Team Kimchi

Fourteen people gathered on Saturday in our kitchen to make kimchi, the Korean dish of cabbage, peppers, ginger and garlic; a smelly, spicy fermented superfood reputed to repel colds, infections and other assorted health downers.

Our group, a Resilience Team that has been together since 2010 under the mantra of "Share~Save~Support," has work-partied together numerous times – picking apples, harvesting pecans, canning peaches, learning how to use a marine battery for backup power, even making sausage – along with sharing seeds, plants and fruits, and showing each other support in a thousand ways. Never, however, have we attempted to make kimchi as a group.

We planned our escapade using Sandor Katz’s recipe from wild fermentation, purchasing our ingredients in bulk from the Farmer’s Market, and receiving a nice discount in return for ordering in advance. The members of the group assembled at 4 p.m. ready to slice, dice, and drink wine (after numerous large sharp and serrated knives were safely put away).

Controlled chaos ensued, building to a fever pitch as we hauled out a 5-gallon brewing bucket and donned latex gloves to mix the jalapeno-ginger-garlic paste into the napa cabbage-carrot-daikon radish base. By 8:30 p.m., after just a little work, some dice and cards, and a potluck, each participant had several jars of kimchi to take home, with a helping of juniper-berry sauerkraut promised from one family who created a batch while all others were pursuing our kimchi-making dreams.

Today, the distinctive kimchi odor is already in evidence as the fermentation bubbles along on my countertop. We were perhaps a bit too diligent in rinsing the salty brine out of our kimchi, and so as I pushed the veggies back into the brine I also added a bit of salt. The kimchi should be fermented to my taste in about a week.  After that, I’m looking forward to a winter of addictive kimchi taste adventures, as well as many more work parties and other escapades with our team of resilience-pursuing friends.