Kimchi Crisis Hits South Korea:Napa Cabbage Shortage, Prices Soar

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Ingredients

Here are the ingredients you need to make the "Ultimate Kimchi" (my name), and quick summary of the directions. Obviously, organic vegetables are the best. Not so obvious is that raw, unrefined vinegar and oil make a big difference. Of the two, absolutely the most important is unrefined sesame oil. (For the reasons why, see Oils and EFAs.) The table below is alos reproduced in the Ultimate Kimchi Directions Summary -- a one-page synopsis that you can print out.

Note:
Part of the process is making sure that the kimchi is properly fermented. For more on that subject, see The Importance of Fermentation.

Ingredients Directions Organic foods

• 1 Napa cabbage
• 3 Carrots
• 2 Cucumbers
• 3 Heads broccoli
• 2 Bunches scallions
• 1 Apple
• 2 Small oranges
• 1 Lemon

Health food store

• Unrefined rice vinegar
• Unrefined sesame oil
• Kosher salt (or sea salt)

Korean foods store

• Crushed red pepper (coarse)
• Crushed garlic
• Sesame seeds
  (Roasted more flavorful.
  Raw may be healthier.)

Cooking tools

• Large mixing bowl
• Small mixing bowl
• Cutting board
• Cutting knife

1. Rinse all vegetables in water and salt.
2. Cut out stem of cabbage with a V-notch, then cut in half lengthwise. Cut each half lengthwise once again, and slice crosswise into strips.
3. Cut up the cabbage stem into thin strips.
4. Sprinkle liberally with Kosher salt.
   Scoop and stir with hands.
5. Let cabbage sit while peeling carrots and cucumber. Peel carrots completely. Take strips from the cucumbers.
6. Section the carrots and cut into thin strips.
7. Section the cucumbers and cut into thin strips.
8. Cut broccoli heads into byte-size pieces, cut stalks diagonally to make thin oval slices.
9. Add salt. Scoop and stir.
10. Trim scallions, slice the white part down the center, then cut into strips diagonally.
11. Core and dice the apple and add.
12. Skin the oranges and lemon.
13. Slice the oranges, separate into pieces, and add.
14. Put a handful of chilli pepper into a sauce bowl. Add from a third as much to an equal amount of sesame seeds, and crushed garlic.
15. Add enough sesame oil to moisten everything, and approximately an equal amount of rice vinegar (enough to make a paste).
16. Dice the lemon and squeeze into the bowl, add the remaining pieces.
17. Mix the ingredients in the sauce bowl to make paste, then gently spread the paste into the vegetable bowl.

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