Winter red kimchi brought me full circle from 1970 to the present. While in college I watched my Vietnamese neighbor bury things in her yard, sometimes for a few days and sometimes a week or more. We couldn’t communicate because she didn’t speak English and I didn’t speak Vietnamese, but her husband, a war veteran told me she was making kimchi.

Kimchi is closest to our southern coleslaw. It utilizes the natural moisture of the vegetables and a little fish sauce instead of mayonnaise for the binder. Mother nature takes over and fermentation creates the tangy delicious flavor.

What I Learned

This is my first experience fermenting anything other than sour mash and therefore a little scary. It introduced me to gochugaru, a Korean chili pepper flake. I found them intoxicatingly delicious, mild, sweet and spicy, but not overpowering.

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Complications, Missteps and Mistakes

Warning: This recipe creates a boatload of kimchi! I severely underestimated the sheer volume of ingredients and had to upsize the bowls mid-stream to avoid spilling everything, everywhere. That and hand grating the carrots made it harder than it needed to be. I will avoid both mistakes next time!

How to Enjoy Winter Red Kimchi

This is a great side for many dishes. Roasted pork, fried chicken or any marinated grilled meat pairs perfectly. I ate a lot while dieting by itself and found it filling and satisfying in every way.

And The Verdict Is…

A delicious and easy to prepare recipe that I recreated closely to his original. Ed includes three other kimchi recipes for spring, summer and fall in his book and I can’t wait to try them.