The Firefly Corner Kimchiverse
Everything everywhere all at once has the potential to turn kimchi.
▶Watch the Kimchiverse workshop on YouTube
Spring has been generous to us. The rows have given us more daikon radishes and turnips than we could ever eat fresh, and that is a lovely problem to have. Luckily, Joeun Lee, who goes by Homi, was staying with us as a WWOOFer from Korea for about a month, and Homi knew exactly what to do with them.
So one afternoon we cleared the kitchen bench, filled a basket from the garden (radishes, beetroot, red cabbage, onions, chillies, coriander and a handful of nasturtium flowers for colour) and Homi ran our very first Firefly Corner kimchi workshop.
Homi's principle
Vegetables + salt + time + tiny good bacteria.
Homi's version is a simple water kimchi. Covering the vegetables with salty water is an easy way to keep the air out and give the good bacteria a head start. Almost any firm vegetable works — radish, cucumber, herbs — just skip the soft leafy greens, which turn to mush. Chilli, garlic and onion bring the flavour (the onion adds a little sweetness).
The "Homi ratio" for one jar: 1 radish, 2 jalapeños, 2 cayenne chillies, 2 cloves of garlic, ½ an onion and a handful of coriander.
How we made it
Wash the vegetables and cut them into bite-size pieces.
Sprinkle the radish with salt and wait 30 minutes.
Pack the vegetables and spices into a jar and pour in water until it is about 90% full. Leave a little space for gas.
Taste the water: it should taste salty, like pickle juice. Add more salt if needed.
Leave it at room temperature for 3 days. Bubbles mean happy bacteria, and it will start to smell sour and tangy.
Move it to the fridge and let it rest for 3 more days.
A few of Homi's pro tips: make it saltier if you want it to keep longer (and add water when you eat it); add more chilli and blend it once it's fully sour for a hot sauce; or blend the chilli, garlic and onion into a paste first for a red kimchi.
And the golden rule:a sour smell is good; fuzzy mould or a rotten smell means throw it away.
The result
A shelf of jewel-coloured jars — pink, purple and gold — each with its own Firefly Corner label, and one very hot jar Homi made just for us. Most of all, a happy afternoon in the kitchen, turning a glut from the garden into something that will keep feeding us for weeks.
Thank you, Homi — our Kimchi Queen — and thank you to everyone who chopped, salted, tasted and filmed along the way. The video tells the rest of the story far better than we can.
Watch the full video on YouTube →
Want to know more about kimchi? Start withWikipedia's kimchi page.
