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Thursday, February 6, 2014

Kimchee 101 (Vegan ghost pepper-lemongrass kimchee recipe included.)

Ahhh another great reason to write about probiotics!
Kimchee is a fermented food, therefore a great source of all of those beneficial bacteria we NEED to function. (Please see my post on Kombucha.)
Kimchee/"Kimchi" specifically is an amazing source of a lot of beneficial nutrients besides the amazing life it creates, simply because of it's ingredients.

  • Cabbage (Nappa cabbage, AKA Won bok, great for digestion and metabolism.)
  • Garlic. Seriously. Lots of garlic. (Good for high cholesterol, fungal problems, fever, aches.)
  • Chillis (Extremely beneficial for circulation and metabolism.)
  • Lemongrass (According to WebMD: lemongrass is used to treat digestive problems, pain, vomiting, muscle spasms, cough, achy joints, fever and to kill germs as a mild astringent!)
  • And in this recipe I specifically used miso, to make it vegan. (Traditional kimchee recipes call for a shrimp sauce/paste.) YOU KNOW HOW GOOD MISO IS FOR YOU!!
It has been claimed a "miracle food" and has been used for thousands of years as a way to preserve foods. It has been shown hold cancer preventing properties, aid digestion, skin/hair problems, heart/circulation problems.
It's typically a good source for Vitamins C, A, B-12, selenium, iron, protein, etc. 

Vegan Ghost Pepper Lemongrass Kimchee
1 head of won bok
1 turnip (and it's greens)
green onion
salt
garlic (I used about 20 cloves!)
1/4 cup miso
3 Tbsp sesame seeds
1 ghost pepper (dried)
1 small serano chili
3 small lemongrass stems (should equal about 3 Tbsp)
ume vinegar (about 1/4-1/3 cup)
~4 Tbsp-1/4 cup bragg's liquid aminos 


1. Chop up the veggies, and soak in salt water for 3-4 hours. (You can do longer if you want to!)



Articles I read mentioned that turnips will give it a very specific taste to help replace the shrimp paste. Turnips ferment very well and give off a very STRONG smell!


2. Process the chilis, miso, lemongrass (chopped into small pieces), half of the amount of vinegar given in recipe above, Bragg's liquid aminos, garlic and sesame seeds. Should be a thick paste like the picture below.




3. Drain the soaking veggies and massage the paste throughly into the veggies. BE CAREFUL. The sauce is SUPER spicy and you will hurt yourself if you touch your face (or any other sensitive areas…)!!! 


4. Distribute into jars and let it sit for one day with the lid cracked open in room temp.