Alex Elliott-Howery has a passion for pickling. It began with an abundance of zucchini grown in her own backyard; her family was sick of eating it, her friends couldn’t take any more. So, she decided to teach herself how to pickle them.
This was the foundation of Cornersmith, a duo of now-closed cafes as well as a picklery and a fermenting school, all dedicated to zero-waste cooking and seasonality. It also spawned four cookbooks by Elliott-Howery, teaching punters how to cook smarter and cut down on food waste.
Her latest cookbook, The Pocket Pickler, is a greatest hits of all the savoury pickles, chutneys, relishes and sauces from her first four cookbooks. Split into seasons, it’s a handy manual for using up what you already have in your kitchen year-round. Used a couple of lettuce leaves for a salad and now the rest is destined for landfill? Make Korean-style soy-pickled lettuce. Bought an entire knob of ginger for a recipe that called for just a couple of slivers? Turn the rest into a punchy ginger paste. Or, if you’ve got a host of odd fruit and veg rattling around your crisper, use them in Elliott-Howery’s “kitchen scrap” kimchi. You’ll cut down on food waste and end up with a punchy ferment to add to eggs, rice and any other dishes that call for some big flavour.
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“Kimchi is one of Korea’s great culinary gifts to the world,” she writes. “There are many kimchis, from white kimchi to delicate kimchis made with rice water. For this recipe, use up whatever vegetables you have on hand, but keep in mind that a great kimchi balances salty, sour, spicy and a touch of sweet.”
This kimchi will last up to six months in the fridge.
Alex Elliott-Howery’s “kitchen scrap” kimchi
Makes 3 x 500ml jars
Preparation time: 45 minutes, plus 2–7 days fermenting
Ingredients
500g wombok (Chinese cabbage)
500g daikon
100g fresh ginger
4 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tbsp chilli flakes
1¼ tbsp salt
750g mixed vegetables and fruit, such as pumpkin, carrots, kale and kale stems, chokos, nashi pears and radish tops
Method
Wash all the vegetables. Tear the wombok into small pieces and place in a large mixing bowl.
Peel the daikon, then grate the daikon and ginger into another bowl. Add the garlic, chilli and salt and mix together. This wet mixture is now your paste.
Prepare whatever other vegetables you are using. Cut them in a uniform way, to the same size.
Add these vegetables to your wombok and gently massage together until all the water is released. Once your vegetables feel wet, add your daikon paste and keep massaging. You want to be able to pick up a handful of vegetables and see water running when you give them a gentle squeeze.
Pack your vegetables into clean jars, pressing down to release air bubbles as you go, and leaving 2cm space at the top of the jars. The surface of your vegetables should be covered with 1cm of liquid. If not, top up with water. Wipe the rim of the jars with paper towel or a clean damp cloth and seal.
Place your jars out of direct sunlight for 2–7 days, depending on the ambient temperature. The warmer the weather, the faster your vegetables will ferment. Open your jar every few days to “burp” your ferment – this will release the built-up carbon dioxide and prevent brine spilling out of the jar. Just be sure to press down your kimchi afterwards, so that the brine is covering the top by at least 1cm. If any brine does escape, simply wipe the jar down.
After 2 days, taste your kimchi. If you like it, put it in the refrigerator, where it will last for up to 6 months. If you want to ferment your kimchi further, keep checking and tasting every 2 days until you’re happy with the flavour, then store in the fridge.
Images and text from Pocket Pickler by Alex Elliott-Howery, photography by Alan Benson. Murdoch Books RRP $29.99.
