Recipe by chef Brad Deboy, Elle, Washington D.C.
(Yield: eight servings)
Ingredients
Kimchi:
1 red cabbage, quartered
Salt
Garlic
Ginger
Cooked rice, warm
Gochugaru
Extra-virgin olive oil
Lemon zest
XO Sauce: (Yield: 1 gallon)
2 quarts canola or grapeseed oil
2 cups shallots, thinly sliced
1 cup garlic, thinly sliced
1 cup ginger, thinly sliced
6 cups gochujaru
½ cup Kikkoman Soy Sauce
¼ cup brown sugar
To Assemble:
8 thick slices sourdough or rye bread, toasted on grill
Labneh
Toasted sesame seeds
Cilantro leaves
Instructions
Kimchi: Scale cabbage and record weight. Measure two per cent salt by weight, three per cent peeled garlic cloves, three per cent peeled ginger, one per cent rice and one per cent gochugaru. Rub cabbage with salt. Into a Vitamix blender, add the garlic, ginger, rice and gochugaru and purée. In a fermentation vessel, combine the purée and salted cabbage. Ferment for at least one month.
Prepare and heat grill. Drain fermented cabbage, reserving liquid. Char kimchi. Medium dice charred kimchi and transfer to a non-reactive container. Marinate in reserved fermentation liquid and oil; season with zest.
XO Sauce: In a pot over very low flame, heat oil and slowly toast shallots, garlic and ginger until deeply browned and soft. Increase heat to medium-low, add gochugaru, and continue to toast (not burn) mixture, for about 45 minutes. Add Kikkoman Soy Sauce and brown sugar. Transfer to a Vitamix blender and purée.
To Assemble: Coat one side of toast with labneh. Arrange Kimchi on top. Garnish with XO sauce. Finish with sesame and cilantro.
