Kimchi- First Thing Canned from the Garden!

 The weather has been kind of odd this year, a little cooler and a lot more rain than normal. But then you'll have crazy days where it's in the 90's! It's been hard to get a handle on. The good news is, I was able to harvest some chinese cabbage about 3 weeks ago. Many years it bolts and I do not get as much, but it grew quite nice this year.

I found a lot of different recipes and as usual for me, I kind of created my own recipe using the parts I liked the most from each. The only thing you have to be careful of is acid content and sugar and fat content if you are canning. I followed the fermentation guides and hot water bath canning guides and it looks like everything came together pretty well.

My Recipe for Kimchi

The following ingredients are layered with salt (Approximately 2 cups of Kosher or Sea Salt)  and soaked in cold water for 24 hours.

6 small heads of Chinese Cabbage (chopped into 1 inch pieces)

3 Baby Bok Choy (chopped)

1 1/2 cups of Carrots (cut up, thin)

1 bunch of spring onions

 Rinse the vegetables.

The following ingredients are put into a food processor or blender until smooth to make a sauce.

2 1/2 inches of fresh Ginger grated

1 head of Garlic (peeled, and minced)

1 large White or Yellow Onion

1 Pear cut up

8 oz jar of Chili Garlic Sauce

Mix the sauce in with the vegetables until everything is coated. Pack down into a clean crock.Seal the top of the crock with a plastic wrap. Then cover with a kitchen towel and tie in place. Place the crock in an area that stays a pretty consistent
temperature, but not too warm.



I let the Kimchi ferment in the crock for 3 weeks. I uncovered the crock, tasted a piece and found it to still have crunch, a nice combination of salty and spicy.


Next, I heated the Kimchi in a pot on the stove while I prepared my jars and my water bath canner. I packed the jars hot and put them in the hot bath to process for 20 minutes. I was able to can 10 half pint jars and 1 pint jar.