Kimchi

This recipe makes about 12 cups

Directions:

1. Cut the end off the napa cabbage in half the long way, take each half, and cut that long way again.  Take each ¼ and cut into 1” pieces. Repeat for both cabbages and add to a large mixing bowl
2. Cover the cabbage with at least ½ cup of kosher salt and massage, squeeze, and mix the salt thoroughly into the cabbage (this will pull the moisture out for fermentation) Let this sit for 1 to 1 ½ hours
3. Dice green onions into ½” pieces and julienne carrots to garnish style strips 1-2” long
4. Dice daikon radish into large julienne style garnish 1-2” similar to carrots
5. To make the paste, peel the ginger root and slice into smaller pieces, and add to a food processor.  Add cloves of garlic, quartered pears or apples and fish sauce and blend to smooth.
6. Transfer to a bowl and mix in pepper flakes (this can get extremely hot!)
7. After the cabbage has had time to sit, transfer to a colander and rinse most or all of the salt off.  This may require some mixing while rinsing
8. Mix all ingredients and paste together in a large bowl
9. Using the Food Funnel, add the mixture to a mason jar and compact down ingredients so all are submerged in liquid.  
10. Cap loosely to allow air to escape and let sit for 4-7 days at room temperature. (taste at 4 days to check flavor preference)
11. When it's to your taste preference, screw the lid completely on to stop fermentation.  This will store in the mason jar refrigerated for several months as is until freeze drying.
12. Add parchment paper to trays
13. Add Kimchi to your trays
14. Pre Freeze when possible
15. Freeze dry (my cycle time was 39  hours)
16. Store in jars for short-term use or in mylar bags for long-term storage

Rehydration:

We recommend rehydrating an entire tray.  Add one tray or about 6-8 cups of freeze-dried kimchi to a large mason jar and add 3-3 ½  cups of water.  Rotate the jar frequently over the next 10-20 minutes until rehydrated

Nutritional Value Per 1 cup pre-freeze-dried

Calories 77   Carbohydrates 17 g   Protein 3 g   Fat 0 g   Fiber 4  g   Sugar 8 g

Cycle times & rehydration for reference only. Your results may vary.