WILD GARLIC KIMCHI

Wild Garlic Kimchi

This is a great way to preserve all the lovely wild garlic. You can make it as hot as you like by adding more chilli flakes. The Korean chilli flakes are called gochugaru, they also come in powder form and are very hot! I am a chilli wimp and  can't deal with spicy food at all so I only add one tablespoon of chilli flakes!  I was advising my  lovely friend Sumayya Usmani   on  some ferments for an event she is organising, so Iet her   decide how spicy  she wanted it! It was way spicier than I could eat but she is an expert with spices  and the joy of making your own is you can  adjust flavourings and spices to suit your taste!
This is a fast ferment, around 7 days, so not too long before you can eat it!

Ingredients

• A carrier bag full of wild garlic ( about 800g to 1kg roughly)
• 1 to 2 tablespoons grated ginger
• 1 to 3 tablespoons chilli flakes, depending how hot you like it
• 1 tablespoon sea salt or himalyan salt
• 1 daikon/ mooli grated
• 2 medium carrots, grated
• 1 or 2 tablespoons seaweed flakes (optional)

Method

1. Simply wash and roughly chop the wild garlic leaves and stems.
2. Keep any unopened buds, you can ferment separately in 2% brine (20g sea salt dissolved in 1 litre filtered water)
3. Transfer wild garlic to a large bowl or plastic basin, sprinkle in salt, leave for 30 mins to an hour.
4. Massage and squeeze the wild garlic until brine starts to pool at the bottom of the bowl.
5. Add the chilli flakes, grated ginger, grated carrot and daikon and give it another good mix.
6. Pack the mixture into a large glass mason jar or 2 smaller jars. Press it down firmly.
7. Top with water filled ziplock bag to keep oxygen out & keep veggies submerged under the brine
8. Put lid on loosely, set aside to ferment for 5 to 7 days. Taste it after 5 days, decide whether it tastes sour enough. It’s a matter of personal taste so just keep trying it until you like it!
9. Once you are happy with the flavour you can store the kimchi in the fridge where the flavour will deepen and it will keep happily for months, if it lasts that long!!