If you’re new to making fermented vegan cheeses this is a great one to start with. It only has a few ingredients and is quick to turnaround.
The result is a smooth cream cheese with an astonishing amount of flavour packed in. It’s tangy with a hint of spice and a mellow savoury creaminess.
what is kimchi?
Ok first things first. Kimchi is a traditional Korean food, made using cabbage, Korean chilli (gochugaru), garlic and ginger. It’s fermented which both gives the distinctive tangy flavour, and also means it’s full of healthy lactic acid bacteria.
If you’re not a huge fan of chilli, don’t worry as the flavour is more muted in the cheese and the kimchi I’ve found in the UK is rarely super spicy. I’m a wuss with heat and I’ve never met one that I couldn’t eat.
You can also use sauerkraut or another fermented vegetable in place of kimchi - see recipe notes below.
the topping possibilities are endless!
I served this cheese on little rice crackers, topped with more kimchi, sesame seeds and spring onions on top. The perfect snack, pre-dinner or canapé, if you’re the refined type who serves such things!
I’m generally less refined and also think this would make a tasty dip for dunking crisps into (something substantial like a tortilla chip).
It would also make a brilliant topper for a sourdough-toast-brunch situation. Spread a thick layer of this cheese then pile some panfried garlic mushrooms and spinach, or roasted tomatoes on top. Yes avocado would also be yummy, but we’re all trying to eat less of them, aren’t we?
Oooh and you could also cook noodles and mix some of this cheese in with a little noodle water to make a super creamy, tangy sauce. Top with some stir fried greens and tofu, quick drizzle of sesame oil and bam! Comfort dinner in a bowl.
In short: It’s delicious, it’s versatile and I think you should make it.
before I decided the crackers needed some green, but I rather like the simplicity of this palette
Fermented cheeses tend to have a lot more going on than their non-fermented counterparts. This recipe uses kimchi as both a source of good bacteria for fermenting, which is what gives the pleasing tang to the cheese, and also for the chilli/garlic/ginger flavour.
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kimchi tips!
When choosing a kimchi, it must be one that is ‘live’. A lot of the time they’ll say “full of live bacteria” or such on the label. The right type will be sold in the fridge. Anything stored at room temperature won’t work as it will have been pasteurised. And definitely give this abomination a swerve.
Be sure to check the ingredients if you’re vegan, as traditionally kimchi often contains fish sauce or dried shrimp paste.
If you can get your hands on (or make your own) homemade kimchi, then more’s the better.
I used this by The Cultured Collective but there are so many great options now. This Vadasz one seems to be widely available, but there are lots of smaller brands too. I’ve tried this one which is delicious, and this one also looks good. You won’t be using the whole jar so it’s good to get one that you’ll enjoy eating the remainder of!
my jar of kimchi - so alive it was bubbling!
If you haven’t read last week’s post on the basics of making fermented cheeses, and how to do it safely (sterilising etc), then please do have a quick read of the below first.
25g live kimchi - see notes above for choosing one
1/2 tsp/4g fine sea salt
60ml water
Method:
Start by blanching the cashews: Boil a kettle of water and place the cashews into a medium sized bowl. When the kettle has boiled pour the hot water over the cashews, making sure they’re well covered, and leave to sit while you carry on with step 2. This helps to kill any bad bacteria that may be on the cashews.
Sterilise all of your equipment: blender jug, spoons, spatula, an a container with a lid for your cheese to ferment in.
Drain the cashews and add to a high speed blender along with the kimchi, salt and water. Blend until completely smooth. You might need to stop to scrape it down a few times.
Pour your cheese into the container with the lid and place in a warm corner of your kitchen. 18-22°C is ideal, but not to worry if it’s a bit warmer or cooler.
After 12 hours check your cheese for fermentation. I like to do this by scraping a spoon over the surface to reveal the cheese beneath. It should feel light, puffy and aerated, and have visible bubbles under the surface - see photos below. Have a taste and see how the flavour is developing. If you’re happy with the taste you can continue on to the next step, but if not, or if it doesn’t look fermented yet, cover up and leave for another 12 hours. I found 24 hours to be the sweet spot.
cheese bubbles showing fermentation after 24 hours
Once your cheese is ready give it a good stir to remove the excess air from the bubbles. Think of this like knocking air out of dough that’s been left to prove. Have another taste and see if you’d like to adjust the seasoning at all. If you’d like to add any extra ingredients you can also do that now.
Your cheese is now ready to eat! I personally like to place it in the fridge for at least 4 hours, or overnight to set, as it firms up slightly as it chills, which is a better consistency for spreading.
Storage: Keep cheese covered in the fridge. It will last for around 5 days.
Recipe tips:
If you don’t want to wait to soak cashews overnight you can boil them in water for 20 minutes - if you do this you can also skip the blanching in step 1.
If you’d like to add additional flavourings to the cheese you can mix them in at step 5 after fermenting. Cracked black pepper, chopped spring onions, smoked paprika or chilli flakes would all be tasty.
I used a combination of the kimchi itself (cabbage leaves etc) and some of the liquid in the jar. If you have a very wet kimchi and just want to use up the ‘juice’ as a fermentation liquid you can absolutely do so but reduce the water accordingly to 40ml.
If you’d like to make this using sauerkraut or another fermented vegetable then use the same amounts as above, but note that you might want to add extra salt and possibly flavourings at step 5, as the kimchi does a lot of heavy lifting on the flavour front.
have I convinced you to try kimchi yet?
So there you have it - our first fermented cheese recipe! I really hope you give it a try. If you do I’d love to know what you think ❤️
As ever if you have any questions, or just wanna say hi - drop me a comment below!
The tip about boiling the cashews is so helpful as my time & organisation skills are poor! Makes it more accessible, thank you 🙏