Kimchi Paste ( 김치 양념 )

Making kimchi is not as difficult as many will lead you to believe.  Sure, you can purchase kimchi from your local Korean market in various forms...but, often it is expensive and the portions are too large for a small family like mine.  That is why I prefer homemade kimchi.  It is inexpensive, and if you make too much, you can give it away to friends. 

This post is specifically how to make just the kimchi paste.  The paste is used to apply to prepared vegetables of your choice.  I will post how to make different kinds of kimchi later on. The recipe I like to use is an adaptation from the above cookbook by Taekyung Chung's,"The Korean Table."  I have made various changes to adjust to my family's personal tastes.  My family tends to favor kimchi on the sweeter side, more ginger, garlic, and with less seafood taste.

The recipe yields about 3 1/4 cups, stored in a air tight glass jar:
1 cup Korean coarse red pepper flakes
1/4 cup Korean fine pepper powder
1/2 cup water
8 cloves chopped garlic
1/4 cup peeled minced ginger
1 tbsp salt
3 tbsp white sugar
2 tbsp oyster sauce
2 tbsp fish sauce

At the time I was making this recipe, I recently moved and did not have any of my food processors with me, so I chopped the ginger and garlic by hand.  It worked just fine.  Chop ginger and garlic first, then mix all ingredients together in a bowl.  Once it is all mixed, add to a glass jar and store in the refrigerator for up to two months.