Recipe: how to make kimchi with The Dairy’s Robin Gill

After the roaring success of his first restaurant The Dairy, Robin Gill’s next endeavours Counter Culture and Paradise Garage followed suit with similar critical acclaim. Sorella opened in January 2018, with Gill and head chef Dean Parker bringing innovative Italian cuisine to Clapham. Here, Gill tells us how to make his ultimate Kimchi recipe.

Robin Gill’s kimchi recipe

‘I absolutely love making ferments, and in particular, big jars of kimchi. It is a great thing to have in the kitchen and keeps for years if stored correctly. Not only is it packed full of spice and flavour, but it is also very good for your gut! I first started making my own kimchi when I was working alongside a Korean chef in the kitchens at Marco Pierre White’s restaurant Oak Room. She showed me how amazing traditional Korean flavours could be, particularly when it comes to ferments – she also introduced me to condiments such as gochujang, which has now become a staple ingredient in my kimchi. I learnt more as I travelled around Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and Burma in Southeast Asia.

Another incredible thing about kimchi is that it behaves like a living thing, developing and changing over time in both complexity and intensity. It is very simple to make, taking about 15 minutes. There are few rules to it and it is extremely versatile – if you can’t find particular vegetables then you can always experiment, changing up the textures and flavours.

There are no rules when it comes to spice either – if you like it hot, just add more! You can have it with raw fish, raw meat, all sorts of things. I like to give it a new lease of life by adding fresh herbs or radishes and making it into more of a salad, which makes a brilliant accompaniment for roast pork or any type of barbecued meat. Drinks-wise, it is amazing with a ginger beer or sake. I like to make a light cocktail with kombucha as a mixer or perhaps even an iced tea on a hot summer day!’ Robin Gill

Ingredients:

• 1 Chinese cabbage (cut into large chunks)
• 3 medium carrots (grated)
• 1 kohlrabi (peeled and sliced)
• 4 garlic cloves (sliced)
• 4 spring onion (sliced)
• 15g ginger (grated)
• 1 fresh large red chilli (chopped)
• 2 small fiery red chillies (chopped)
• 15g fine table salt
• 15 ml fish sauce
• 15 ml light soy sauce
• 20g shrimp paste
• 1 tbsp Korean gochujang

Method:

1. Mix the cabbage, carrot, kohlrabi, garlic, chillies, spring onion and ginger together.
2. Weigh this mixture and add it to a large mixing bowl with 2 per cent of the weight of the veg mixture of salt.
3. Stir the mixture vigorously with your hands and then occasionally over the course of approximately an hour until lots of liquid has been released.
4. Weigh the mixture again.
5. Then in a separate bowl, weigh out 2 per cent of the veg mixture of the following ingredients: 2 per cent fish sauce, 2 per cent light soy sauce, 2 per cent shrimp paste and 3 percent Korean gochujang.
6. Mix these ingredients together to form a paste.
7. Mix the paste into the cabbage mixture and pack it tightly into a two-litre Kilner jar and cover with the liquid that was released.
8. Seal the jar and leave to ferment at a warm room temperature for about three weeks; keep away from direct sunlight.
9. Once ready, the sealed jar can be stored in the fridge for up to three months. Once opened, use within one month.

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