Yum! Thanks for the recipe. I hope to try doing this this summer! I can’t believe your aboji made this for you! Cuz I’m so used to old-school korean where moms do it all. ;p Happy early Father’s day to your appah!

  2. June 16, 2010 / 7:15 am

    thanks for sharing your papa’s kimchi recipe! i may have to try it one of these days! i heart korean food…well, basically i am a foodie and enjoy all types of food. hehe. now i am craving some bulgogi! : )

  3. June 16, 2010 / 9:01 am

    I love kimchi being Korean myself. 😀 kimchi fried rice is the best!! but I go for spam instead of tuna

  4. June 16, 2010 / 10:14 am

    i have to try this out. i heard a lot about kimchi and that it’s supposed to be delicious. unfortunately we don’t have so many places that sell it but your recipe sounds very easy. i’ll try! 🙂

  5. June 16, 2010 / 11:02 am

    you and your papa make it look so easy to make! i have yet to try making homemade kimchi. my hubs keeps asking. this post just gave me some encouragement to give it a shot… someday!

  6. June 16, 2010 / 11:09 am

    Oooh, Sandy, this looks so yummy. I can’t wait to try it — my boyfriend and I have been looking for new dishes like this.

  7. June 16, 2010 / 11:17 am

    mmmmm! I’m so excited to try this! I love kimchi but have never even thought of making it! Thanks for sharing!!

  8. June 16, 2010 / 11:28 am

    i’ve never attempted to make it, but having had two korean roommates, I came to enjoy kimchi. your papap’s looks SO good! xx, Jane
    ps. I looove your photo shoot below!

  9. June 16, 2010 / 11:35 am

    girl, thanks for the recipe! I would have never tried to make this. It’s not as complicated as I thought.

  10. June 16, 2010 / 12:01 pm

    I have never had this dish…but it looks SO good! Yum <333 Thanks for sharing!

  11. June 16, 2010 / 12:14 pm

    yummmy! i love family recipes with the “taste as you go” method, looks great 🙂

  12. June 16, 2010 / 3:45 pm

    i’ve never heard of this before but it looks great!!

  13. June 16, 2010 / 5:25 pm

    just made my mouth water! mmmmm.

  14. June 16, 2010 / 8:10 pm

    yum kimchi!!
    very sweet that your dad makes it for you, like his specialty. my dad doesnt really cook anything, hehe.

  15. June 16, 2010 / 9:01 pm

    I’ve had Kimchi before, but I’ve never had Kimchi fried rice! That would so yummy!

  16. June 16, 2010 / 9:59 pm

    wow, that looks so easy! making kimchee seemed so hard. i’m very impressed your dad knows how to make it! 🙂

  17. June 16, 2010 / 10:00 pm

    i have always wanted to try kimchi

  18. June 16, 2010 / 10:17 pm

    Oooo – this looks delicious! I love kimchi, but have never tried making it. Thanks for the inspiration!

  19. June 17, 2010 / 2:14 am

    i LOVE kimchi and have always wanted to make it. seems like i have the perfect recipe to do so now. =) thanks for posting sandy.

  20. June 17, 2010 / 2:27 am

    dad’s kimchi is sooo yummy! you took such awesome photos~~! makes me crave some right now even in the middle of the night! =P

  21. June 17, 2010 / 6:18 am

    I’ve never tried Japanese or any Asian food, just so little of Chinese. Maybe someday I’ll try to cook this or something 🙂

    Love!
    xxx

  22. June 17, 2010 / 12:06 pm

    Hi Sandy, thanks for stopping by my blog. This kimchi sound looks great and I LOVE kimchi fried rice.

    Your blog looks terrific and I love the layout.

  23. June 23, 2010 / 10:09 pm

    Dearest sandy, thanks so much for sharing this!! I always wanted to make my own kimchi and your papa’s recipe is perfect! Yipeee~ Love to you!

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