Just like gluten-free diets and unicorn-themed desserts, fermented foods are in vogue right now. Pop into wholefoods, or scroll through Instagram, and you will be met with brew-your-own-kombucha kits, pots or artisanal sauerkraut, and blocks of tempeh. Probiotics are in. Bacteria can be good for you (and your gut!).
For those unfortunate enough to be unfamiliar with Kimchi’s splendours: it is a spicy, assertive Korean pickle. The kind you find in stores here is often made with the wilted, wispy leaves of a head of napa cabbage, but any vegetable can be made into kimchi. In its simplest form, Kimchi is the perfect bedfellow to a steaming cloud of white rice. But it is often seen stuffed into dumplings, added to fried rice or left to bubble in a noodle soup. It is the ubiquitous condiment of Korea, lending its excessive boldness to any dish that lacks a little oomph.
Any kimchi purist will tell you that taking a handful of the funky, fermented cabbage, chopping it up, and folding it into mac and cheese is absolute blasphemy. Similarly, they will cringe as we stuff it between bread, nestled next to slices of cheese. They despair as we scatter it with abandon, over rounds of thin-crust pizza. Kimchi is popping up everywhere, from the gooey core of a still-molten quesadilla to being blitzed into a twangy compound butter.
But the beauty of kimchi lies in its ability to vastly improve pretty much anything. And while it is traditionally partnered with rice, or noodles – pop some into a mac and cheese (a vegan one at that), and it can make your whole dish sing anew. Enter: vegan kimchi mac and cheese.
I know, I know. Vegan mac and cheese. Not another one. How on earth can a potato and a carrot transform into a sauce meant to mimic the golden lava of a classic mac and cheese? The kimchi here works not only because it adds colour and crunch, but also because its fermented flavour turns the potato-and-carrot-based-sauce into a very different beast. It adds character, and it tinges the sauce with a hint of crimson.
The mess of pasta, twangy sauce, kimchi and tufts of fresh basil seep out beneath a canopy of golden crust. Vegan kimchi mac and cheese is rich, it is seductive. It’s going to change your relationship with mac and cheese.
If you are struggling finding a brand of kimchi without shrimp or fish sauce, you can always make your own. I do! It is a long process, but most of that is spent letting the cabbage sit in a bowl with a hefty bit of salt. I am working on publishing my own recipe, but for now – Minimalist Baker has a great recipe.
If you’re serving up a Korean-inspired feast, my gochujang cauliflower wings make the perfect partner-in-crime to this sassy mac.
- 1 cup peeled cubed white potato
- ½ cup peeled cubed carrot
- 2 cloves of garlic, peeled
- 1 tsp rice vinegar
- 3 large pickled jalapeño slices
- 2 tbsp jalapeño pickling liquid
- ¼ cup kimchi
- 2 tbsp kimchi water
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 1½ tsp cornstarch
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
- ½ tsp soy sauce
- Pasta enough for 2 people, cooked (160g dried pasta or 250g fresh vegan pasta)
- ½ cup kimchi, chopped
- 1 spring onion, chopped
- 1 spring of basil, chopped
- ¼ cup golden breadcrumbs
- 1 tsp white and black sesame seeds each
- In a large saucepan, bring a pot of water to a boil. Boil the potato, carrot, and garlic cloves for 10 minutes. Transfer the cooked vegetable to a blender, along with ½ a cup of the cooking liquid. Add the vinegar, jalapenos, jalapeno water, kimchi, kimchi water, tomato paste, cornstarch, nutritional yeast, and soy sauce to the blender jug. Blend until smooth.
- Stir this 'cheese' sauce into the cooked pasta, along with more chopped up kimchi, the spring onion, and basil. Pour this into a pie dish or cast iron pan, and level it out.
- Sprinkle the breadcrumbs and sesame seeds on top the mac and cheese, then place under the grill for 4-5 minutes until the top is bronzed, but keep an eye on it so it doesn't burn!
- Serve piping hot!
I made this with gluten-free pasta since that is what I had on hand, but if you can also use regular pasta!
I sometimes make kimchi fried rice, gotta try this recipe very soon. Thank you for sharing!