Why does this make me so happy? My first batch of kimchi is a success. I am now a kimchi maker! (Perhaps I will add this skill to my resume when I dust off the cobwebs soon...)
(Napa cabbage + bok choi + daikon + radish greens + carrots + green onions + jalepeno + garlic + ginger + aleppo pepper) soaked in salt overnight and drained x 5 days in the Harsch crock = WOW!
It tastes clean and bright -- spicy hot enough but not burning hot. You can taste each of the ingredients and then appreciate how they work together. I am so proud. And I'm delighted to learn to make something with a shorter production time in the crock. If I run out of kraut, I can make a batch of kimchi (healthful, too) and have the crock ready for a round of pickles whenever the cucumbers are ready. (I was feeling panicky about having kraut going in there when the cucumbers were ready, and last time the kraut just needed another three weeks and it turned out wonderfully, but it was winter, and I could wait... Now I think I won't get another crock just yet.)
Today was a good day. D stayed home. E stayed home, too, because she has a cold (boo!). The fish came. We all had time in the garden. We went to Concentrates to pick up our back-ordered supply of organic compost. Taylor's package of special super-duper muscle rub arrived! It was my birthday, and E made me a collage, and D gave me a two-hour foot rub while we watched a movie. And the kimchi turned out!
