Green onion kimchi

Today I have a new kimchi for you, made with green onions! It’s called Pa-kimchi (파김치) in Korean or you can call it green onion kimchi! Pa-kimchi is very aromatic, strong, spicy, crispy and much easier to make than traditional Korean baechu kimchi (napa cabbage kimchi). You make it with the whole green onion, both the white and green parts. Compared to napa cabbage kimchi, making pa-kimchi is so easy because you don’t need many ingredients. You won’t need the garlic, ginger, radish, and chives essential for making cabbage kimchi.

The green onions used for pa-kimchi in Korea are thin and long and usually sold in huge bunches. After mixing with kimchi paste, I sometimes made a bundle with a few green onions and stacked them up in my kimchi container. So when I served them, I just took out one bundle and put it on a plate or bowl. But when I was busy, I used to store all the tangled green onion kimchi together in an airtight container. Pa-kimchi is a big deal in Korea and we eat it all the time. South Jeolla province, where I am from, is well known for its spicy and pungent green onion kimchi.

Here in America the onions are thicker and usually trimmed, and sold in smaller bunches, so I needed to adapt my way of making pa-kimchi.

Are you ready to make pa-kimchi now? If so, these are some tips for you.

1. The green onion roots you chop off are good for making stock. You can add them to your anchovy kelp stock or vegetable stock.
2. When you finish eating, you may have some leftover kimchi paste. You can add it to your kimchi bokkeumbap, kimchi stew, kimchi soup, or kimchi pancake to enhance the flavor.
3. If you are vegetarian, substitute soup soy sauce for fish sauce.

Ingredients

• 3 pounds green onions, roots trimmed
• 1 cup fish sauce
• ¼ cup glutinous rice flour (aka “sweet rice flour”)
• 2 tablespoons white or brown sugar
• 1½ cup gochugaru (Korean hot pepper flakes)
  

Directions

Prepare onions

1. Cut off the roots of green onions.  Remove any tough outer layers of green onions and discard. Cut them into halves crosswise. Wash the green onions in a couple changes of cold water. Drain and put them in a large bowl.
2. Mix with the fish sauce with both hands.
3. Let stand for 1 hour, turning over every 20 minutes to salt evenly.

Prepare paste

1. Meanwhile, combine the glutinous rice flour and 3 cups water in a saucepan. Mix it well. Place over medium high heat and stir until the mixture begins to bubble, 4 to 5 minutes.
2. Add the sugar and stir for another minute, until the paste looks slightly translucent.
3. Remove from the heat and let cool thoroughly.

Make kimchi

1. Transfer the salted green onions to a large bowl by hand and reserve the mixture of fish sauce.
2. Scrape the cooled porridge into the bowl with the fish sauce mixture. Add the hot pepper flakes and mix well with a wooden spoon. Let it sit for 30 minutes until the hot pepper flakes are soaked in the mixture and the paste thickens a little.
3. Add the green onions and gently toss and mix together by hand (wear disposable gloves if you like).
4. Transfer to an airtight container or a glass jar. Press down on the kimchi so it’s well packed and no air can get inside, then put the lid on the container.

Serve and ferment

1. You can serve the kimchi right away or let it ferment. It takes about 2 weeks to ferment in the refrigerator. For faster fermenting, leave it at room temperature for 5 to 7 days, depending on the warmth of your kitchen, until the kimchi tastes and smells sour. Once the kimchi is fermented, store it the refrigerator and enjoy it until it runs out. It goes well with fresh, warm rice!