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Black Pepper Nightshade-Free Kimchi

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Prep Time 1 hr
Course Appetizer, Side Dish
Cuisine American Korean Fusion

Equipment

  • Gallon jar with or without airlock or a 2 quart jar (I use a giant pickle jar for this)
  • fermenting weight(s)
  • Large Bowl
  • Cutting Board & Knife or Food Processor

Ingredients
  

  • 1 Napa Cabbage quartered and chopped
  • 1/2 onion quartered
  • 1 bunch green onions chopped into 1″ pieces
  • 2-3 ″ piece of ginger
  • 3 Tbsp Himalayan Pink Salt divided
  • 3-4 purple carrots peeled and rinsed
  • 1 3-4" length daikon radish about 1 cup sliced
  • 1 large green apple diced
  • 1 Tbsp Coconut Aminos
  • 1/4 cup water to puree apple, ginger & onion
  • 1 Tbsp black pepper
  • 1-2 Tbsp sichuan/sechuan peppercorns
  • 1 tsp turmeric optional: looks gross until the purple carrots bleed into the rest of the jar

Instructions
 

  • Sanitize a large 68oz jar or two roughly 2 liter jars and fermenting weights in the oven at 180ºF for 5 minutes.
  • Wash and quarter cabbage lengthwise, then chop to desired length. Thicker is more authentic (about 1 inch), but I chopped mine to about a half inch. Place in a large bowl, toss with 2 Tablespoons kosher salt and set aside for at least 30 minutes to an hour for it to begin to ferment.
  • Slice the radish in sticks and set aside.
  • Peel and slice the carrots in rounds or sticks and set aside.
  • Halve the onion and quarter it, reserving for the blender.
  • Chop the tops off the green onions/scallions and cut off the whites. Reserve the whites for the paste and chop the greens in one inch sections.
  • Quarter or dice the apple so the blender can handle it.
  • Chop the Ginger a bit and combine with the apple, onion scallion whites, sichuan peppercorns, black peppercorns, 1 Tbsp pink salt and optional turmeric in the blender with the water and coconut aminos. Blend until smooth.
  • Rinse the cabbage, drain and then add all the ingredients to the large bowl and toss together.
  • Carefully scoop the mixture into the sanitized jars and beat down with a wooden spoon or french rolling pin until you have at least 2″ space at the top. There is an actual tool for this but as I try my best to be minimalist I use what I have. Now don’t freak out! You don’t need brine for this one as it ferments better in its own juices and the salt. Really. Set the fermenting weights or a ziplock full of water (sealed) and close the lid.
  • Leave for a week or so to culture fully.

Notes

Once fully fermented, I transfer this to smaller jars for fridge storage.
Keyword aip, kimchi, nightshade-free