Thursday 9 May 2013

Kimchi: Save The Garlic Mustard Campaign!

I say "if you can't beat 'em - eat 'em"! This applied to garlic mustard. A super plant which fights cancer, this should be loved - not scorned! While research is showing it may harm forest trees, we certainly do know it invades and takes over the forest as well. But so have humans!

Like other members of the mustard family [such as cabbage, broccoli, komatsuna,...], this contains isothiocyanates, one of the chemopreventive constituents of the mustard family plants. It also has allyl sulfides - the cancer preventives found in garlic. James A. Duke also notes that it has been found to have twice the chemopreventive betacarotene of spinach!

And kimchi, the Korean ferment, preserves without killing the enzymes/life of the plant - as vinegar, boiling, canning do. Here's how:

You need:
garlic mustard - about 8 or more cups - chopped into mouth sized sections
salt - the darker the better from the sea
large piece of ginger
lots of garlic
onions/chives
hot pepper
fish sauce if you like

1. Cut up gm and place handfull into crock or big bowl
2. Sprinkle salt to lightly cover
3. Continue alternating till done
4. Put a plate and weight on top over night to squeeze out the water
5. Next day combine chopped other ingredients and add to gm
6. Put in sealed mason jar and crush down with pestal or other tool
7. If not enough liquid to cover, make a brine of 5% salt solution: about 1 T/1 Cup of H2O
8. Twice a day press down the veges, keeping at room temperature
9. After 2-3 days, put in fridge and should last a year or more...
10. Enjoy and do w/ other veges too, or mix gm with other veges.


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