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Kimchi?

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Superheavy

Superheavy

Well-Known Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
Hi guys,

Now that I'm cooking with....well, just cooking really, I've been trying to think of foods that are low carb and healthy but still have enough flavour to keep me interested. Has anyone tried to make their own kimchi, or found a shop bought one?

The carb measurements seem to vary hugely depending on which brand it is, and most of the recipes online don't list the carbs in there. I'm sure it depends on what you choose, but surely those with high proportions of cabbage and carrots would be fairly low carb right?

I saw one listing at 2.2g per 100g in terms of carbs, while another was over 20g of carbs per 100g. Any advice is very welcome.
 
What the hell is kimchi? - er, no, I haven't LOL
 
Googled it. Sorry - not very keen on Sauerkraut so I wouldn't bother with it - though it's better than NO veg. I'd far rather just eat the cabbage meself !
 
Korean, isnt it? Fermented cabbage? I guess if the recipe uses sugar in the fermenting liqueur it'll counts carbs, otherwise I can't see much in it that would count much.
 
I love pickles, and have been all over pickled everything since my diagnosis - after all, vinegar makes every vegetable taste better! I thought this might be useful, as I don't really eat enough veg, and the garlic and chilli would soften the blow for me!

Might have to give it a bash and see how it goes!
 
Im fine with anything pickled. Kimchi sounds similar to something i had once. It was like a pickled coleslaw. Very nice.
 
Kimchi shouldn't really have an anything other than veggies (mainly cabbage types, plus flavourings from chilli, ginger, garlic etc), and salt. You can get good raw versions from most health food shops. If you're in London, As Nature Intended and Planet Organic both stock some pretty good makes (I get through a jar every week).

As well as being tasty, if you get a raw version (not heat treated) you get the added benefit of probiotics in the form of lactic acid bacteria (the fermentation itself is a lactic acid fermentation), which is wonderful for your digestion.

I'm a big fan of probiotic foods, and as well as taking a probiotic tablet with meals, I also have a dose of coconut kefir every day (keeps me regular) .

I'd say the biggest thing to be aware of is the sodium content (salt is used to stop any unfriendly bacterias taking over during fermentation) if you're trying to control your intake for BP reasons, but even so, a small amount of kimchi a day, say unto 20 grams shouldn't add too much there.
 
Thanks Tony - that's very useful. I'm up at my parents' house this weekend, and raiding my mum's jar collection (which takes up a whole shelf in the cellar), so I'm hoping to make some time to give it a try next week. I only get to London a couple of times per year, but I will try to seek them out next time I'm there!
 
If you're interested in making fermented foods, you should check out 'The Art of Fermentation - by Sandor Ellix Kats'. As well as recipes on making your own ferments, it has a wealth of background information, and a pretty enjoyable read.
 
I've made Kimchi and Sauerkraut before, I too love a good probiotic food. I made them at the same time, couldn't eat the kimchi myself because it had shrimp in and I have anaphylaxis (prawns predominantly) but my other half at the time loved it. I love sauerkraut so I stuck to that. They're very similar method wise so now I make spicy sauerkraut too, but I tend to make it once a year at Christmas (not sure why just happens!). The fermentation process does produce some sugars but it's negligible because it's used to produce the acid I think. Make sure you sterilise your instruments properly though, otherwise you'll get a delightful mould in the jar, or food poisoning, you're basically encouraging bacteria to breed (that's the fermentation bit) so if you get any other bacteria in there it'll love it 😱

If you don't have a steriliser to hand (most people don't) I've found the vegetable steamer is a great steriliser for utensils and lids, and I just sterilise the jar in the oven. Ooh I'm feeling urge to sauer some kraut now!
 
Not seen shrimp in the kimchi recipes I have, but there are so many variations. I'm yet to make some myself, so far I've stuck to kefir, yogurt, a few nut cheeses with rejuvelac (rejuvelac has to be the easy ferment to make btw) and I've had a go at tempeh (need to get some more starter for that, as I love tempeh and eat it loads).
 
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