Blame Branston. Or perhaps the well-meaning mum of a school friend: the one who sneaked a line of the sticky brown condiment into a perfectly good cheese and Wonderloaf sandwich without warning – the first bite of which I spat out, never to touch “pickle” again for the best part of half a century. That’s 45 years of missing out on crisp curls of purple pickled cabbage with a bloody steak; no crunchy golden onions nudging the crust of my pork pie; a refusal to touch sweet-salty threads of sauerkraut with a curl of cheeky sausage and no nigella-flecked chutneys of green tomato with a wedge of cheddar. Just think of it.
Ten years ago and with one bite, that changed. (A slice of pickled radish in Japan, since you ask.) Now the top shelf of my fridge is a shrine to the genre. There are glistening rows of ruby, purple and emerald vinegars, chutneys and relishes. Jars of gooseberry and plum chutney for cheese and pots of organic sauerkraut to sit on the fatty shoulder of a sizzling pork chop. No bowl of steamed rice is now without its curls of Kyoto pickled cucumber and turmeric-coloured pumpkin. There are sweet-sour radishes for breakfast, umeboshi plums for midnight and there are jars of my own version of kimchee, too.
The backbone of most recipes is the white Chinese “napa” variety of cabbage with its wide stems and pale, crinkly leaves, large white radishes, ground chilli, garlic, chilli sauce and rice vinegar. Some include fish sauce, others ginger – a few neither. True Korean versions are masterpieces of the art but are often too salty, soft or stinky for me. Some can be retina-piercingly hot, too.
My own is far from authentic. Of course I want heat. Not your actual teary-type heat, but at least enough to make your eyes sparkle. I use the Korean gochujang chilli paste, which is hot rather than incendiary. And yes, I shy away from leaving the salted cabbage several days to ferment at room temperature – the process that makes kimchee kimchee – partly out of impatience, and partly because I like the crackle of the crisp veg.
So mine is more a crunchy, hot, salty, sour condiment – and is none the worse for that. It is sensational with anything – especially with grilled vegetables and rice, and even stuffed into a chicken breast and roasted, when I serve it with a cooling lemon mayonnaise.
Red cabbage kimchee
Sterilise your preserving jars with boiling water and let them drain, or bake them at a low temperature for 10 minutes. This batch will fill two 1-litre Kilner jars. It will keep, for a couple of weeks, in the fridge. Turn the jars over every few days.
red cabbage 700g
Chinese cabbage 200g
radishes 150g
coarse sea salt 3 tbsp
rice vinegar 100ml
fish sauce 2 tbsp
gochujang chilli paste
chilli flakes 2 tbsp
garlic 2 plump cloves
spring onions 6
ginger a 10g piece
You will also need 2 x 1-litre Kilner jars
Halve the red cabbage and shred it finely, each piece no wider than a pencil. Do the same with the Chinese cabbage then put both in a colander and rinse under cold running water. Slice the radishes into quarters or thin slices, then mix with the cabbage and tip into a bowl. Scatter the salt over. Place a plate on top of the cabbage, put a heavy weight on top, and set aside in a cool place for 4 hours.
In a small bowl, mix together the rice vinegar, fish sauce, chilli paste and chilli flakes into a soft, deep rust-coloured paste. Peel and finely cut the garlic into paper-thin slices and add to the paste. Slice the spring onions, stirring them into the paste. Peel the ginger and shred each into fine matchsticks.
Rinse the cabbage in a colander, removing much of the salt. The cabbage will have relaxed. Transfer to a large bowl then tip in the chilli dressing and toss thoroughly to coat the leaves. Pile into the clean storage jars, seal and set aside in the fridge for 4 days. I like to turn the jars upside down each day to encourage the dressing to trickle over the vegetables, keeping them coated.
Roast chicken breast, cabbage pickle and lemon mayonnaise
Serves 2
chicken breasts 2, skin on
kimchee 6 tbsp
olive oil
For the mayonnaise:
mayonnaise 4 heaped tbsp
lemon 1, small
coriander 6 sprigs
Set the oven at 200C/gas mark 6. Place a large piece of foil in a roasting dish. Place the chicken breasts skin side down on a chopping board. Make a deep horizontal slit in the flesh along the outer rim of the meat to form a pocket into which the stuffing will go.
Stuff the chicken breasts with 2-3 tbsp of the kimchee. Bring the open edges together as best you can (secure them with a co*cktail stick if you wish), then place the breasts skin side up in a roasting dish. Brush generously with olive oil, then season with sea salt and roast for 25-30 minutes until the skin is crisp and golden.
Make the lemon mayonnaise. Put the mayonnaise in a mixing bowl, finely grate in the zest of the lemon and stir in a little salt. Squeeze in the juice, a little at a time, tasting as you go. Stop when you have a refreshingly tart sauce. Finely chop the coriander and stir in. Let the chicken rest for 10 minutes before serving, together with a bowl of the mayonnaise.
Email Nigel at nigel.slater@observer.co.uk or follow him on Twitter @NigelSlater
