This flexible paste provides the foundation for a wide range of kimchi recipes. Ginger, garlic and chilli are the starting point, but you can adapt the ingredients to suit the season and your taste.
Ingredients
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Fresh ginger
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Garlic
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Fresh chilli or gochugaru
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Optional fruit, such as apple, pear, berries or stone fruit
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Optional onion or shallot
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Optional umami ingredient, such as fish sauce, miso, tamari, soy sauce or seaweed
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Optional sweetener, such as honey or sugar
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Optional cooked rice-flour paste or another suitable starch
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Sea salt: 2g for every 100g of spice paste
Method
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Prepare your chosen ingredients, peeling the ginger and garlic and removing the chilli stems.
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Blend or finely chop the ingredients to make a paste.
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Weigh the paste and add 2g of sea salt for every 100g.
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Mix thoroughly before combining with your prepared vegetables.
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Pack into a clean jar with the vegetables and follow the relevant kimchi recipe for fermentation.
Variation: For a plant-based umami flavour, use miso, tamari or seaweed instead of fish sauce.
