Vegetarian Cabbage Kimchi

Homemade kimchi
kimchi paste

A bowl of Bean Vermicelli cooked with homemade kimchi

Wanted to try out making kimchi last year, only tested it out recently. My second try and I omit fish sauce and added vinegar. And I used the normal chilli powder which is easily purchase from the supermarket rather than the Korean Chilli powder which is much preferred. If you consume garlic, add garlic to this and adjust the marinade ingredients per each individual preference. Feel like simplifying this further to make "mock" kimchi ...

Preparation: 20 mins, plus standing times 24 hrs

Ingredients (makes 300g)

° 300g Chinese cabbage
° 1 litre water
° 50g salt

For marinade
° 25g chilli powder
° 25g carrot shreds
° 25g radish shreds
° 25g ginger
° 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar or rice vinegar
° 1½ tablespoons salt
° 1 tablespoon sugar

Method
1. Mix the marinade ingredients well in a bowl. Set aside.
2. Make a deep cut across the base of the head of Chinese cabbage and split it in two, if it is a whole. Place the cabbage in a big bowl, cover with 1 litre of water and adding 50g salt to it. Leave it to stand for 4 hours. Remove and rinse the cabbage and squeeze dry.
3. Place the cabbage on a large plate and coat and spread the marinade on each layer of leaves. Ensuring that the marinade mixture get evenly between the leaves and no leaf is left uncovered.
4. Roll the cabbage up and use the outer leaf of the cabbage to wrap tightly around the other leaves to help the seasoning permeate throughout the whole.
5. Place the cabbage in an airtight container and leave it at room temperature for few hours and place it in the refrigerator for 1 day.