What does mid-to-late spring mean here in the UK...? Rhubarb season!! Rhubarb is one of the first crops ready in the UK growing season and this unique lil' veggie grows all the way through summer. This means for those of us who grow it we can often end up with quite a lot of it.
Although we traditionally think of rhubarb in sweet dishes like rhubarb tart, yoghurt or with custard, you can only eat so much of these sweet delights. So why not try out rhubarb in a delicious savoury dish, like this seasonal rhubarb kimchi! When creating this recipe we researched other flavourings you can add to mix things up including orange zest, sumac, pear, nigella seeds or fennel.
Ingredients (to fill a 750g jar)
Rhubarb x 500g
Spring onion x 180g
Ginger x 1/2 inch
Garlic x 3 cloves
Salt x 13g (we use fine sea salt, but table will do)
Granulated sugar x 8g
Miso x 8g
Gochugaru (Korean chilli flakes) x 10g
Optional: one outer cabbage leaf
Equipment:
750g/ml capacity kilner or other jar with a lid
Knife
Chopping board
Large bowl
Blender (if you don't have one you can finely chop ingredients!)
Method
Chop the rhubarb into 1-2cm chunks and place in a bowl with the salt, mixing to coat the rhubarb. Leave to one side.
Chop the spring onions into greens and whites and place the whites to one side while you shred the greens into strips.
Blend the ginger, garlic and whites of the spring onion to make a paste then add the sugar, miso and gochugaru to combine, adding a little water if needed. If you don't have a blender then finely chop all of the larger ingredients and mix well.
By now the rhubarb should have 'sweated' and be coated with water. Add the spring onions and chilli paste and mix well.
When the mixture is well combined pack tightly into your jar, one handful at a time pressing down each time to minimise air pockets.
6. When full clean the rim of the jar and top with a clean cabbage leaf or greaseproof paper, pushing down to submerge. Replace the lid and label with the date.
7. Leave out of direct sunlight on a countertop to ferment for a few days. You should see bubbling after 48-72 hours. Try often and when you enjoy the flavour and texture pop in the fridge. We liked ours after about 2 days, but flavours will continue to develop in the fridge.