LUXOMME

I was trying to think of a clever name for this post, but there's nothing really. My creative juices have dried up. 

Thankfully, my love for food hasn't.

It's been a while since I've done a cooking post, although by the end of the post, you'll see that this is more fermenting than cooking. 

This dish isn't actually from Hong Kong (where I'm from), but Korea - so I don't vouch for the authenticity, but as someone who can eat a whole tub of this in a sitting, I promise you it's delicious. 

For those of you who have never tried this A) You're completely missing out, B) You'll never look at cabbage the same way again.

But what exactly is Kimchi?

Well.

According to trusty Wikipedia, it is a traditional fermented side dish made from vegetables and a variety of seasonings, with tons of different combinations. It is generally eaten with many meals and can also be incorporated in more complex dishes like stews and fried rice. In fact, it's such a large part of the meal, some families even have a designated kimchi fridge just for storing this deliciousness.  It's also a very tedious process, which is why families will generally make this in large batches. Because I don't have time to make a whole football field's worth of kimchi, we're doing a mini version with just one head!

I could go on forever, but I think you should read the wikipedia page instead so we can go ahead and actually make this!

The main star of today's recipe is napa cabbage, which can be purchased at most stores. 

We carefully clean and trim the leaves, then halve the vegetables so it's easier to handle and season. 

Because kimchi is a fermented and preserved dish, it's meant to keep for a long long time. Or rather, because we want to keep it for a long long time, we ferment it. Actually, scratch that. I'm not sure. That's confusing. 

Either way, we begin by salting the cabbage to draw water out of the leaves. I used one medium head of cabbage for this recipe and a quarter cup of salt. 

We make sure that the entire vegetable is submerged in the salt water and then leave it to sit for a few hours!

Once you're done with your coffee run, cleaning the house, or 3 episodes of Madame Secretary (which is my current favorite!), the cabbage is ready to be rinsed. 

At this point, the leaves should be wilted and look something like this.

I find that the sauce has difficulty adhering to the leaves, so I like to add a little something extra. Namely, shredded carrots and apples, just to give the kimchi a bit of sweetness. 

Some recipes will call for radish, green onions, or chives, but I don't have any of that lying around.

(mind you, this isn't the most authentic version)

This red paste is made of a smorgasbord of different umami ingredients; red pepper flakes, shrimp paste, anchovies, garlic, ginger, onion. 

More on that later. 

Before I season my leaves, I'll mix the paste with the carrots and apples first.

Then slowly, layer by layer, the mixture is generously applied delicately to each leaf. 

A few moments later, you are left with something bright red, healthy and absolutely delicious.

The last (and perhaps most important part) is the fermentation where the sugars in the vegetables will (in the absence of oxygen) turn into acid.  This is a process that will impart a tangy sweetness to the kimchi and is done by placing the kimchi in an airtight jar, traditionally an Onggi, which is a clay jar. I only have a glass one so that will have to do.

This is the part that requires the most patience as it is the most time consuming. Taking the prepared kimchi and sealing it in an airtight jar, you'll then let it sit out at room temperature until it reaches the desired fermented taste and then throw it in the fridge to store for a longer period of time. 

Each person will make kimchi in a slightly different way that changes the taste ever so slightly, but I encourage you to experiment and figure out what works best for you! More detailed instructions and the science behind perfect kimchi is detailed here.

All these colorful vegetables are getting me super pumped for Spring, excited for the warmer weather ahead and more delicious recipes to come!

naomi

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Luxomme's Kimchi Recipe

Ingredients

1 Medium head of Napa Cabbage

1/4 Cup Kosher Salt

2.5 Cups Shredded Carrot

4 Shredded Autumn Glory Apples

Red Pepper Sauce 

3 Tbs Sweet Rice Flour

1.5 Cups Red Pepper Flakes

1/3 Cup Anchovy Sauce

1/3 Cup Shrimp Sauce

2 Tbs Sugar

1 Tbs Garlic

1 Tbs Ginger

One thing about having friends a flights distance away is that it can be hard to get together, so when I texted Nissen super last minute that I was dropping by for the weekend, I wasn't expecting him to be able to make time for me.

But not only did he make time, he (and my lovely friend Tiffany) also introduced me to this lovely little coffee shop right in the heart of downtown Toronto.

For those of you who are familiar with the area, you'll know of Eaton's Center - which is basically a wonderland for shopaholics. 

Dineen Coffee Co. (the name of this delicious little shop) is a brisk walk from Eaton's Center and perfect for a little R&R between the shopping and the bag carrying.

Fueling up on caffeine, he ordered a coffee, I a macchiato, and our third date a strong shot of espresso.

We ended off our lovely get-together with warm conversations between light sips of coffee. 

For those of you looking for a quiet place to relax after a long day, or perhaps a place just to escape, Dineen is the perfect combination of local coffee store and luxury boutique. If you are coming from Eaton's, the closest exit is the one near the Apple store. It's got a hearty spread of baked goods and a wide variety of drinks to satisfy your caffeine addition.

The perfect little get-away in the heart of Toronto.

I really wish that I could say that I did something useful with my life this week, but honestly, all I did was play 2048. Or at least, that was all that was on my mind.

 I found this game through a friend early last week and stayed up till 5am trying to get that elusive '2048' tile, but eventually had to stop because my wrists started tingling. 

My wrists started tingling....  I should have stopped then.

Essentially, I was told by multiple friends that I could not win this game, except the more they told me, the more I wanted to win. Basically, a week later,  I did. And that was nice.

But the main problem is, I don't even like this game. 

I just wanted to win. 

So now that I've won, what have I achieved? 

Welcome to BB's Kitchen!

So this Winter break, my two lovely cousins flew in to Winnipeg to celebrate a very White Christmas with my family and I. They arrived on a beautiful sunny day and ran off the plane excitedly yelling 'snow! snow!'

Yes. There's tons of that here.

Living in different provinces, we don't get to see each other often, so every time we are together we like to do something fun! Two years ago we made cronuts and last year we made macarons.

This year?

Well, this year, BB had a special surprise for us.

Part of his studies at school involves learning how to cook, so taking all the new found knowledge he has gained, he very enthusiastically offered to make us breakfast.

What will be served?

'French crepes with apple cinnamon filling', he beams.

Clearly very committed to this project, he sets his alarm to go off bright and early and is ready to go before anyone else is even up.

Setting off to work, he carefully measures out the flour (a must for crepes, he explains), and gently counts the eggs.

After mixing all the dry ingredients and expertly cracking the eggs, he cautiously pours out the vanilla. 'It has to be the perfect amount!' he exclaims.

Once all the ingredients are in the bowl, he plugs in the electric whisk and blends the mixture until it has the consistency of whipped honey creme.

'Once around the outside and three times in the middle!'

Once the batter came together, I anxiously wait for him to start the pan, but instead, he sticks the bowl in the fridge.

I looked at him, 'What are you doing!'

'The batter needs to sit for 30 minutes! Be patient!'

Making the most efficient use of his time, he's clearly got this process down to a tee.

As I pace around the kitchen, he grabs the apples from the fruit cabinet and begins to prep the filling.

His sister Chloe stumbles into the kitchen at some point having just woken up and agrees to help with the apples. It doesn't take long to see that she is clearly the peeling master here.

As she expertly peels and cores her apple, she gives some serious side eye over to BB.

 'you're doing this all wrong!'

Clearly unfazed, he continues along as if nothing was said.

Once all the apples are prepped, he quickly glances at the timer and realizes that time is ticking and the 30 minutes is almost up!

Rapidly placing all the apples in the pot, he scoops a generous amount of butter and puts it in with the apples along with a sprinkle of cinnamon.

As the apple cinnamon filling reduces, he turns around to look at me with a sparkle in his eye.

'Time to make the crepes!'

We decided that him and I would have a crepe making competition to see who could make the prettiest crepes. Knowing what an expert he was at flipping, I decided I needed a leg up, so I stuck him with the bad pan.

Sneaky right.

His crepes still came out nicer.

20 perfectly fluffy crepes later, we were ready to eat!

Following his lead, we all carefully placed the apple filling in the middle of the crepe, topped it off with a drizzle of honey and wrapped the pillow-like soft crepe around it.

Perfect for a crisp winter morning.