http://www.lifeinkorea.com/Culture/kimchi/kimchi.cfm?xURL=making
Kimchi-Making Event (Gimjang)
Kimjang (
Kimchi-making) usually started in late October or early November and lasted for 2 or 3 days with help from many people. The number of cabbages prepared depended on the number of household members, usually between 100 and 200 cabbages. Considering the number of cabbages and amount of preparation for
Kimjang, it was not a job for just 1 or 2 persons. People considered it as a major annual event, so close relatives, several neighbor housewives, and a few strong men all pitched in and worked together. People who participated in
Kimjang helped wash cabbages, prepared materials, and stuffed ingredients inside each cabbage leaf.
The task usually lasted all day for 2-3 days, so the hostess treated each person to a big lunch every day. After the
kimchi-making was done, she also gave some of the
kimchi to the participants. When one of the other participants was ready to do their own
Kimjang, all of members get together again to help her out. In this way, everyone finished their
kimchi-making with help from everyone else. Although the event has grown less important in recent years due to changes in life styles and family size, it was great fun to enjoy the warm heart of neighbors and relatives in times past.
Materials
5 cabbages, 2 radishes, 5 cloves of garlics, 5 cups of thick salt, 4 green onions, 1 bundle of dropwort. 3 ginger roots, 300g of mustard leaves, 1/2 cup of fish paste, 2 cups of red chili pepper, 1 cup of sticky rice paste, 2 cups of sugar, 2 cups of oysters
Recipe
- After cleaning the cabbages, cut them into 2 or 4 pieces.
- Prepare salted water with a ratio of 2.5 cups of salt to 10 cups of water, then soak the cabbages in it for 6-8 hours.
- Rinse the soaked cabbages in running water 3 times and then wait for them to dry a bit.
- Cut dropwort, green onions, and radishes into lengths of 5 cm, then chop the garlic and ginger.
- Prepare fish paste and add red chili pepper to it with sticky rice paste.
- Wash oysters in salt water.
- Mix the ingredients from steps 4, 5, and 6.
- Put the mixture inside of each leaf then store in a kimchi pot. On the top, cover cabbage with a leaf and sprinkle some salt. Then place a heavy stone on top to compress it.
