Homemade KIMCHI

Last year, I made a post on Korean Noodles that are becoming more and more popular in the Philippines brought about by what many coined as the "Korean Invasion" of our country. Now, to continue this Korean culinary saga; I'm making another post on the most popular Korean dish - Kimchi. Kimchi is known to be the must side dish of any Korean meal. No Korean meal will be complete without it. I have a Korean colleague who can attest to that. Kimchi is a fermented type of dish that is usually made of vegetables. The most common of which is Napa or Chinese Cabbage. It maybe the best craved appetizer by the Koreans but for a Filipino palate, liking this dish might be very selective. It's actually one of those aquired tastes. I, for one, was initially not a fan of this dish. I had a chance to experience its authenticity in my first visit to Seoul. Apparently, I found the taste very foreign at that time. Eventually, because of culinary fusions happening everywhere and the opportunity of working with foreign migrants (koreans in particular), the kimchi note became a household flavor. It was not surprising then, that one of my local colleagues can now make Kimchi like a pro. I watched her prepare one time and she generously shared her well labored recipe. From her fermenting bins to yours, here's a homemade Kimchi recipe to delight into. Ingredients: 1 kg chinese cabbage, cut into halves vertically
90 g Korean raddish, cut into strips
24 g onion leeks, cut into strips
200 g rock salt
1.1 kg water
20 g malagkit powder (rice flour), cooked in 300 ml water
25 g garlic, finely chopped
64 ml fermented Korean fish sauce
70 g red pepper powder
6 g ginger, finely chopped
sugar to taste

Procedure:
1. Cut chinese cabbage into halves, do not wash.
2. Put rock salt in between the leaves. Soak in water for 3 hours (more salt means faster soaking time). Wash in running water after soaking.
3. Cook malagkit powder (rice flour) with continuous stirring. It's done when it starts to boil. Allow to cool.
4. Put malagkit paste in a mixing bowl. Add red pepper powder, fish sauce, raddish, onion leeks, ginger, garlic and sugar. Mix well (this is your Kimchi paste).
5. Spread Kimchi paste into individual leaves (make sure all leaves are coated). Fold and seal using the outermost leaf to avoid any spillage.
6. Put the leaves in tightly sealed containers and store in the refrigerator overnight. Continue storage in an ambient condition for 3 more days. On the 4th day it's ready to be consumed.