Asparagus Kimchi Recipe
What's so special about British Asparagus?
British asparagus is often hailed by chefs as the best in the world. Our climate allows the stems to develop slowly, producing a full, sweet flavour and a fine, tender texture. The traditional start of the English asparagus season is usually St George's Day on April 23 but it has started early this year, so we're seeing crops come in by mid March.
Nutritional Benefits of Asparagus
Asparagus is an excellent source of vitamin K, an essential nutrient required for normal blood clotting and maintaining good bone health.
It is a rich source of folate, a nutrient that has many important roles including contributing to normal blood formation, immune function and reducing tiredness and fatigue. Folate is also an important nutrient before and during pregnancy.
Asparagus has many antioxidants such as gallic acid, ferulic acid, quercetin and rutin. Antioxidants are compounds that help protect your cells from the harmful effects of free radicals and oxidative stress. Oxidative stress contributes to aging, chronic inflammation and many diseases, including cancer.
How to Make Asparagus Kimchi
Ingredients & Equipment:
- 1 litre or equivalent Kilner Jar
- 500g of asparagus (will be roughly 2 bunches, it varies depending on size of asparagus at the time)
- 100g Peeled Daikon Radish
- 100g Peeled Carrot
- 10g Spring Onion
- 20g Peeled Pear (a just ripe conference pear or similar will do)
- 5g Garlic (1 decent sized clove)
- 3g Peeled Ginger
- 6g Gochugaru Chilli Flakes (or similar chilli flakes will do)
- 4g Sea Salt & 20g for salting
- Grater & Mixing Bowl
- Start off by washing your Asparagus and then feel the bottom of the stalks, if they haven't been trimmed, you should feel that the bottom of the stalk is harder or has a woody texture. Where you feel the change in texture, just snap it off.
- Cut your asparagus into inch long batons and add the 20g salt. Gently massage the salt into the asparagus and once you have even coverage, add the daikon, cut into 2-3cm long thin strips (or grated) and give another quick mix.
- Set aside the asparagus and daikon for around 2 hours and give a quick mix every 30 minutes or so to make sure the salt and liquid is evenly distributed.
- Grate or thinly slice your carrots just like you did with the daikon.
- Add your pear, garlic and ginger to a blender along with the salt & gochugaru and blitz till it's a paste, you can add a bit of water to make it easier to blitz.
- After 2 hours give the asparagus & daikon a wash with some fresh water. You'll want to repeat this process twice and give it a spin in a salad spinner, or just drain it thoroughly.
- Add the carrot, thinly sliced spring onion and paste to the asparagus and daikon, then mix thoroughly and add to sterilised kilner jar. Make sure to gently push down the mix till it is submerged in it's own liquid. Leave about 2 fingers of headroom in the jars when packing them in case they rise in the fermentation process.
- Leave out in a cool, dark place for a couple of days. Check on it every day and if air bubbles form, use a sterilised wooden spoon to push the mix down
- Seal the jar and leave out for 3 days and it should be good to go.
After 2-5 days your mix should have a bit of a sourness to it. Everyone has different preferences when it comes to their tastes, but the mix will continue to ferment in the fridge and continue to get sour. So once your mix tastes good to you, get it in the fridge and it should be good for 6-8 weeks in the fridge