Photography by Selina S. Lee
Tomato Kimchi (토마토 김치)
INGREDIENT
1 med size napa cabbage
2 med size tomatoes
2 red bell peppers
⅓ cup lemon juice
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 tsp ginger
1 tbsp sugar
sea salt
Stock:
2 cups water
3-4 dried shiitake mushrooms
100g korean radish or daikon
3 pieces of cut dried kelp
½ onion
PREPARATION
Cut napa cabbage into half then fourth vertically with the root ends intact. Cutting them ⅓ into the way and ripping apart works best. Remove outer layer and cut and clean out the root ends where it’s brown with dirt. Wash them in cold running water. Sprinkle sea salt evenly on each layer and even inner part of layer, as thicker white part of cabbage takes longer to salt brine. In a large container, add salted lukewarm water to put cabbages sit in water bath (enough but not submerged) for 2-3 hours. Flip it around every 30 minutes or so. After 2-3 hours, the cabbage leaves should be soft. Squeeze out the liquid and set it aside on a strainer.
NOTE: Considerable amount of water comes out from the napa cabbage and vegetables, so the brine should be salty enough in order to ferment well and taste good. At this stage, it should be too salty to eat.
While cabbage is salt brining, you can make the stock by adding 2 cups of water and boil it with dried shiitake mushroom, radish, dried kelp and onion for 30-40 min. You can season the broth with little bit of salt if you think your cabbage is not salty enough. Strain the stock and make sure to let the stock cool down before adding them to cabbage.
MAKE
Make kimchi paste by adding chopped tomatoes (seeded) and red bell peppers (with seeds) in a blender. Putting the tomatoes at the bottom will help blend it better. Consistency should be like a smoothie, if it’s too watery, add more bell peppers. Season it with lemon juice, minced garlic, ginger and sugar. You should have at least 1.5 cup of paste to apply.
Spread the kimchi paste on each layer of napa cabbage and pour the stock over the container or a fermentation jar. If you have weights to press them down, even better. Otherwise, press them down tight when putting them into the container or jar.
FERMENTATION
Leave it out in shaded area (room temperature) for 24 hours then continue fermentation in the fridge for another 3-4 days before eating.