How kimchi can save your body and the planet

As I'm sure my parents would have been totally stressed out trying to teach me to drive all those years ago, right now, I'm going through my rite of passage as a parent, with my son behind the wheel.

Sure, times have changed and you could say that kids have it easier these days. Today's cars have many more safety features and soon learning to drive a car may even become obsolete as self-drive cars are already proving that they can be safer.

This is little comfort as you come up to the Barton Highway for the first time. Depending on the time of day, it is hard to pick which population of drivers is the hardest to deal with.

Early morning should be quieter, but this is "tradies hour" when the road is full of speeding utes – sleek Holden SS Storms or the old, rattly Toyotas. We could try later, but it's packed then, and no one will ever let another car come in from a side road unless you charge out and pretty well force yourself into the line. As a learner-driver this is terrifying, but it has to be done eventually, so it's their own rite of passage to make that turn. Everything else afterwards is easy.

Likewise, it is the rite of passage of every cook, one who sees themselves as adventurous and brave, to eventually acquire their first fermentation crock. It's like the "anti-Thermomix", a step back in time where these vessels would have preserved the family's food reserves before refrigeration, preservatives and, the petroleum industry's gift to the world, plastics.

You don't have to be a research scientist to get the point that our increasing reliance on preservatives, genetic engineering, anti-bacterial cleaning products, fertilisers and herbicides is part and parcel of over populating the earth. However, the price we pay is increasing rates of diabetes, asthma, allergies and intolerances, heart disease, the list goes on. There are more than a few links to this diet and how it affects not only the important microflora in the soils that grow our feed but also the little bugs within ourselves, that are essential to how we process our food.

So this little crock may just be what we need to save the planet. It's sure to be a slippery slope. Next you'll be living in a VW Kombi and weaving your own sandals but I'm positive that if we got back to basics in our diet, got interested in the full story of where our food comes from and started to preserve food in little crockery jars all over the house, maybe we can do this, save the planet.

Ground-zero crock production is kimchi. You can build up to all sorts of things but just a simple vegetable fermentation is a pretty neat way ti introduce some good bacteria back to your systems. You can use any chilli if you can't find the Korean kochukara, or leave it out altogether. If you aren't into having stuff bubbling away in the pantry just buy kimchi. This very simple recipe makes a superb roast duck dinner in any case.

Basic kimchi

1 large wombok (Chinese cabbage)
60-80g Murray river salt flakes
2 daikon
2 large carrots
2 tsp sugar
1 bunch spring onions
1 head garlic
1 large knob ginger

¼ cup fish sauce
30ml soy sauce
30g Korean dried shrimp flakes
20g kochukara

Cut the cabbage in quarters lengthways, cut out the core and slice across into two-centimetre strips. Weigh these and use 30g salt per kilogram of cabbage. Mix the salt through the cabbage and cover with water. Weigh this down and leave for about three hours submerged.

Meanwhile, cut the daikon​ and carrot into a thick julienne, sprinkle with a teaspoon of salt and the sugar. Let this cure for half an hour then rinse off. Cut the spring onions into two-centimetre lengths, finely dice or grate the ginger and garlic.

Once the cabbage is ready, drain and squeeze out as much water as you can. Mix everything together, adding the sauces and other condiments, working the mixture until you are sure it is fully homogenised.

Pack tightly into the crock, making sure there are no air pockets. Weigh down the top with whatever you have on hand. Within a few hours, or certainly overnight, you should have enough liquid released to cover the vegetables completely. If not, add extra water so this is the case.

Now it's a waiting game. At least three days at 20C, longer if ambient temperature is cooler but once you have the flavour and acidity at a pleasing level, pack into sterilised jars and refrigerate.

Roast duck kimchi

1 Chinese roast duck
vegetable oil
2 onions, sliced
2 cups kimchi
2-3 tbsp mirin
½ bunch spring onion, shredded

steamed rice to serve

Separate the meat from the bones of the duck. Shred the meat and use the bones to make a quick stock by covering with water and simmering for an hour. Saute the onions in oil until very soft and just starting to caramelise, add the kimchi and enough duck stock to cover.

Bring this a simmer and cook for 10 minutes, add the cooked duck meat and heat through. Tasting the broth, it should be acidic and salty, add the mirin to balance the palate with sweetness. Depending on the kimchi this may take more or less mirin.

Serve over rice, sprinkled with spring onion.

Bryan Martin is the winemaker at Clonakilla and Ravensworth.