Kimchi brine

Mom claimed her pickled cabbage was Chinese. the rest of my family was skeptical; another possible source for her recipe was the wife of one of my father's colleagues.

years later, my mother acknowledged that she had served us kimchi. if i had to guess, it was Baek (white) kimchi. in those days, Asian ingredients were less available here so the recipe may have been an adaptation. in any case, it is much easier to make than the kind we usually see.

Deconstructed brine

how do we determine the amount of salt? in my opinion, we should ignore the weight of the vegetables. this approach works because brine creates an environment that favors lactobacilli. salt is not the agent per se; it is an enabler.

in this case, we amplify its effect by deconstructing the brine, i.e. letting salted Napa cabbage wilt for an hour before adding the water needed to make the brine.

if you're crazy enough to make kimchi with just cabbage, please note that the other ingredients might be important sources of lactobacilli.

my mother used the dried, whole chili peppers that were available, and i wonder if they had much effect because brine doesn't convey flavor as well as one might expect. i use gochugaru powder, because i wanted to use gochugaru and mistakenly bought the wrong kind. this mistake was serendipitous.

Leftover brine

if there is room for kimchi in your refrigerator, there is room for brine. it accumulates and disposal is occasionally necessary, but it is useful. brine strained through a stainless steel coffee filter may be used whenever you need a weak acid, e.g. when baking desserts. if this seems weird, you've probably never eaten don't ask cake.

owning so much gochugaru, i tried to make an eastern North Carolina barbecue sauce. this is essentially flavored vinegar, so its viscosity is less than ideal. desperation is the father of invention ...

i use a bulb baster to extract gochugaru-rich brine and add an equal volume of Valentina. the leftover brine's lactic acid adds viscosity, and the finely ground chili pepper in Valentina helps suspend the gochugaru powder.

the kimchi flavor is subtle, not overt. if you like Valentina, you will love this sauce. garbage never tasted so good :-)