Korean Green Pepper Kimchi - for Moh

[hannaone]

Sorry it took so long

Green Pepper Kimchi
Ingredients

25 to 30 Green Korean peppers (Substitute: Mild Green Chili pepper)
2 ounces fresh chives
4 to 6 very thin green onions
1 head garlic

Brine
1 gallon water
1/2 cup salt

Seasoning paste
2 tablespoon finely ground red chili powder
2 tablespoon coarse ground red chili pepper
2 tablespoon fish sauce
6 cloves garlic
1/2 small nashi pear
2 oz fresh ginger, peeled
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon salt
water as needed

Directions

Preparation

First Day
Brine
Mix salt and water together in a one gallon jar.
Add more salt if needed until a fine layer fails to dissolve.

Peppers
Remove stems from peppers.
Starting about 1/8 to 1/4 inch from the top of each pepper, slit carefully all the way to the bottom (leave the top part connected).
place the peppers into the brine.
Let peppers set in brine for twenty four hours.

Second Day
Seasoning Paste
Place all ingredients in a blender, adding just enough water to blend into a smooth, thick paste.
Let Stand twenty minutes to one hour.

Garlic
Peel the cloves and wash in cold water, then drain.

Chives
Wash in cold water, drain, and cut into 1 1/2 inch sections.

Green Onions
Remove root and any discolored leaves.
Wash in cold water, drain, and cut into 1 1/2 inch sections.

Final Mix

Pour brine from peppers and drain.
Place peppers in a large mixing bowl and add seasoning paste.
Mix well, being sure to get paste into the open slits.
Add all other ingredients and mix well.
Place into a clean one gallon jar, cover, and let sit at room temperature for twenty four hours.
Refrigerate and serve cold.

[moh]

Hannaone, thank you so much! Our market has a bunch of lovely peppers that will work well in this recipe, I will make it as a surprise for my mother, who will be visiting soon.

I am assuming the Korean green peppers are the long thin green peppers that are about 5-6 inches long? Also, the nashi pear, is that our typical Asian apple pear?

[hannaone]

You can use either the long green peppers or the short sweet/mild jalapeno or chili shaped pepper.
And Nashi is the same (or almost, I think Nashi is slightly larger) as the Asian pear.

[moh]

Hannaone, I just tasted the finished product, and it is great! It is a very unusual kimchi dish, I haven't had a kimchi dish like it before, so thanks again for such an original kimchi. The recipe is very easy to follow, and the results were very tasty. I ended up using mild green peppers, they were very long and very delicious peppers, and the kimchi nicely showcases their wonderful pepper flavour.

I mentioned to my mum that I was making this kimchi, and she said "Is there such a thing?" to which I replied "oh yes there is!" My parents get into town soon, and I am looking forward to letting them taste this kimchi. I'm sure they will enjoy it immensely.

[hannaone]

So glad that you liked it.
And it is an original recipe. I had heard about green pepper kimchi, but have never seen or tasted it, so I decided to experiment. I liked the result well enough to share.

[bitsubeats]

reading this recipe makes my mouth water (:

I think i'm going to give it a go. My mother has a ton of fresh korean chiles outside in her garden. They are super spicy though and are way too hot to eat in large bites. Do you suggest I use something milder? like twist peppers or shishito peppers?

[hannaone]

This works best with the mild peppers - similar to oikimchi melding the cool and hot together.

[moh]

Bitsubeats, I think milder chiles would be better. The kochukaru (Dried Korean chile pepper) I use has a fair amount of spiciness. If I had used hot peppers, it would be hard for a lot of people to eat large amounts of the kimchi. And that would be a shame! I scoffed an entire pepper before bedtime last night, and it was really yummy.

I used the equivalent of a shishito pepper I think. It looks like the mild Korean peppers my parents like to eat with kochuchang. They are delicious raw, much tastier than regular green pepper, they are less watery and vegetal.

I was tempted to throw in a few hot Korean peppers into the mix, kind of like a kimchi Russian roulette, but I decided it would be mean, as my hubbie is a chile wimp! But if you like spicier food, you might enjoy the roulette.

Here is a picture of the kimchi, and one of the peppers I didn't use because it was so curvy.

[hannaone]

I was also tempted to play "kimchi roulette", but passed on it. Think I will with the next batch though. But every body knows I like to play with food, so they are cautious whenever they try something new from me.....