We decided to join our
neighborhood's CSA this summer, and are enjoying a fridge OVERFLOWING with fresh, local, organic produce. We've got so many vegetables, in fact, I'm already searching for ways to keep them beyond their normal refridgerated life.
My answer is always: make kimchi! The variety I made last night was seafood-less, so technically, I'm not sure it can be called kimchi. Maybe a spicy Korean-inspired pickle?
Recipe:
Group A
-3 or 4 tblspns Sea salt or Kosher salt
-3 or 4 Kohlrabi hearts, trimmed of outside layer and sliced into bite-sized pieces
Group B
-3 Radishes, finely minced
-2 Hakurei turnips, finely minced
-1/2 Spanish onion, finely minced
-4 Scallions, finely minced
-4 or 5 cloves of Garlic, finely minced
-1/3 c Parsley, finely minced
-3 or 4 tblspns dried red pepper flakes
-2 tblspns Sea salt of Kosher salt
-cracked black pepper to taste
-fresh squeezed juice of a lemon or lime
Dump all peeled and sliced kohlrabi pieces in a large bowl and sprinkle generously with salt, tossing in bowl to ensure that all pieces are coated. Set aside for 30-45 minutes to allow the salt to draw water out of the vegetable.
In a separate, smaller bowl, mix all ingredients from Group B, beginning with the radishes, turnips, onion, scallions, garlic and parsley and lemon/lime juice and the salt. Toss to ensure the salt gets on everything, then add the pepper flakes and black pepper and toss some more. Set to the side to let the juices mix.
After 30-45 minutes, a significant amount of water will have been drawn from the kohlrabi slices by the salt. Drain all of this off and lightly rinse excess salt off the vegetable and put back in the large bowl. Now mix the spicy mixture of Group B ingredients (with juice) in, tossing until thoroughly encorporated. Move mixture from bowl to a clean and dry airtight container, cover and put in a cool, dark place for a minimum of 2 weeks. The salt will continue to draw water from the kimchi until the veggies are completely covered in their own fluid.
This is the fluid level in my kimchi last night, right after making it. Already (I excitedly checked this morning) there's about two inches of fluid in there.
