Our favourite Ban Chan Recipes

Besides kimchi there are 2 side dishes which we particularly like

Seaweed salad:

First I make a salad dressing with rice vinegar, sesame oil, 1 clove garlic, salt, sugar, soy sauce, sesame seeds and some finely diced white onion.

Soak the seaweed as directed on the package, lucky is the one who can buy fresh seaweed. Mix with the dressing and let sit for a while before serving.
Very good and very healthy!



Steamed eggplant with dressing:

Wash your eggplant and cut into half down the middle, then cut into quarters.
Steam for about 10-12 minutes, don't let it get too mushy. Tear the eggplant into strips so that they soak the dressing better.
Make the same dresing as for the seaweed salad but wih more garlic and toss the steamed eggplant strips.
Very good, even for those who don't like eggplant such as myself. This works with zucchini too, not traditional but delicious the same.

Our Kimchi recipes

So there must be like a million kimchi recipes out there, I don't think any is "the right one" but we found out how we like it best.
Normally Tom makes our napa kimchi and I make the daikon or cucumber kimchi, so I will post what I remember from T's recipe.

First you need to brine the cabbage. Some people use the whole cabbage leaves, some cut them up. We found out that if you cut them up, it soaks up more of the sauce and starts fermenting a little faster.
You also need a large jar that you can seal airtight.

This recipe is for one medium-sized chinese cabbage.

Brine the cabbage by soaking for at least one hour in water so salty that it "tastes like sea water". Now thoroughly rinse the cabbage and let all the water drain.
Meanwhile, we make our paste:

1/2 cup of coarse ground chili powder or flakes (the redder the better)
6-8 cloves of garlic
5-6 tablespoons of finely grated ginger
oyster sauce or fish sauce, a dash (this is optional, but gives an authentic flavour)
sugar, about a teaspoon
salt, about a teaspoon

optional:
spring onions/red onions/white (sweet) onions
sesame seeds

Mix the paste ingredients in a blender, adding a little water if needed.
Best to use your hands to spread the paste all over the cabbage, then put it in an airtight container. If you want to make kimchi on whole cabbage leaves, you will have to spread the paste in between the leaves and rub it in a little.
Don't seal the container yet, but leave it out, unrefridgerated for about an hour to jumpstart the fermentation process. Afterwards, you can close it and put it in the fridge.
Do not open for at least 3 days except for letting out a tiny little bit of air to avoid pressure buiding up! The longer it ferments, the better. Keep away from sunlight and warmth!

Daikon kimchi(Ggaktugi):

This is for a relatively large daikon, about the size of my lower arm. (Sorry, couldn't think of another comparison!)
Cut up the daikon into cubes and salt vigorously. Put aside for about 30 minutes and then rinse in plenty of running water and drain.

Our paste consists of:
3-4 tablespoons of chili powder
4-6 cloves of garlic
1/2 sweet onion (white)
4-6 tablespoons of finely grated ginger
2 tablespoons of shrimp paste (optional: fish sauce)
sugar
salt

optional:
spring onions
chives

Again, mix all ingredients in blender, adding water when necessary.
Mix onto the drained daikon cubes and refridgerate, you can eat it a few hours later already. You can keep this for 2-3 weeks and it will still be good although the taste will intensify.

Stuffed Cucumber Kimchi (Oikimchi):

6 small cucumbers

spring onions
1 small daikon
4 cloves of garlic
1/2 white onion
4 tablespoons coarsely ground chili powder
2 tablespoons freshly grated ginger
shrimp paste
1 teaspoon sugar

Blend the garlic, onion, chili powder, sugar and shrimp paste adding water if necessary. Grate the ginger and daikon and mix it with the chili blend. Let that sit for about 20 minutes. Meanwhile, cut cucumbers in half across the middle.
Slice the cucumber sections in half lengthwise, leaving the last 1/4 inch uncut.
Turn the cucumber section half way and repeat.
Lightly salt the inside surfaces and let stand for at least twenty minutes. Rinse, drain, and place in a large mixing bowl.
Now stuff the cucumbers with the daikon-chili filling and pour the remaining juices over the cucumbers. Seal tightly.
This can be eaten after about 2 hours and will stay good for about 3 days.

For my cucumber kimchi, I cut a medium sized cucumber in half across the middle and then slice horizontally almost all the way to the end. Now slice. Now prepare the same way as the daikon kimchi and let sit for about an hour before eating. These are better eaten fresh because the cucumbers get soggy after a while.

My Gazpacho recipe

Ok, here is a gazpacho recipe which the kids really like. Now, the real spanish gazpacho is made with bread, usually stale bread but I just put normal toast bread in, it tastes the same to me.

for 4 people:

Gazpacho

3 cans whole tomatoes. Or if it's cheaper, buy about 10-12 whole tomatoes & freeze them so they're easier to peel.
2-3 cucumbers
2 red peppers
2 slices of toast bread, or any other mild tasting bread
1 small white onion, the sweet kind, or about a quarter of a real onion
1 garlic clove
olive oil
balsamico (if you have some, if not, normal vinegar tastes fine too)
salt n spices
sugar as needed
2 trays of ice cubes

It's best if you make it a good 4-6 hours in advance, although fresh is fine too.

Peel the cucumbers, cut up the peppers and and add the tomatoes, onion and garlic.

Blend everything up, if you're using whole tomatoes add a little cold water. Now I throw in the bread and let it soak a little, then I blend it up too. Spice as you like, I put about a tablespoon of olive oil and a dash of balsamico along with maybe a tablespoon of sugar and salt. The sugar gives the tomatoes a nice taste and brings out all the juices. If I have fresh marjoram or parsley, I throw that in as well. Once everything is blended, I put the ice cubes in and store my gazpacho in the refridgerator till serving. Be sure to taste before you serve though, in case you put too many ice cubes in and the taste has faded.

We eat it for lunch on a hot day, along with cold chicken legs or cold hamburgers.
Tip: make the evening before, it tastes best the next day.
















It's fast, it's filling, it's cold, has lots of vitamin C and is a really healthy light meal.

If you have time and ganas, you can fry up little bread cubes (croutons) and use them instead of the toast bread. Also, a dash of tabasco if kids won't be eating it tastes great. If you're wanting to lose weight, skip the bread and add some celery. Yummy!