Photo: 최광모 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Kimchi (Napa Cabbage Kimchi)
Korea's iconic fermented dish — napa cabbage salted, then layered with a paste of gochugaru, garlic, ginger, and fermented seafood, and left to ferment. Crisp when fresh, deep and tangy when aged; the foundation of Korean cooking.
Ingredients
- Napa cabbage · about 2-2.5kg1 head
- Coarse sea salt · for brining1 cup
- Korean radish · julienned0.5
- Scallions · 5cm lengths1 handful
- Rice porridge
- Water1.5 cups
- Glutinous rice flour2 tbsp
- Kimchi paste
- Gochugaru · fine + coarse1 cup
- Minced garlic3 tbsp
- Minced ginger1 tbsp
- Salted shrimp · minced2 tbsp
- Fish sauce · anchovy3 tbsp
- Sugar · or plum syrup1 tbsp
- Onion · grated0.5
Steps
- ⏲ 300 min
Halve the cabbage through the core, salt between every leaf, and brine in salt water 4-6 hours, turning once.
- ⏲ 60 min
When the stems bend without snapping, rinse three times to remove salt and drain cut-side down for an hour.
- ⏲ 5 min
Whisk the rice flour into the water and cook over low heat, stirring, into a porridge; let it cool.
- ⏲ 3 min
Mix the cooled porridge with gochugaru, garlic, ginger, salted shrimp, fish sauce, sugar, and grated onion, then fold in the radish and scallions.
- ⏲ 10 min
Spread the paste evenly between every leaf of the brined cabbage. Wrap with an outer leaf and pack tightly into a container.
Ferment at room temperature 1-2 days until bubbles appear, then refrigerate. Good fresh or aged.
Tips & Variations
Variations
- Geotjeori: Fresh, unfermented kimchi — just dress the salted cabbage and eat right away.
- Baek-kimchi: White kimchi made without chili, clean and refreshing.
- Vegan kimchi: Skip the seafood; build umami with soy/doenjang or shiitake stock.
- Chonggak/kkakdugi: Same paste on whole young radishes or diced radish.
Tips
- Brining is 80% of it — not too salty, not under-salted; the stems should bend, not snap.
- The rice porridge helps the paste cling to the cabbage and aids fermentation.
- Fermented seafood (salted shrimp, fish sauce) is the key to umami — sub kelp/shiitake for vegan.
- Leave it at room temp 1-2 days to kick off fermentation, then chill for deeper flavor.
- Wear gloves, and press out the air in the container to avoid off-flavors.
The basics behind this dish
- Fermentation Basics: Salt, Temperature, and AirFermentation is controlled spoilage. You control it with exactly three levers — salt, temperature, and keeping air out — and the failure signs are unambiguous.
- Blanching: Keeping Vegetables GreenBlanched vegetables go dull because of acid and heat. Why the pot should be large, why the lid stays off, and what the ice bath is really for.
- Salt: When You Add It Matters More Than How MuchThe same amount of salt either draws water out or seasons all the way through, depending on when it goes in. Osmosis, seasoning in layers, and why salt types are not interchangeable by volume.
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