Cooking in
Invermere · the Kootenays
Korean
Nabak Kimchi — Water Kimchi with Vegetables (나박김치)
Nabak kimchi is the most delicate of the kimchi family — a lightly salted, mildly spiced water kimchi made with thinly sliced radish and napa cabbage in a pale pink brine coloured by a small amount of gochugaru. The name derives from the thin, square-cut radish slices (나박나박). Unlike deeply fermented kimchi, nabak exists at the intersection of soup and side dish; the brine is drunk as well as the vegetables eaten. It is a digestive, a palate refresher, and a vehicle for seasonal vegetables like Asian chive, carrot, and green onion.
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Five in town · one shipped · one not yet within reach.
How the 7 are reached
- In town
- 5 · small piece Asian pear or apple, medium carrot, green onions, garlic, fresh ginger
- Shipped to you
- 1 · gochugaru (Korean red chilli flakes)
- Not yet within reach
- 1 · asian chive
I
The Market List
The benchmark for each ingredient, and who stocks it near you. Tap a stockist to go straight to the product.
300 g
Korean radish (mu)
cut into 3 cm × 3 cm × 3 mm squares
Your own market
200 g
napa cabbage
cut into 3 cm squares
Your own market
1
small piece Asian pear or apple
peeled, added whole to brine
Origin · New ZealandIn town · Kootenay Farm to Folks · Cranbrook →
1 small bunch
Asian chive
cut into 3 cm lengths
Not yet within reach of Invermere · each reach is counted
1
2
2 tsp
gochugaru (Korean red chilli flakes)
tied securely in a cheesecloth pouch
Origin · KoreaShipped to you · Wismettac →
2 cloves
5 g
10 g
fine sea salt
approximately half the salt of regular kimchi
Your own market
1 litre
cold water
Your own market
Within reach counts in town, delivered, shipped and the nearest city. A staple counts once it has a local seller. Charted from each shop's own pages; not yet vouched by a cook who shops here.
The larder of Invermere →Each tap is counted, so the stockist sees the demand Provenance sends them.
II
The Method
1
Cut the radish into squares of 3 cm × 3 cm × 3 mm — no thicker, so the light brine can work its way through the flesh evenly rather than curing only the outside while leaving the centre raw and sharp. Cut the napa cabbage to the same dimensions. Combine both in a bowl with the fine sea salt, toss to distribute, and set aside until the radish begins to yield its moisture slightly and feels just barely pliable at the edge, which is the sign that the salt has drawn enough liquid to open the vegetables to the brine that follows.
2
Tie the gochugaru tightly in a cheesecloth pouch and submerge it in the cold water, working it gently between the fingers for one to two minutes, so the water takes on colour and mild heat while the grit and husk stay trapped in the cloth rather than clouding the finished brine. The brine should arrive at a pale, clear rose — delicately tinted, not opaque or grainy — because that pale rose is the visual signature of nabak kimchi; if the colour runs deeper, the flavour will overpower the vegetables. Remove the pouch and discard it.
3
Add the garlic and ginger slices to the rose-coloured brine, keeping in mind that these are supporting notes only, so the brine should smell clean and lightly spiced rather than dominated by either. Add the piece of Asian pear or apple whole, so it lends its gentle sweetness slowly without breaking down and turning the brine murky.
4
Transfer the lightly salted radish and cabbage into a clean, non-reactive container, then add the chive, carrot, and green onion. Pour the prepared brine over the vegetables so that everything is fully submerged — if not, add a small amount of cold water, since any vegetable left exposed to air will discolour and soften unevenly. Taste the brine: it should register as barely seasoned, subtly salty and faintly sweet, and well below the seasoning level of regular kimchi; adjust with a pinch of salt if necessary.
5
Cover the container loosely and leave it at room temperature for no longer than one to two hours in warm conditions, so the fermentation starts gently and the brine picks up its first light tang before the cold of the refrigerator slows everything to the right pace. Leave it too long at room temperature and the brine sours past the point of return, clouding and losing its clean snap. Nabak kimchi is ready to eat within three to five days; judge it by the brine — still clear and pale rose, with a clean snap when a piece of radish is bitten — and once the brine clouds and that snap is gone, the optimal window has passed.
III
Quality Hierarchy
01
Reserve — Korean radish from a specialist Korean grocer at peak autumn or winter season, when mu is densest and sweetest; a ripe Asian pear of named variety for the brine.
02
Estate — Good-quality Korean radish with firm, unblemished flesh; fresh Asian chive rather than dried or jarred; coarse sea salt ground fine at home.
03
Market — Standard Korean radish from a well-stocked Asian supermarket; a small Fuji apple in place of Asian pear; pre-ground fine sea salt.
04
House — Daikon radish as a substitute for mu; standard green cabbage in place of napa in emergency; the brine character will be less sweet and less refined but the method remains sound.
IV
Sensory Tests
◇Sight. The brine is a clear, pale rose — not opaque, not grainy; if it is cloudy or red-flecked, the cheesecloth seal failed.
◇Touch. Radish slices yield at the very edge under light finger pressure after the initial salt cure, but remain firm at the centre — they are not limp.
◇Smell. The brine smells clean, lightly spiced, and faintly of pear or apple; garlic and ginger register as background only.
◇Sight. By day three to five the brine remains translucent; once it clouds noticeably, the fermentation has exceeded the nabak window.
◇Where it lives or dies. The dish lives or dies at the gochugaru step: the chilli must be strained through cheesecloth so that the brine achieves its signature pale rose clarity — any chilli sediment left in the liquid produces a grainy, muddy result that is the defining failure of nabak kimchi.
Pillar V
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The dishes this one teaches you, across the cuisines — on every recipe.
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VI
What to Pour
The pairing
Shochu
From British Columbia
Ella Premiere Sparkling Brut Rosé (NV)
Maverick Estate Winery · Golden Mile Bench
Maverick Estate Winery · Oliver →Sparkling wine
Without alcohol
Traditional
Each tap is counted, so the stockist sees the demand Provenance sends them.
Why each one works is part of membership — Enter · from $49 a year →
The whole pairingPillar VII
Origin and lineage are part of membership.
Where the dish comes from and how it came to be — on every recipe.
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The working kitchen
Sourced through Provenance