Fruit kimchi

I've never got round to making my own kimchi as I can buy an excellent one locally (from Every Good Thing in Bristol (which also sells online) but this one from Mark Diacono's invaluable new handbook Ferment from Scratch sounds irresistible. Give it a go.

Fruit kimchi

Some years ago, I met Hans and Gaby Wieland in Waterford, Ireland. We were all in town for a festival of food and growing, and in the years since they have done much to inspire my fermenting adventures. Our shared love of Yahtzee (pleasingly named Kniffle in their native German) and their generous introduction to fruit kimchi means we have an eternal connection.

Their original fruit kimchi sent me down many pleasant experimental avenues and this is its latest incarnation.

Made without the usual cabbage and fish sauce, this kimchi is a revelation of fruit, sour, salt and sweet. It is more liquid than some kimchi, and I prefer to eat it relatively young and crisp. After a month or two, the fruit becomes considerably softer.

By all means play with this, as long as the ratio of fruit to salt (1kg/2lb 3oz fruit: 20g salt) is maintained.

Makes 1 litre (1¾ pints)

Ferment time: 4–7 days

1 ripe mango, peeled and pitted

1 papaya, peeled and deseeded

2 kiwis, peeled

200g (7oz) grapes, halved

sea salt (5% weight of the fruit, see note above)

1 medium-heat chilli, chopped

1 large onion, thinly sliced

3 plump garlic cloves, finely chopped

a thumb of ginger, finely chopped or grated

1 tbsp Korean red pepper powder

Chop the fruit into 5–6mm (¼in) pieces and weigh it. Add to a bowl with the salt (5% of the weight of the fruit) and the remaining ingredients; mix well.

Spoon into a sterilized 1 litre (1¾ pint) flip-top jar and press down with your fingers until a brine rises and covers the mix. Weigh down with a glass pickle pebble, or sealed freezer bag of water. Cover loosely with a lid.

Leave to ferment for at least 4 days, ideally for one week. Taste, and if it has reached a gently fizzy sourness, store in the fridge; if not, allow it another few days until it has. I prefer to eat this within about a month or so, as thetexture gets a little too soft after that.

Fruit kimchi pancakes (chijimi )

These pancakes have substance, zing and a good bite of spice. They can be fried small and individual, or large and generous, to be cut into smaller pieces. Serve with ketchup, fermented hot sauce (the recipe's in the book), quick pickled red onions, or whatever takes your fancy. The recipe calls for plain (all-purpose) flour, but if you substitute 100g (2½oz) for the same of riceflour, it adds a little chewy magic that I rather like.

Makes 2 (cooked in a 20cm/8in pan)

400g (14oz) plain (all-purpose) flour

2 tbsp sesame seeds

3 eggs, lightly beaten

2 tbsp sesame oil

300g (10oz) fruit kimchi (see above), or any other kimchi

200g (7oz) thinly sliced spring onions (scallions), red onions or beansprouts

100g (3½oz) thinly sliced bacon, cooked (optional)

vegetable oil, for frying

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Mix the flour, a big pinch of salt and the sesame seeds in a large bowl.

Whisk in 250ml (9fl oz) water, the beaten eggs and the sesame oil, making sure there are no lumps. Gently fold in the kimchi, vegetables and oooked bacon (if using).

Heat a little oil in a medium-hot frying pan and fry a tablespoon of the batter to test the seasoning – add more to taste if needed.

Pour in enough batter to form a 1.5cm (¾in) layer in the pan. Cook for 2 minutes, or until the edges have begun to crisp up and the base is golden.

Flip over and cook for another 2–3 minutes. Serve immediately

What to drink

Depending on what time of day you're consuming this I'd suggest a green tea, lager or a kombucha

Extracted from Ferment from Scratch by Mark Diacono published by Hardie Grant at £12.99. Photography ©Mark Diacono

Spiced, Grilled and Swaddled Chicken Thighs with the Works

A great recipe from US food writer Molly Baz's brilliant new cookbook Cook This Book which is full of clever hacks to help you become, as they describe it on the cover, 'a smarter, faster, more creative cook'

Molly writes: I’ve always dreamt of somehow jerry-rigging a shawarma spit setup in my home kitchen. I mean, how amazing would it be to bring the intoxicating scent of spit-roasted meat (if you're a New Yorker, you know – nothing is more delicious than the smells that waft off a shawarma cart) into your home kitchen and to shave off in real time for your guests when you entertain?! Sadly, in a Brooklyn apartment kitchen, that is far from realistic. So when the craving hits, I take things outdoors and make a version of these spiced and griddled chicken thighs, swaddle them in warmed pittas with piles of herbs and pickled onions, and forget, for a second, just how far I am from realising that dream.

Serves 4

PRODUCE

2 medium red onions

5 garlic cloves

2 lemons

1 bunch mint or corianader

DAIRY

420g plain whole-milk yogurt

MEAT

1kg boneless, skinless chicken thighs (about 6 small thighs)

PANTRY

250ml distilled white vinegar

100g sugar

Coarse sea salt

1 tablespoon vegetable oil, plus more for the grill

1 tablespoon sweet smoked paprika

1 tablespoon ground cumin

¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon cayenne pepper

4 pittas

1. Pickle the red onions:

• Slice 2 red onions crosswise into 2mm-thick rings.
• In a small saucepan, heat 250ml white vinegar, 375ml water, 100g sugar and 1 tablespoon salt over medium heat, stirrinq often to dissolve. Once the vinegar mixture comes to a simmer, remove from the heat and immediately add the onions. Let cool to room temperature. The onions can be made up to several days in advance; they only get better with time.

2. Make the garlic yogurt:

• Finely grate 1 garlic clove into a small bowl and stir in 245g plain yogurt. Season with salt and set aside for serving.

3. Marinate the chicken:

• Finely grate 4 garlic cloves into a large bowl.
• Stir in 175g plain yogurt, the juice of 1 lemon, 1 tablespoon vegetable oil, 2½ teaspoons salt, 1 tablespoon smoked paprika, 1 tablespoon cumin, ¾ teaspoon cinnamon and ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper and whisk well to combine.
• Add 1kg boneless, skinless chicken thighs to the marinade and turn to coat. Let sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes white you prepare a barbecue for medium heat (or heat a cast-iron griddle pan over medium heat. If you're going to marinate them longer (which you totes should; they only improve with time), cover and keep chilled in the refrigerator for up to 6 hours and pull them out 30 minutes before cooking.

4. Back to grilling that chicken:

• Once the barbecue is preheated to medium (you should be able to hold your hand over the grate for about 5 seconds before it gets too hot) lightly oil the grill.
• Remove the chicken from the marinade with tongs, letting any excess drip back into the bowl, and transfer it to the grill. Cook, undisturbed, until it's nicely charred underneath and naturally releases from the grates, 5 to 6 minutes. Pay attention to the hot spots of your barbecue or griddle pan, and move the thighs around accordingly to ensure even browning. Flip the thighs and cook until just cooked through, 4 to 7 minutes longer, (An instant-read thermometer should register 75°C in the thickest part of the thigh.) This will vary depending on how large your chicken thighs are, so keep an eye on temperature more than timing in this case! Let the chicken thighs rest on a plate while you grill the pittas.

5. Warm the pittas and serve:

• Warm the pittas on the grill while the chicken rests, about 1 minute per side.
• Cut a lemon into 4 wedges and pick the leaves from 1 bunch of mint.
• Slice the chicken against the grain into 1cm-thick strips and serve on a big platter alongside the pittas, pickled onions, garlic yogurt, lemon wedges and mint for a build-your-own kinda sitch.

What to drink: You can see there are craft beers - possibly alcohol-free - in the pic and that seems a good way to go. Otherwise I'd go for a juicy gamay or other light red. Or a rosé.

Extracted from Cook this Book by Molly Baz published by Robinson at £26. Photograph ©Taylor Peden and Jan Munk.

Salmon burgers with goats cheese and sundried tomatoes

Burgers don't have to be beefy as these delicious salmon burgers from my book An Appetite for Ale prove, inspired by browsing the aisles of the Wholefoods market in Denver during the Great American Beer Festival a few years back!

Serves 3-6, depending how hungry you are

450g skinless filleted salmon, cut into chunks
80g young, unrinded goats cheese
4 spring onions, trimmed and finely chopped
80g Sunblush* or other roasted dried tomatoes in oil, finely chopped
A handful of fresh basil leaves
40g natural dried breadcrumbs
Salt, freshly ground black pepper and a pinch of paprika
Oil for frying or coating the burgers

Chop the salmon finely or pulse 4 or 5 times in a food processor. Break up the goats cheese with a fork and add it to the salmon along with the chopped spring onions and Sunblush tomatoes. Mix well or pulse again (keeping some texture - you don’t want to reduce the mixture to a paste)

Finely chop the basil and add along with the breadcrumbs. Season with salt, pepper and a pinch of paprika, mix again and set the mixture aside for half an hour for the breadcrumbs to soften and absorb the moisture.

Divide and pat out into six burgers. Fry in a little oil or rub both sides with oil and barbecue over an indirect heat for about 6-7 minutes turning once or twice during the cooking process. Or grill or fry them - that's fine too. I quite like them on their own with salad and a salsa but you could put them in a bap or bun with lime-flavoured mayo, sliced cucumber and shredded lettuce.

What to drink: A Blonde or golden ale or lager pairs well with these burgers or you could drink a Chardonnay.

Photograph © Vanessa Courtier

Easy Korean Kimchi Hotpot

Want to cook something authentically Korean to celebrate Korean New Year next week? Try this easy, traditional Korean kimchi hotpot suggests Nathalie Gardiner.

My friend and fellow student, Aehyeon from South Korea, tipped me off that the best way to start cooking Korean food is using ready-made kimchi as she does in this simple recipe.. The delicious fat of the pork belly and the sharpness of the kimchi is a perfect combination.

You can switch the pork for beef or chicken and make it as spicy or mild as you like. You can use authentic Korean kimchi* (I used this one, which I sourced from an Asian supermarket here in Paris), a couple of jars, which you can find in most major supermarkets, or you could even make your own*. This recipe is super-adaptable so feel free to play around with it and work out what you like. You can even make a batch ahead for weeknight meals or take-to-work lunches.

Serves 6

500g chopped kimchi

450g pork belly, cut into bite sized pieces

2-4 tsp chilli powder (depending how hot your kimchi and chilli powder are and how much of a tolerance you have for chilli heat. Koreans like it hot!)

2 tsp of sugar

4 spring onions, trimmed and chopped

400g firm tofu, cut into bite sized cubes

Salt (add with caution as kimchi can be quite salty)

1. Combine the kimchi (with any liquid from the pack or jar), chilli powder, pork and sugar in a large saucepan.

2. Add 1.5 litres water and bring to the boil. Simmer for 30 minutes.

3. Add the cubes of tofu, and cook on a low to moderate heat for 10 more minutes.

4. Remove from the heat and check the seasoning, adding salt if it needs it. Add the chopped spring onions

5. Serve alone as a soup or with noodles or sticky rice and hot sauce on the side if you want to ramp up the heat.

What to drink

Best served with an ice-cold Hite lager and some good old fashioned Soju, or if you want to drink like a local, mix the two together (70/30 beer to soju) for a somac. Seol-nal!

If you're a kimchi fan you'll also enjoy this recipe for kimchi fried rice

* If you live in Bristol Caroline Gilmartin of Every Good Thing runs excellent kimchi classes.