kimchi onggi

I love Chinese fermented mustard green. It is often difficult to find good ones that is local made. You can buy manufactured bags or cans from Asian countries, but you can count on them being shit, not to mention likely has toxic chemical and food color added. I decided that I will make my own as I know what goes into them, and if I die from food poisoning I only have myself to blame.
I have seen these clay urns in Korean grocery store and I have always wanting one. I knew they are used to make kimchi in the old fashion ways. Still I didn't want to buy one until I know I will make use of it.

I recently bought some Asian mustard green meaning to use some for a seafood soup. I ended up changing the dish that I made and so what to do with a bag of mustard green that begins to wilt. Make Chinese fermented mustard green. As far as I can infer, it is made in a process very similar to sauerkraut. You use salt and water, and the microbes do the heavy lifting.

a bit of Chinese fermented mustard green that I recent bought

If you never tasted Chinese fermented mustard green, it is quite hard to describe what it taste like. Even as a child I love to snack on them. They taste mildly salty and sour. The most attractive part is they are crunchy when eaten "raw". It is a versatile Chinese (or Asian) condiment fermented produce. Its use is only limited by your imagination.

the bag of Asian mustard green that begins to wilt; I decided to make fermented mustard green

I was going to try use a container that I have to hold the batch and let it ferment in a cool and dark place. It is a nice mild January day I decided to take Mini for a drive to a Korean supermarket. I remember this one has the best price on the kimchi clay urn. I knew they have a few different sized. To determine what size you need can be tricky, as their volume can be deceiving. Based on the big bowl of mustard green that I just salted, it was still fresh in my mind its volume.

Desire got a head to toe bubble bath

a photogenic mini

I picked this medium size one and I was glad it was $36.99. At this price it is a no-brainer decision as I know it would serve me well for the years to come. The next size up is about $120.

I came home and give it a good wash and dump the mustard green and brine into it. It is just a perfect size for the batch size that I expect I would make. Being inexperienced the hard part was to estimate how much salt brine I'd need to keep the vegetable submerged. A bit of trial and error solved that.

I found out these Korean clay urns are called onggi

In addition to making fermented mustard green, I am looking forward to making other fermented vegetable like sauerkraut.

While at the Korean supermarket I made a point to look for a big bag of shiitake mushroom. I have been on a hunt for months for one that has good quality and large ones to no avail. The last 5-lb bag I found was in Seattle's Chinatown and that lasted many years. All the ones I'd seen since then had been poor and small in size.

5-lb bag is the most economic way and a bag like this lasts me a few years

Fortunate smiled at me in this trip. The store has a number of 5-lb bags all of the same brand. Some looked poor and small but a few bags has nice ones and larger sizes. Also important is the dried mushrooms are not broken from handling. I am extremely pleased with the bag I picked.

to avoid frequent opening of the big bag that can invite in insects I transfer some into a glass jar with lid

As in the above photo, the coveted shiitake mushrooms are the one with the crackled appearance. They are called 花菇 meaning flower mushrooms. You also want them thick and hence meaty. This bag is very fragrant. One thing that I notice is quite a bit of the stems of the mushroom were trimmed off. This is odd as this takes more mushroom to make the same weight. Most people cut off the stems when using the mushroom, but I actually like the stems as well as the bonnets. The stems have different texture and are packed with flavor.