June's Adapted Kim Chi

Here's a tried many times recipe adapted from various others (aren't all recipes?) and tested with thumbs up and vicious demands that I cough up the secret... ok maybe I'm being abit of a drama queen when I say vicious...

Although I want my kimchi to be as authentic as the ones made by a korean, in korea, it's just not possible when you are not living there and most of the stuff are now made in you-know-where. Here's as good as how I can make it here in Singapore...

Ingredients:

2 Chinese Cabbage
1 pkt Korean Chilli Flakes
1/2 white radish (go figure what you wanna do with the other half. Or you can save it for my next dish)
1 cup garlic
1 green onion
1 bunch spring onions
1/2 cup rice flour
1/2 cup sugar
3 cup water
1/2 cup fish sauce
salt lotsa salt
1 bottle secret ingredient... if I tell you, it won't be a secret anymore...

Prep time: maybe an episode of Juumong

Do I really have to?... arrggghhh ok... you need a bottle of chin chalok. You know what that is? It's that foul smelling pinkish sauce with lotsa tiny tiny white prawns in it. Get those that are not already in chilli sauce.

Directions:

1. Wash all your veg off-course, just in case some forgets.
2. Remove the hard core of the chinese cabbage. As much as possible, keep the layers intact.
3. 'Baptise' each layer of the cabbage with generous sprinkling of salt and set aside for the salt to infuse
4. Cut up the white radish into thin strips. Do the same with spring onions, except with spring onions it's basically just cross-sectioning it to shorter length.
5.Blend garlic and onion until mushy. Add some fish sauce as lubricant if the blender refuse to do as it should
6. In a small pot, cook rice flour, water and sugar until it forms a light paste. Stir it constantly to ensure eveness of paste and to prevent the base from burning.
7. In a big pot or basin, mix the flour paste thoroughly with chilli flakes, garlic and onion mush, spring onion, white radish and fish sauce. Adjust the amount of chilli flakes according to the 'fiery' prefered.
8. Do a taste test and season the mixture with additional sugar or salt where required.
9. When absolutely happy, wash out the chinese cabbage and drain it of excess water.
10. Coat each layer of cabbage with the chilli mixture and stuff the cabbage in a container and in the fridge it goes.
11. Pat yourself on the back... after you wash your hands... because you have yourself yummy homemade kim chi...