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Asian-Style Collard Greens

prep time:30 minutes
cook time:2 hours
Cooling Time15 minutes
total time:2 hours 45 minutes
I love collards but wanted something lighter than the traditional ham hock version. This uses dashi and a quick kimchi paste instead, which gives you all these layers of umami and funk and heat - it's a completely different take on what collards can be.
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Ingredients

For the Dashi Stock

  • 6 cups water
  • 1 piece kombu 4x4 inch
  • 2 cups packed katsuobushi bonito flakes
  • Alternatively instant dashi powder, use 4 cups of water and 2 teaspoons of hondashi

For the Kimchi Base

  • half a medium yellow onion roughly chopped
  • 1 jalapeno roughly chopped
  • whites from 2 green onions
  • 1-inch piece ginger peeled and chopped
  • 5 cloves garlic
  • 2 teaspoons sugar
  • 1.5 tablespoons gochugaru Korean pepper flakes
  • 2.5 tablespoons neutral oil
  • 1 tablespoon fish sauce
  • 1.5 tablespoons white vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon low sodium soy sauce

For the Collard Greens

  • 6 strips thick-cut bacon thinly sliced
  • 1 yellow onion thinly sliced
  • 2 lbs collard greens optional, stems removed and reserved , leaves roughly chopped
  • 4-5 garlic cloves thinly sliced
  • 2 tablespoons mirin
  • 2 tablespoons unseasoned rice vinegar
  • half a teaspoon table salt plus more to taste
  • 1/4 teaspoon granulated sugar plus more to taste

Instructions

  • Place kombu in pot with 6 cups water, bring to light simmer. Remove kombu when bubbles form.
  • Add bonito flakes, cover, steep 10 minutes. Strain to get 4 cups dashi.
  • Blend onion, jalapeno, green onion whites, ginger, garlic, gochugaru, and sugar to paste in food processor.
  • Heat oil in pan, cook paste until fragrant. Add fish sauce, then vinegar and soy sauce off heat.
  • Cook bacon in Dutch oven until crispy. Remove bacon, reserve fat.
  • Cook onion in bacon fat until translucent.
  • Add collard greens in batches until wilted. Add garlic.
  • Pour in dashi, bring to simmer. Cover and braise 1-2 hours until tender.
  • Turn off heat, stir in 4 tablespoons kimchi base, mirin, and rice vinegar.
  • Season with salt and sugar. Adjust to taste.
  • Serve greens with braising liquid and crispy bacon.

Notes

For stems - simmer in mixture of apple cider vinegar, water, sugar, and salt. Cool and refrigerate up to 1 month.