Yulmoo Kimchi

I used to buy my kimchi, up until my friend's sister found a big grasshopper looking bug in her store-bought kimchi.  After that I couldn't get myself to buy it anymore.  And I don't actually eat kimchi all that much but on occasion I do get a craving for it, and my mother is 200+ miles away so...

If you haven't made kimchi before, don't be intimidated!  I don't buy a whole crate of cabbage to produce 8 gallons jars at a time like my mom.  There was a sale on yulmoo (young radish) -- 2 bunches of $1, so I bought 3 bunches and it produced almost a 1/2 gallon jar and a 1 quart jar.  And I did it all with the help of my toddler while my infant was napping....which means, it's totally doable : )

Ingredients: (these are all approximations and should be adjusted to suit your taste.  I tried to make it not too spicy for my toddler who loves kimchi)

3 bunches of yulmoo (young radish)
1/4 c. coarse sea salt
3 T. kochukaru (Korean chili powder)
3 T. special puree*
1 T. sugar
* Puree 2 heads of garlic, 2" piece of peeled ginger, 3 T. of brined shrimp and 1/4 c. of water in a blender/food processor.  You can keep this on hand in the freezer for each time you make kimchi. 

PART 1: Prep time-20 minutes
1. Peel the radish portion and halve
2. Cut the greens about 3" long
3. Toss the yulmoo in a big bowl of cold water and agitate with your hands.  Allow any dirt to fall to the bottom of the water and skim out the radish & greens.  Repeat until no traces of dirt remain.
4. Toss the yulmoo in a big bowl with 1/4 cup of coarse sea salt dissolved in 2 cup of water.  (Tip: taste the salt water.  It should taste as salty as you want your kimchi to be.  Remember high school Biology?  Diffusion.)
5. Leave sitting in a cool place until greens are wilted and salty enough.  For me, I waited 6 hours until I had another bit of time.  (Tip: everytime you walk by the kitchen, give it a quick toss)
 

After salting

 

After 6 hours

 PART 2: Prep time 20 minutes
1. Drain the yulmoo, leaving about 1 cup of liquid (the yulmoo will have wilted and leached out quite a bit of liquid). 
2. Add kochugaru, prepared pureed mixture, sugar
3. Taste and adjust to your liking
4. Put into glass jars with the liquid and pack it down into the liquid.  (Tip: if there isn't enough liquid, mix up a little salt water with the same spice mix and pour it over the yulmoo)
5. Leave in a cool place to ripen for 2 days and then place into the fridge.

Be sure to use gloves!

Enjoy!