Ingredients:
• 2 whole Chinese cabbages
• 1 Chinese radish (daicon)
• 7 green Onions
• 2 oz Parsley
• 10 Cloves of Garlic
• 1 oz of Ginger
• 1/2 cup of shrimp sauce or fish sauce
• 1/2 cup of ground red pepper
• 1 tbsp salt
• 1 tsp of Sugar
• 1 Red Chilli pepper
• Roasted sesame seeds
• 1 cup of water
Method:
- From the base of each cabbage, make deep cross cuts with a knife. Separate into 4 pieces.
- In about 4 litres of water, pour 3 cups of rock salt and mix well.
- Put cabbages in the salted water and let them steep for about 3 to 4 hours.
- Take them out, wash them in running water and drain water.
- Meanwhile, in a big container, mix ground red pepper with 1 cup of water.
- Add shredded radish, and mix well until radish turns reddish.
- Cut parsley and green onion into 2 inch pieces.
- Chop garlic, chilli pepper and ginger well.
- Add everything together with roasted sesame seeds and mix well.
- Add shrimp sauce or fish sauce, 1 tbsp of salt, and 1 tsp of sugar.
- Take the quarters of cabbage, apply mixture between every leaf. Use the outer leaves to wrap the quarters so that the mixture doesn’t seep out.
- Fill a container with all the seasoned cabbage. Press down well and cover it with a lid.
- Leave it at room temperature for about 5 hours (when it is about 20 C) to 24 hours (when it is about 10 C).
Recipe courtesy of Julia Cook