Pickling Daikon with the Power of Kim Chi Madness

Oct. 28, 2013: Avid follower(s) of the blog will be aware of the half-gallon of kim chi I fermented from a 5lb head of Napa Cabbage (aka Kim Chi Madness) about a month ago. By now it is fairly sharply sour, which is really good in dishes like Yoda's Fishes the Noodles Drainings Does! soup. Pondering the extra daikon I have from Dragon Land, I flashed on the idea of pickling daikon wedges in the ~3 pints of kim chi. Just jam them in there, let the already vinegary brine soak into them for a week, and see what I get.

After some stupidity, I cut the daikon spears in half on the bias to make a pointy end that could be driven into the kim chi more easily with the butt of a wooden spoon.

Then I drove them into the salty brine! Davy Jones's Locker! But with lots of chopped cabbage! And flavor! Here are two little wedges peeking out through the glass.

I'll probably give them a week to absorb the brine and do their own fermenting, which will change the flavor of the rest of the kim chi, I expect. I put it back up on top of the fridge to let it go at room temperature for a few days to let the fermentation kick itself off again after being in the fridge for while.

Oct. 29, 2013: It was left on top of the fridge overnight for warmth, and I just cracked the lid to see what was going on. The daikon wedges are fermenting, and there's the real brassicaceae sulfurous smell coming off the kim chi now.

Which is awesome. It might be offensive to a house guest. Deeply offensive, possibly. But I have no house guests, nor even dinner guests, so I'm letting it ride. The jar of kim chi madness is in the fridge again. I'll check the daikon in a few days. The possibility of quickly fermenting daikon spears in a kimchi matrix makes me want to punch through cinder block walls and then cradle and suckle the starving little babies that I find behind them.

Y'all know what that's like.

Nov. 4, 2013: Fishes the Daikons Spawn of Endra Does! Very pungent, but delicious fermented daikon! Still cripsy and spicy. What remains of the daikon and KimChi of Madness is depicted below.

AAAGAHAHAGGAHHHHHHH!!! So fermenty!!!!!!!!11!!!!!1!