Korean Kimchi with Portuguese Cabbage

Well its sort of a fusion recipe, in case you don’t know Kimchi, it is a traditional Korean side dish made with fermented vegetables, mainly Chinese cabbage. It is flavoured with a variety of spices, such as Korean red pepper, garlic, ginger, fish sauce and sugar. The fermentation process is what gives kimchi its characteristic sour and spicy flavour as well as crunchy texture.

Kimchi in Korea is like bread in Portugal, it’s served at every meal, as an appetiser or side dish and of course it can be used as a filling for all kinds of sandwiches, pizzas, snacks, it’s super versatile and between us i think its absolutely delicious, always interesting finding our the variations of Kimchi from place to place in Korea.

So I still had some Gochujang Sauce (its basically a spicy Korean pepper sauce), but no traditional chinese cabbage hehehe, so why not try with Portuguese cabbage. Encase you don’t know Portuguese cabbage is much tougher than Chinese cabbage, so I blanched the Portuguese cabbage to make it a bit more tender and absorbed the spices better, and I didn’t ferment it for weeks and months like kimchi in Korea, I think it’s a bit dangerous to make preserves at home, even when sterilizing, so this kimchi is best eaten about the same week it’s made, also in Korea there is less fermented fresh kimchi and its normally about a week or month old, it’s much milder like this version that i let rest for a week in the fridge, still super delicious and healthy.

Also imported Kimchi here in Europe is ok… but it’s too expensive for basically fermented cabbage, it’s way better and cheaper to buy Gochujang Sauce and Fish Sauce and you can make your own in large amounts! ;D So let’s check the recipe!

Korean Kimchi with Portuguese Cabbage

Servings: 4
Time: 45mins
Difficulty: Easy
Rating: ★★★★★
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A bold fusion of flavors! This recipe combines the spicy kick of Korean kimchi with the sweet and crunchy texture of Portuguese cabbage for a unique and unforgettable taste sensation.

Ingredients

Portuguese Cabbage – 1 (aka Couve Galega)
Coarse Salt – 4 Tablespoons
Chives – 2 sprigs
Gochujang Sauce – 2 Tablespoons
Fish Sauce – 1 Tablespoon
Sugar – 1 Tablespoon
Garlic – 1 Tablespoon
Ginger – 1/2 teaspoon

Directions

Shred the cabbage and separate it into large leaves. Slice the large stalks of Portuguese cabbage into a thin julienne, since these are tougher.
Heat a large pot with plenty of hot water and a little coarse salt. When the water is boiling, add the cabbage and cook for about 4 minutes (ideally between blanched and half-cooked, as Portuguese cabbage is quite thick).
Remove the cabbage from the water and leave it to drain, then rinse it under cold water just to cool it down completely and stop it from cooking any further.
Put the coarse salt in a bowl with two glasses of water, rinse all the cabbage in this mixture and pour the rest over the cabbage, cover the bowl and leave the cabbage to rest in the salt for about 3 hours (this will make the cabbage even more tender).
After the 3 hours, remove the cabbage, which should now be very wilted, and rinse everything again under cold water to remove the excess salt.

In a bowl add two tablespoons of Gochujang sauce, one tablespoon of Fish sauce, one tablespoon of sugar, the chopped chives, one tablespoon of finely chopped garlic and 1/2 teaspoon of finely chopped ginger, mix everything together until you have a sauce.

In a new bowl with the cabbage, pour the sauce mixture on top and with your hands mix all the cabbage well with the sauce until all the cabbage is well covered, now place it all into an airtight container and leave in the fridge to ferment a bit for about a week, then its ready to eat, bon appetit!

Notes: As you can see, after seasoning I cut up some of the cabbage to fit better in the boxes I used to store my homemade kimchi ;D I say this because traditionally kimchi is stored as whole as possible and then you cut it up (usually with scissors) at the table when it’s time to serve, whether you want a lot or a little.

In terms of difference, I’d say it’s better to use Chinese cabbage or Bokchoy cabbage because it creates a more authentic kimchi, but any tender cabbage will do, too tough or too crispy cabbage is not as good, it just changes the texture , this version with Portuguese cabbage is of course a little crunchier and chewier because Portuguese cabbage has much thicker leaves, but i still enjoyed it a lot ;D

This recipe for Korean Kimchi with Portuguese Cabbage was originally created on BakeAfter.com. Esta receita de Kimchi Fresco de Couve Portuguesa foi publicada em português no Iguaria.com.