That is a jar of Mul Kimchi or water Kimchi, fermenting in my kitchen for a day and ready to go into the fridge.

I’ve been wanting to make these since last year but never got my hands on it. I finally decided to make it and went through several cookbooks and bumped into one recipe which seems very simple.

This is what you need: You will need around 2 liter jar to store the finished Kimchi.

• 250grams of chinese cabbage
• 200grams of daikon radish
• 1 inch of thinly sliced carrot
• 2 tablespoon of salt
• 1 tablespoon of Jyoshinko (non-glutinous rice flour)
• 1 tablespoon of sugar (or honey)
• 1/2 tablespoon of grated ginger
• 1/2 tablespoon of grated garlic
• 1 stem of scallion cut into 1 inch lengthwise
• 1 red chili sliced thinly

Step 1 making the marinade

• In a small pot place 4 cups of water, add Jyoshinko and heat it up until it starts to boil. Turn the heat off and set aside till cooled. When cooled add sugar, ginger and garlic, mix it well then strain the liquid through colander to remove the residue.

Step 2 Preparation for the vegetable

• Cut the Chinese cabbage into 1 inch square, cut the daikon radish into 1 inch length with 1cm thickness sticks. The carrots are thinly sliced into fan shapes and scallion are cut into 1 inch length.
• Put Chinese cabbage, daikon and scallion in a small bowl and add the salt. Mix it well and leave it for around 30 min to let the veggies release it’s liquid.

Step 3 Pickling process

• In a clean jar, place the veggies with it liquid in.
• Slowly pour in the marinade into the jar.
• Add the scallion and chili.
• Put the lid on the jar and leave the jar out in room temp for 1 to 2 day to let the veggies ferment.
• Check the veggies everyday by tasting it and if you taste a bit sourness, the liquid showing bubbles, it’s ready.
• Chill the jar in the fridge and serve it cold with its liquid.

This picture was taken on the second day pickling in the room temp. As you can see, there are some bubbles forming on the surface which is the sign of fermentation. I tasted it and it had a slight sourness but overall very light and refreshing. I then popped this into the fridge and served it on the 3rd day after the pickling and it was very good. Why didn’t I made this before?? The fermented liquid is seasoned with garlic and ginger is not overpowering but gives us some appetite during these hot humid days in Japan. I’m planning to make a Korean chilled noodles using this liquid and can’t wait to try it.

I try to homemake these type of fermented food as much as possible for health benefits. Kimchi had become our winter pickle staples and these really helped with my intestinal environment. Homemaking is the key, I guess by using your own hand and pickling in your home cultivate ideal microorganism which suits with your body more than the store bought artificial ones.