DAD’S KIMCHI

Makes 1 quart

 1 small head cabbage finely shredded, about 1 1/2 pounds before trimming
 1 tablespoon fine sea salt
 2 teaspoons fish sauce
 1/4 cup whey from making yogurt, optional
 4 red radishes, trimmed and quartered
 3 scallions, chopped
 5 garlic cloves, finely chopped
 1 tablespoon grated peeled ginger
 2 tablespoons hot sauce (page 81), or you can use any heat source you prefer: Tabasco, sriracha
sauce, chopped jalapenos, supermarket red pepper flakes, kochukaru, etc.)
 1 cup applesauce or 1 apple, peeled and grated (unconventional but good)

1. Mix all the ingredients in a bowl with your hands, massaging the salt into the cabbage. Let sit,
covered, at room temperature for 1 hour.
2. Pack the kimchi into a glass quart jar. Find a smaller jar that will fit inside the rim of the quart jar
—a jelly jar, for instance—and fill it with water. Cap it tightly. Place it on top of the cabbage and
press down so the juices are forced up and over the vegetables. Cover the whole contraption
with a clean apron or T-shirt and tie tightly around the middle. You want the kimchi able to
breathe, but inaccessible to flies.
3. Let the kimchi ferment at room temperature for 3 to 5 days, tasting daily. When you like the
flavor, dismantle the contraption, cap the jar, and store in the refrigerator.