There are a lot of websites and books about making Kimchi. So why am I adding my two cents worth?

Mainly because a lot of the places I have looked for information were written by folks who have done Kimchi all their lives, and don’t quite understand the fear and trepidation felt by the average Westerner, who likely believes that if you leave anything out of the fridge for more than an hour it will instantly kill you if you eat it.

Koreans eat Kimchi for breakfast, lunch and dinner. They often have a pot of it fermenting out on the porch, and a special refrigerator just to keep the Kimchi stock. When I told one Korean woman how much I appreciated “probiotic vegetables” she screwed up her face and laughed. “That makes it sound so weird!” she said.

On the other hand, most Americans live in great fear of bacteria. We’ve been told that food should never stay at room temperature: “Keep hot food hot, and cold food cold!” is the mantra. Most of us have had food poisoning once or twice, so the mantra seems reasonable enough. We know you can die from botulism, which is caused by anaerobic bacteria growing in home-canned jars. We know you are not supposed to eat anything in a jar if gas escapes when you open the lid. So the concept of purposefully putting raw cabbage in a jar and eating it when it is fizzy with gas seems rather suicidal!

The problem is, that Kimchi is not at all suicidal, nor even dangerous. It is a lot safer than home-canned food (which does in fact get botulism easily). Kimchi is amazingly healthy for you. I’ve had ongoing digestive problems from undiagnosed gluten intolerance, and my “Kimchi diet” has pretty much done away with any lingering symptoms*. Kimchi has a lot going for it:

• The probiotic bacteria in Kimchi will help kill off any bad bacteria and yeast that are colonizing your intestine.

• Kimchi is full of enzymes that help digest a meal.

• If you use garlic, red pepper, and ginger, those spices are also digestive aids and help with general health.

• All those good vegetables you use in Kimchi are uncooked, so they retain more of their vitamins and minerals. In addition, the bacteria create vitamins during the fermentation process.

Once I started eating Kimchi with my meals, I noticed that when I ate a meal without Kimchi, the meal would sit heavy and undigested in my stomach. So I would find myself running to get a dish of Kimchi. Instantly, I felt great! I have no idea what causes this reaction, but I’ve been told the same story by a number of other people. It may be that Kimchi causes the acid to secrete more digestive enzymes or digestive acid.

* Note that eating Kimchi does NOT mean you can eat gluten, or casein, if you are intolerant to them! But it will help heal your gut from lingering damage.

 

But, you might say, what if I do it wrong? Isn’t it still dangerous to make?

I asked myself the same question, and did some research. I asked some Koreans if they ever got sick from “bad Kimchi” and they looked at me like I was crazy. I did searches for botulism from Kimchi. As near as I can tell, making Kimchi is really a safe bet. It might be possible to get the wrong mix of bacteria in the batch, but if that happens, it is likely to smell very, very bad, or get moldy or slimy. If the correct bacteria grow, then the mix will get quite acidic, and the combination of acid plus live lacto bacilli is pretty deadly to any bad bacteria. In fact, if you eat Kimchi with a meal, you are more likely to fight off bad bacteria that may be in the meal, making it less likely you will get food poisoning.

The tricks to getting the good bacteria to grow have been learned by Kimchi and Kraut makers over the past thousand years or so, and verified by microbiologists. The secrets are:

• Salt. Salt is the main ingredient in lacto-fermentation that gets the right bacteria to grow. You need just the right amount. Lacto-bacteria don’t mind a little salt, so a little salt will let them grow and inhibit the rest. Too much salt though, and no bacteria will grow. Salt also helps prevent mold.

• Acid. Lacto-bacilli don’t mind acid at all, and they secrete a lot of it. Adding a little acid (Kimchi juice from the last batch, or vinegar) will help ensure success. Acid kills mold too. The Koreans do not traditionally add any acid though, and they have good success: I use it for insurance.

• Good bacteria. Cabbage happens to contain the right bacteria, living in the cabbage. So do some other vegetables, but cabbage seems reliable in this respect. Adding some Kimchi juice from the last batch is another way to ensure there are enough good bacteria present to drown out any bad ones. Also, even though lacto-bacilli are all over the place, some of them create a tastier product than others, and the ones in cabbage have a good flavor.

If you follow the recipe given here, it is very likely your Kimchi will turn out fine on the first try. Actually I’ve never had this kind of fermented vegie not work -- I had a batch of beets once, with no cabbage, that got some mold on it, but that was the worst. However, to be on the safe side, always smell the product before you eat it. If it smells bad, don’t taste it!

 

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