Vegetarian and vegan kimchi (Chaesik-kimchi: 채식김치)

• servings: 4 pounds
• active time: 2 hours
• total time: 2 hours 36 minutes

Ingredients

3 pounds napa cabbage

9 tablespoons kosher salt

2 tablespoons chapssalgaru (glutinous rice flour, aka sweet rice flour)

1⅓ cup vegetable stock

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon sugar

9 garlic cloves

1 teaspoon peeled ginger

1 medium onion, cut into chunks

1 cup gochu-garu (Korean hot pepper flakes)

6 ounces Korean radish, cut into matchsticks (about 1 cup), or daikon

3 ounces buchu (Asian chives, aka garlic chives), chopped (optional)

6 green onions, sliced diagonally

2 ounces carrot matchsticks (about ¼ cup)

Directions

Cut the cabbage lengthwise into quarters. Cut away the core of each quarter.

Cut the leaves crosswise into 1-to-1½ inch bite size pieces. Transfer to a large bowl.

Toss with 6 tablespoons of the salt and 1 cup water.

Let stand for 2 hours, tossing the cabbage every 30 minutes to salt evenly.

Combine the glutinous rice flour and 1 cup of the vegetable stock in a small saucepan and place over medium high heat.

Stir until the mixture begins to bubble, 2 to 3 minutes. Add 1 tablespoon of the sugar and stir until the mixture is slightly translucent, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool thoroughly.

Put the cooled porridge, the remaining ⅓ cup vegetable stock, the remaining 3 tablespoons salt, the remaining 1 teaspoon sugar, garlic, ginger, and onion in a food processor and process to a puree.

Transfer the puree to a medium bowl.

Add the gochu-garu (hot pepper flakes) and mix it well. Set aside.

Rinse the cabbage 3 to 4 times with cold running water to remove any dirt and excess salt. Drain well.

Well dry a large bowl with kitchen cloth.

Add the cabbage, radish matchsticks, green onion, chives (if used), and carrot. Add the kimchi paste and mix all together by hand (wear disposable gloves if you like).

Transfer to an airtight container or glass jars. Press down the on the kimchi so it’s well packed and no air can get inside, then put the lid on the container.

You can serve the kimchi right away, sprinkled with sesame seeds. Or you can let the kimchi ferment. It takes about 2 weeks to ferment in the refrigerator; for faster fermenting, leave it at room temperature for 1 to 2 days, depending on the warmth of your kitchen, until the kimchi smells and tastes sour.

Once the kimchi is fermented, store in the refrigerator until it runs out. After 2 weeks, the kimchi will have fermented nicely, and it will continue to ferment and become more sour as time goes one. It never goes bad and you can enjoy it at every stage.

Whenever you take some kimchi out of the container, be sure to press down on the remaining kimchi with a spoon to prevent it from being exposed to air.