Tonight I made falafel for the first time in a long time, which is odd because it's so easy and so good. The key is to soak and then cook the chick peas early in the day so all that's needed come dinner time is to fry them up and assemble the garnishes. These included fresh radishes, pickled beets, hot and mild garden salsas, mixed late greens (arugula, mustard, mizuna, sorrel) and of course tahini (but with an avocado mashed in for good measure.) A very nice balance between the crispy fried and the crunchy raw ends of the spectrum, all tied together with creamy sauce and a little spice.
The other accomplishment today was the crock of kimchi- two perfect cabbages, carrots, scallions, a couple of radishes, garlic, ginger, and a minced cayenne pepper combined in salt water- in a week or so I'll check its progress. I'm pretty excited for this; it's so healthy and so good and will help wake up many winter favorites. All our hot pepper preparations are going to require lots of beer or riesling this winter.
2 comments:
Making kimchi is a great idea. I was recently taught to make tsukemono, that crunchy appetizer you get in Japanese restaurants, by slicing the baby daikon leaves, with carrot and cabbage or what-have-you, placing them in a plastic bag with salt, closing the bag, and then pressing. Hard. A few hours later you have tsukemono. Seems to me kimchi is the same thing but allowed to sit longer. Am I right?
Pretty much- the difference is that kimchi (and sauerkraut too) is left to ferment for about a week, which gives it the pickled taste and helps preserve it. Putting the tsukemono under pressure helps accelerate the process, though the shorter fermentation makes for a much more delicate flavor.
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