Super Speedy Kimchi Style Pickle

I absolutely love Kimchi, that fiery, salty, sour fermented cabbage dish from Korea, however I simply don't have the time to make it from scratch. I have researched various recipes for a simpler version, but they were either still very time consuming, or used ingredients that were difficult to find outside of specialist supermarkets. So as a result of a major craving for something at least vaguely similar, I came up with this dish, which uses ingredients found in most large supermarkets. The time consuming element of making Kimchi is soaking cabbage in salt, and the fermentation, and I realised that this is pretty much the same process as for making Sauerkraut. Therefore the big cheat in this dish is using a jar of shop-bought Sauerkraut as a base (I used Sauerkraut with Carrot), and then simply adding Kimchi inspired flavourings. The result, I think, is delicious and can be used as soon as it is made (although it will of course improve as the flavours mingle). Another benefit of this method is that shop-bought Sauerkraut is pasteurised and the fermentation has already taken place, so any concerns about bacteria from home-fermented vegetables can be set aside. I certainly can't call this dish Kimchi, but the resulting condiment certainly satisfied my cravings for the hot sour and salty. I love to gobble it down with a plain bowl of sticky white rice.

I absolutely love Kimchi, that fiery, salty, sour fermented cabbage dish from Korea, however I simply don't have the time to make it from scratch. I have researched various recipes for a simpler version, but they were either still very time consuming, or used ingredients that were difficult to find outside of specialist supermarkets. So as a result of a major craving for something at least vaguely similar, I came up with this dish, which uses ingredients found in most large supermarkets. The time consuming element of making Kimchi is soaking cabbage in salt, and the fermentation, and I realised that this is pretty much the same process as for making Sauerkraut. Therefore the big cheat in this dish is using a jar of shop-bought Sauerkraut as a base (I used Sauerkraut with Carrot), and then simply adding Kimchi inspired flavourings. The result, I think, is delicious and can be used as soon as it is made (although it will of course improve as the flavours mingle). Another benefit of this method is that shop-bought Sauerkraut is pasteurised and the fermentation has already taken place, so any concerns about bacteria from home-fermented vegetables can be set aside. I certainly can't call this dish Kimchi, but the resulting condiment certainly satisfied my cravings for the hot sour and salty. I love to gobble it down with a plain bowl of sticky white rice.