KIM CHI FOR YOU AND ME RECIPE

A SHARED RECIPE FROM MY BROTHER SAM

It is possible that I use only one recipe from each of the cookbooks that I own.  That is if I even use any at all.  I gather books for kitchen inspiration.  Some have good photos…food set pretty on plates.  Others might reference the seasons and vegetable possibilities as we shift from one to the next.  Other books tell a good story here or there about someone’s mother or grandmother making pasta or canning tomatoes.  Others, yes, others may have a good recipe.  A recipe that fits nicely in my own kitchen story.  A story that has involved many a family member, or friend or accidental meal.  I keep the books for that moment when I will pull the bread formula from page 45 of his book and make a cake from the ripped out page of her book.  Maybe a puff tart from the two pages glued together with the tomato Chile sauce recipe from the book without the spine and the lavash from the book without the cover.  The heart cookies for valentines day from the paper back and the pumpkin tart from the old gourmet holiday edition from the 90’s or how about Martha’s no fail wine basted turkey from the Thanksgiving magazine edition with the “how to organize your home office space” cover (that just never made much sense). But sure enough my mother pulls it from the saved magazine stack in the kitchen cupboard every year.

What I have realized, over time, is that I don’t have a collection of recipe books but a collection of recipes.  My binder is full to the brim with years of family recipes, found recipes and my most cherished….shared recipes.

It is possible that the best and most trusted recipes you will ever come across have been shared.  Someone has given it to you from their collection.  A tried and true that they swear by as being the best or the most reliable.  Most of mine have come from my mother, a few from aunts or my sister, some from friends, others from bakery colleagues generous and confident enough to share their technique, their formulas and secrets.

Today’s recipe I want to share comes from my brother.  He is a chef.  He is my younger brother….his name is Sam.

I asked him how to make Kim chi.  It was a random request.  I got it in my head that Kim chi on pizza would be good….and different.  With a little cheese and black sesame seed….maybe some chopped fresh scallions.  I had never made Kim chi before.  I had never eaten Kim chi before.

Sam is an avid fermenter.  Some people are.  They love to ferment things.  I told him what I was looking for.  I told him why.  I told him about the great Chinese market in Ventura where I could source the chili paste.  I told him that the neighbor had garden beds full of pac choi and Chinese cabbage.  I told him I had a week before the pizza event.  He sent me his recipe.

I am presenting this formula to you as it was sent to me.  A restaurant kitchen chef style formula with ingredients, measurements and procedure.  I then printed it off on paper and proceeded to make a wrinkle stained mess of it.  It will remain this way in my recipe binder forever.  It proved to be a very good Kim chi

Kim Chi is Korean.  It is said to have originated over 3000 years ago.  In an area too cold in the winter for fresh vegetable this was a viable way to preserve the nutrients and health benefits of vegetables to consume during the harsh winter months.  There are over 200 types of Kim chi.  Some are made strictly of cabbage, others a mix of vegetables, greens and root crops alike.  The flavor can be described as spicy, salty and slightly tangy depending on the ingredients and depth of fermentation.  Kept at room temperature it can be eaten for up to one week after opening.  If refrigerated it can last 3-6 months.

I made mine on a Monday and we ate it on pizza on a Saturday.

A man introduced himself to me at the snaked dining table we set up in Chinatown.  He told me his wife is Korean and he, therefore, has a deep fondness for Kim chi.  He asked me where I had gotten the Kim chi.  I nervously told him I had made it.  He said it was some of the best he had eaten.  And on pizza, he said, what a surprise.