Kosher Food and Drink

Heading into the doldrums of winter, we turn our attention to the foods and drinks to accompany the short, cold days, and brighten the darkness.

Kimchi is a food unfamiliar to most Jews or kosher-keepers, but really fits the evolving kosher palate. It is a traditional spicy Korean dish consisting of salted and fermented vegetables with a variety of spices, and was most notably created as storing food for the cold winter months. Napa cabbage or Korean radish are the most usual primary ingredients. But if you polled most of your kosher friends, I’d guess few have tried this dish. Aside from the fact that the flavor profile is uncommon in traditional Jewish cooking (particularly Ashkenazic), kimchi often relies on a splash of fish sauce, a slow-fermented liquid created from seafood, typically anchovies, but even shellfish. There are different varieties of fish sauce depending on culture.

Finding real kosher fish sauce is near-impossible. Red Boat, one of the most well-known brands, briefly produced a kosher fish sauce under OK Supervision around 2015. I’m lucky enough to still have one. As a note, Red Boat says the sauce is good for about 3 years, but the sauce looked and smelled good to me, and you get nowhere without a little adventure. In any case, fish sauce is not necessary for this recipe, but will add more umami and funk. There are kosher vegan fish sauces available if you look around, such as these, in which mushroom is used to replace the fish umami. Let’s hope we find another kosher real fish sauce on the market soon.

Kimchi is famous for its wide variety of ingredients, so while I’ll give a good basic one below, you’re free to try any number of possible additions to discover your favorite potion.

Kimchi is a staple menu item in Korean diets, eaten with most every meal. As with many traditional foods, its history began with the ability to preserve food for long-term usage. Nowadays we know that fermented foods have many health benefits including probiotic and anti-inflammatory properties, and as an immune system booster. Whatever. It’s delicious.

Don’t be afraid of fermentation. Particularly with this recipe, in which you will mix it daily and only leave on your counter for about 5 days. But regardless, following a few important principles, including using clean equipment and keeping your food under your brine, will allow you to create incredible fermented foods at home. I suggest following our friends at Insane in the Brine in addition to the growing content here.

How to Make Kimchi at Home:

Ingredients:

• 1 head napa cabbage
• 1/4 cup kosher salt
• Water, filtered
• 6 cloves grated garlic
• 1 tsp. grated fresh ginger
• 1 tsp. demerara sugar (white granulated is fine)
• 4 tbsp. chili crisp (This is my little innovation and I use this in place of gochugaru)
• 4 tbsp. smoked paprika (or regular)
• 8 oz. Korean or daikon radish, cut into matchsticks
• 4 scallions, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 2 tbsp. fish sauce (optional)
• 1 tsp. red pepper flakes (optional for increased heat)

Tools:

• Cutting board
• Sharp knife
• Large non-reactive bowl
• Gloves are very useful
• Colander
• Clean 1-quart jar (such as these)

Instructions:

1. On your cutting board using a sharp knife, cut the cabbage lengthwise into quarters.
2. Cut the quarters into 1-2 inch strips and place cut cabbage into large bowl.
3. Salt the cabbage. Massage the salt gently into the cabbage until cabbage softens (about 2-3 minutes).
4. Add water to cover the cabbage and set aside for 2 hours.
5. Place the cabbage into a colander and rinse 3 times (a Korean custom). Set aside for 15 minutes.
6. Using your original mixing bowl, create your spice paste combining the garlic, ginger, sugar, chili crisp, and paprika into a paste. Add the optional fish sauce and red pepper flakes.
7. Add cabbage to spice paste.
8. Add radish and scallions.
9. Using your gloves, mix by hand until well-coated.
10. Add mixture to your mason jar and pack down using your hand, extracting the brine to cover the vegetables. Ideally you want the brine to totally cover the vegetables. You can add a little filtered water if necessary here.
11. Close the jar and set on counter for about 5 days. Each day, open the jar and press down on the kimchi under the liquid.
12. Enjoy after 5 days. You can refrigerate for up to a month and it will even increase in flavor.