This week we have napa cabbage in our Fresh Five bags. While this delicious green tastes great in any quick stir fry, the most exciting version of napa cabbage, for me, is spicy, sour and probiotic kimchi. If any of you are feeling motivated to do some fermentation, here’s a few recipes that guide you through the process to make this delicious Korean staple.

A Traditional Version of a Kimchi Recipe (the ingredients are specific and probably require some shopping)

A Close-to-Traditional Version that’s Vegan (again, I would need to do some shopping to pull this off!)

The Flexible Easy Version that Uses What We’ve Got (surely not as delicious as the recipes listed above, but making due with minimal shopping trips, I hope it will fulfill the craving!)

Based on the flexible recipe linked above, here’s what I’m thinking to use:

1 napa cabbage (in our bag this week!)

salt (about 1/5 cup per pound…coarse, if you’ve got it, use a little less if it’s finely ground)

water (about 1 cup/pound of napa cabbage)

radish microgreens (because it’s in the bag this week!)

kohlrabi (a little weird, I know, but also, in our bag this week!)

carrot

apple

onion

garlic

ginger

miso

chiltepin (our stock chile for everything these days, but any red pepper flakes could do…)

What are you experimenting with? We’d love to hear what you tried and how it went.

I want to keep at this until fermentation becomes habit!

Updated Note: It seems lots of new research is emerging around the power of fermented foods in relation to COVID. Check out this article entitled Could Kimchi Combat COVID-19 for a quick summary of some of these findings.

Check out this infographic—amongst the many benefits, I was surprised to see that cabbage is high in omega 3 (with a good omega 3 to omega 6 ratio, at that!).

It’s cabbage season and I love it in so many ways: atakilt wat (ethiopian cabbage carrot potato dish), stir fried like my tias in Mexico do with chile, tomato, onion salt and coriander, in soups, baked as a cabbage steak with tofu, carrots, pineapple and peanut butter…the list goes on. But, even though it’s totally possible for our four person household to go through a cabbage in a week, there’s also good arguments for taking the time to preserve it so it lasts months maybe, or at least more than a week or two. What are these good arguments? The probiotic health benefits of fermented foods for one. And, the therapeutic benefits of knowing you have food in your fridge that you can eat in the next month or two. I’m no expert on pickling or fermentation, but I hear you don’t have to be…even novices like me could get good results. So, that’s my project for the week. If you want to try it out, too, here’s a few recipes to try:

(and please share any tips or comments—I have a lot to learn!)

Curtido Salvadoreño with True Fermentation (eat after 3 days, could last weeks!)

Curtido Salvadoreño Shortcut (uses vinegar instead of just salt to preserve, eat same day or within a week)

Red Sauerkraut (cabbage, beet, carrot, turmeric, ginger and garlic)

Traditional Sauerkraut (with caraway, optional though)