Ingredients
Sea salt
1 pound Chinese cabbage (napa or bok choy)
1 daikon radish or a handful of red radishes
2 whole carrots
1 whole onions
1 leek
Scallions
10 cloves of garlic (minced)
Dried red chili flakes
3 tablespoons fresh grated gingerroot
4 tablespoons brown rice flour (or alternative)
Water
This yields 1 quart of kimchi.
Instructions
Mix a brine of 4 cups water and 4 tablespoons of salt. The brine should taste good and salty.
Coarsely chop the cabbage, slice the radish and carrots (and/or any additional vegetables), and add the veggies to the brine. Let the vegetables soak in the brine, covered by a plate or other weight to keep the vegetables submerged until soft, for at least a few hours, but overnight is even better.
Prepare the spices: In a pot heat ½ a cup of water with 4 tablespoons (more if needed) of brown rice flour. Heat on medium constantly stirring till you get a medium-thick paste. Cool the paste and then add the red chili flakes, grated ginger, minced garlic, and onion. Mix well. You can add fish sauce to the spice paste (just make sure it has no chemical preservatives that function to inhibit microorganisms), shrimp flakes, or other spices as well.
Drain the brine of vegetables after soaking. Reserve the brine. Taste the vegetables for saltiness. If they are too salty, rinse them. If you cannot taste the salt, sprinkle a couple of teaspoons and mix.
Mix the vegetables with the cooled spice paste. Mix everything well and then pack it into a clean quart-sized jar. Pack it, pressing down until the brine rises over the vegetables. If necessary, add a little of the reserved vegetable soaking brine to the submerged vegetables. Put a weight in the jar to keep the veggies submerged under the brine or, if you remember, you can just push them down with your fingers daily. Cover with a lid and put in a cool dark place to ferment. Ferment for at least one week and enjoy!