Kimchi can be made with almost any vegetable. This recipe uses summer veggies– eggplant and bell peppers, along with the Fermenters Club kimchi paste treatment, to create a delicious, smoky finished dish.
Red pepper powder is available at Asian/Korean markets. The only ingredient should be red peppers (no salt or preservatives). I’m partial to the stuff that’s actually from Korea (as opposed most brands which are from China). You might also find powder in Middle eastern or Latin American markets.
Eggplant Kimchi
Prep time
Fermentation time
Author: Fermenters Club
Recipe type: fermented vegetable
Yield: 2 pints
Ingredients
- 1 large or 2 medium purple eggplants (1½ to 2 lbs./700-900g total)
- 1 bell pepper (yellow, green or red)
- 4-6 scallions
- 3-5" piece fresh ginger
- 6-8 garlic cloves, peeled
- ¼ cup red pepper powder
- 1-2 oz. tamari or soy sauce
- 1-2 oz. fish sauce
- filtered water
- sea salt
Instructions
Soak Vegetables
- Slice eggplant into ¼" thick slices. Add to a colander and coat with a heavy layer of fine sea salt. Let drain for up to 2 hours.
- Rinse the slices lightly.
- Dissolve 3 tablespoons/45mL fine grain sea salt into one quart/liter of warm water in a half-gallon (or larger) glass or ceramic container. Stir until salt dissolves.
- Add slices to the brine. Cover with a plastic lid or plate and weigh down (I use a wine bottle filled with water) so that the contents stay under the brine. Leave for up to 4 hours.
- Drain the slices through a colander, reserving about a cup of the brine. Lightly squeeze the slices to ring out excess brine (eggplants are like sponges).
Prepare spice paste
- Peel ginger (using a spoon) and roughly chop. Add to bowl of a food processor. If not using food processor, mince the ginger and add to a bowl.
- Peel and grate the garlic and roughly chop. Add to bowl of a food processor. If not using food processor, mince garlic and add to a bowl.
- Chop 2-3 of the scallions into ¼" slices. Add to food processor. If not using food processor, slice into thinner (1/16") strips and add to bowl.
- Chop the remaining scallions into 1-inch pieces.
- Remove the core, seeds and membrane from the bell pepper, then cut into 1" squares. Add to the eggplant slices.
- Add pepper powder, 1 ounce tamari and 1 oz. fish sauce to mixing bowl. Vegan variation: omit fish sauce and use 2 ounces tamari.
- Stir and mash contents (or pulse with food processor) together until a paste forms. Add more tamari and fish sauce as needed or desired until you achieve a paste-- not too dry, not too runny.
Pack Jar or Crock
- Wearing a latex or plastic glove to protect yourself from the heat of the peppers, Mix paste thoroughly with your hands into the eggplant, peppers, and the other half of the scallions. You can mix everything directly in the fermenting container, or in a separate large mixing bowl. Mix until the veggies are coated nicely with the paste.
- Pack the jar (a half-gallon jar or two quart-sized jars should suffice) with the vegetables.
Ferment
- Cover with a plastic lid or plate, and weigh down so that the contents stay under the brine.
- If using smaller (quart) jars, find a small glass jar (filled with water) that closely fits inside the diameter of the jar. No need to insert a plate or lid if using smaller jars.
- Cover jar(s) with a cloth and rubber band to keep flies out.
- If after one day, the contents are not completely submerged, top it off with some of the reserved brine.
- Store in a warmest spot in your kitchen for 5 to 7 days. Note: Your house will smell like kimchi while it's fermenting.
- When you like the texture, move it to the refrigerator. Will keep for several months in the refrigerator.
Author and founder of Fermenters Club. I’ve been fermenting food for 14 years.
In 2024, I published my first book, Fearless Fermenting.
When not stuffing things into jars, I enjoy permaculture gardening, cooking, yoga, writing, and studying cosmology and esoteric traditions.
What is the reason for the 4 hour brine?