Kimchi is a type of fermented food that originates from Korea. Kimchiโs name varies depending on the main vegetables used. Here, you will find my best napa cabbage kimchi recipe made in pogi kimchi (whole cabbage kimchi) style.
This is the most popular variety and is very versatile! You can either eat it as is or use it in your cooking. Itโs also a healthy and tasty food with many benefits. Letโs make it at home!
Table of Contents
- What is Kimchi?
- Benefits of Homemade Kimchi
- What Does Kimchi Taste Like
- My Best Kimchi Making Tips
- How to Store Kimchi
- Other Kimchi Recipes You Might Like
- What To Do With Kimchi
- Kimchi Ingredients
- How to Make Kimchi
What is Kimchi
Kimchi / Kimchee (๊น์น) is a traditional Korean side dish made from fermented cabbage, radish, or cucumber. It is often categorized by the main vegetable ingredient used to make it.
Kimchi is a staple food in Korean cuisine. Most Koreans have it with almost every Korean meal at least once a day. The most popular kimchi includes baechu kimchi (made with napa cabbage, ๋ฐฐ์ถ๊น์น), kkakdugi (made with radish, ๊น๋๊ธฐ), and oi kimchi (made with cucumber, ์ค์ด๊น์น).
Benefits of Homemade Kimchi
One of the advantages of homemade kimchi is that you can control the flavor by controlling the ingredients that go into it. By making it at home, you can use the ingredients that suit your dietary requirement (e.g. vegan kimchi) as well.
You can also control the fermentation process better to meet your taste buds by controlling the temperature of the environment.
Meanwhile, if you want to learn more about the health benefits of kimchi in general, check out this article from WebMD.
What Does Kimchi Taste Like
Kimchi has quite a complex flavor and not every kimchi has the same taste.
First, it is slightly salty because it has been pickled in salty brine for as little as 30 minutes to overnight. Second, it is slightly spicy in general, excluding white kimchi, which does not use any Korean chili flakes.
Third, it has umami flavor. Itโs also seasoned with Korean fish sauce to aid fermentation, so as time goes by, the deeper the kimchiโs flavor develops. Forth, ripened kimchi is sour and has a pungent smell. This stage of kimchi is great for cooking.
Though one thing I know is that even though many people love kimchi, there are many people who donโt like it because of its strong garlic smell and taste. Also, the longer it ferments, the stronger the smell and flavor will be, as if something is rotting in your fridge.
My Best Kimchi Making Tips
Making kimchi successfully is more challenging than you might think. Thatโs because there are many variables that could go wrong. I will highlight some important aspects of making kimchi at home.
1. Brining
Based on my experience, the initial, and most critical step in the process of making a successful kimchi is to brine the napa cabbage.
Brining kimchi cabbage uses the osmotic action of salt to dehydrate the cabbage and season it at an appropriate salinity. Through this process, the fresh smell of cabbage is removed and the growth of various germs that cause the kimchi to become soft is prevented.
Furthermore, it creates an environment in which lactic acid bacteria and enzymes are easy to grow, and this interaction between them allows the kimchi to ripen properly.
Also, if you over-brine kimchi, it can turn out very salty, and thereโs nothing you can do to fix this failure. Therefore, itโs important to know the right way to salt it when making kimchi.
2. Timing
Traditionally, making kimchi has been a whole day process. Particularly if it involves kimjang, a Korean traditional kimchi making activity during winter months, it could take two days to complete, depending on the batch size.
Any how, if you decided to follow my recipe, I suggest you donโt change the pickling time as it can affect the taste. I tested different brining time and 6 hours turned out to be the sweet spot. If you pickle for too long, your kimchi will turn out to be very salty. If you pickle for a shorter time, kimchi can taste bland and it might not ferment well. It can even get mouldy quicker too.
3. Portioning
When seasoning the pickled cabbage with the kimchi paste, make sure you mentally portion out the seasoning well from the beginning so that you donโt run out of the paste until the end.
Bear in mind that kimchi wonโt look very red immediately after being seasoned. It will gradually turn redder over time during the long fermentation process.
4. Substitutions FAQ
Making kimchi can be challenging enough, finding the right kimchi ingredients can add an additional layer of frustration to the whole experience.
As someone who was born & raised in Korea, I canโt imagine substituting non-Korean ingredients for kimchi, even though I can for other Korean dishes.
Anyhow, here are some questions I bet you have for me, with my answers.
Q1. What can I substitute gochugaru (Korean chili flakes) with?
I think gochugaru is irreplaceable, especially when it comes to kimchi, but then again, there are many people who try other combinations of chili flakes just because they canโt make kimchi otherwise.
These people often use hot paprika powder and/or dry chili flakes as a combination. Just remember that gochugaru is more of a mild type of chili flakes, so if you use these combinations, you will have to play around a bit until the ratio is right to your taste.
Q2. Can I use โother fish sauceโ instead of โKorean fish sauceโ?
Many people point out that Korean fish sauce is more pungent and salty than Thai or Vietnamese fish sauce. These people often state that you should never substitute these for Korean fish sauce, as it can ruin your kimchi to the point that your kimchi may rot instead of fermenting over time.
That being said, Iโve seen other people using Red Boat 40N and Three Crabs fish sauce quite successfully in their kimchi. I wouldnโt know how, or if, the taste differs compared to when you use Korean fish sauce. Iโm too scared to let my hard work on kimchi fail this way, so I havenโt tried it myself. But one of these days, I shall sacrifice on your behalf.
But until then, I will let you make your own choice. I will reiterate it. Your safest bet here is using Korean fish sauce โ anchovy sauce, sand lance sauce or similar etc. But if these options are not viable, then take your chance.
Q3. I canโt find saeujeot (salted fermented small shrimps). What can I use instead?
Saeujeot is typically found at a large Korean grocer, either in the fridge or freezer section. General Asian grocers or small Korean grocers may not carry it if demand is low. If you canโt find saeujeot, you can substitute it with Korean fish sauce.
Q4. What can I do to veganize a kimchi recipe?
The main ingredients you will have to substitute to veganize the kimchi is the Korean fish sauce and saeujeot (salted fermented small shrimps). For these, you could use vegan fish sauce or soy sauce / tamari.
5. Additional Ingredients
While the highlight of napa cabbage kimchi is the napa cabbage, you can add other green vegetables to give more texture. These include chives, mustard greens, water parsley, and young radish greens.
Though there is no need to fret if you canโt find them. These are nice to have ingredients, but not essential.
How to Store Kimchi
It is important to know how to store kimchi properly in order to keep it โfreshโ longer. The best ways to store kimchi is to keep it in an airtight container and in the refrigerator.
Even better, if you have a specialty fridge like a โkimchi refrigeratorโ at home, as it will help store kimchi at the perfect temperature. A constant cold temperature will help prevent spoilage and maintain optimal kimchi quality.
As for the airtight container, if you live near a place with a high Korean population, you may be able to buy a โkimchi containerโ as well. I recommend a stainless steel container in this regard or, at the very least, a BPA-free plastic container.
These kimchi containers go beyond regular airtight containers. Kimchi in these containers really last much longer. One of my kimchi batches still tasted as new even after 4 weeks of fermentation in the fridge.
To ferment faster, I eventually transferred it into a different container. This allowed us to have more of that tangy kimchi flavor. So storage containers do make a difference in the quality and taste of kimchi.
But, be sure to only fill your kimchi container up to 70 or 80% of the way full. This is to prevent the kimchi liquid from overflowing and allow the gas generated by fermentation to circulate around the container instead of out.
The more time kimchi is exposed to oxygen, the quicker it will ferment. This can result in mold developing and raise the risk of a foul odor.
For kimchi storage, an ideal temperature is 3-5 degrees Celsius. So try to minimize opening the fridge door as that leads to fluctuations in the fridgeโs internal temperature.
Kimchi can typically last in the fridge for a couple of months, but depending on the storage conditions you could keep it for up to a year or so too.
Other Kimchi Recipes You Might Like
- Kimchi Salad (Geotjeori)
- Radish Kimchi (Kkakdugi)
- Baek Kimchi (White Kimchi)
- Cucumber Kimchi (Oi Kimchi)
What To Do With Kimchi
There are many other dishes you can create with kimchi such as Kimchi Fried Rice, Kimchi Jjigae, and Kimchi Pancake. But if you want even more ideas, check my How to Eat to Kimchi post. There I share 14 delicious ways to eat kimchi.
Kimchi Ingredients
Main Ingredients
- 4kg (8.8 pounds) napa cabbage (Chinese cabbage), remove thick outer cabbage leaves
- 16 cups (3840 ml) water
- 1.5 cups (285g / 10 ounces) Korean coarse sea salt or natural rock salt (for salt water)
- 1/2 cup (97g / 3.4 ounces) cooking salt, medium sized crystals (for sprinkle)
Kimchi Seasoning / Kimchi Paste
- 2 Tbsp glutinous rice flour (sweet rice flour)
- 1.5 cups (360 ml) water
- 1.5 cups (141g / 4.97 ounces) gochugaru (Korean chili flakes)
- 540g / 19 ounces Korean radish or daikon radish, julienned
- 1 Tbsp fine sea salt
- 3.5 Tbsp Korean fish sauce
- 2 Tbsp salted fermented shrimp (saeujeot), minced
- 90g / 3.2 ounces Korean chives, cut in 5 cm / 2 inch length
- 140g / 4.9 ounces carrots, julienned
- 1/4 cup (42g / 1.48 ounces) minced garlic
- 1/2 Tbsp minced ginger
- 2 Tbsp raw sugar
- 75g / 2.6 ounces onion, blended (with a stick blender or vegetable chopper) or finely grated
*1 Tbsp = 15 ml, 1 cup = 250 ml
** If you want to learn more about Korean ingredients, check my essential Korean ingredients list.
How to Make Kimchi
1. Cut the napa cabbage into quarters and rinse it in running water. Make sure the stem is intact.
2. Dissolve the coarse salt in the water (16 cups) in a large bowl. Dip the napa cabbage in the saltwater one at a time and transfer it onto a tray for further salting.
Pinch some cooking salt (1/2 cup total for all pickled cabbages) and rub over the thick white part of the cabbage. Open each leaf gently and sprinkle the salt over the thick white part. Repeat this for the rest of the cabbage. Reserve the saltwater from when you soaked the cabbage for later use.
3. Put the salted cabbage in a large food grade plastic bag or large bucket (wedge side of the cabbage to be facing up) and pour in the reserved saltwater from step 2. Close the plastic bag. If using a bucket, get something heavy on top of the cabbage to press down (e.g heavy pot with water).
Set the cabbage aside for 6 hours to pickle. Rotate the cabbage upside down every 2 hours. Using a large food grade plastic bag will make the turning process much easier than using a large bucket.
4. Once the soaking process is finished, rinse the cabbages in running water, especially the thick white part of the cabbage, to get rid of the salt. Place them in a colander and allow to drain for 1 hour.
5. While waiting, prepare the glutinous rice paste. Mix glutinous rice flour with the water (1.5 cups) in a saucepan and boil it over medium heat for 5-8 minutes, until it thickens. Once ready, transfer the rice paste to the medium-size bowl and let it cool. Add Korean chili flakes once it has cooled. Then, combine them well.
6. Prepare a large mixing bowl and add radish, fine sea salt, Korean fish sauce, and salted fermented shrimp. Leave it for 10 minutes for the radish to salt down. Add Korean chives, carrots, minced garlic, minced ginger, sugar, blended onion, and the Korean chili flakes mixture from step 5. Mix them well. Now the kimchi seasoning / kimchi paste is made, ready for use.
7. Place a quarter of a cabbage on a tray. Spread the seasonings over each leaf. (You only need to season one side of the leaf.) 1 to 2 small fistfuls of seasoning is enough per quarter of cabbage. Repeat this step for the rest of the cabbage. Donโt pull the cabbage leaves off the stem, leave them attached so it holds together better.
8. Transfer the kimchi into a kimchi container or an airtight container (and put the lid on). Leave it out at room temperature for 24 hours, then move it to the refrigerator. While you can start eating it once itโs chilled, you may want to wait 3-4 more days for it to develop more flavor.
9. Once the kimchi is ready to eat, chop a small portion and store it in a smaller glass container. This makes it more convenient to serve with your meal. Keep the other batches intact in the large kimchi container. This way, you only cut it up as needed, which helps keep the remaining kimchi fresh longer.
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Kimchi Recipe
Ingredients
MAIN INGREDIENTS
- 4 kg napa cabbage (8.8 pounds), remove thick outer cabbage leaves
- 16 cups water (3840 ml)
- 1.5 cups Korean coarse sea salt or natural rock salt (for salt water), (285g / 10 ounces)
- 1/2 cup cooking salt , medium sized crystals (for sprinkle), (97g / 3.4 ounces)
KIMCHI SEASONING / KIMCHI PASTE
- 2 Tbsp glutinous rice flour (sweet rice flour)
- 1.5 cups water (360 ml)
- 1.5 cups gochugaru (Korean chili flakes), (141g / 4.97 ounces)
- 540 g Korean radish or daikon radish (19 ounces), julienned
- 1 Tbsp fine sea salt
- 3.5 Tbsp Korean fish sauce
- 2 Tbsp salted fermented shrimp , minced
- 90 g Korean chives (3.2 ounces), cut in 5 cm / 2 inch length
- 140 g carrots (4.9 ounces), julienned
- 1/4 cup minced garlic (42g / 1.48 ounces)
- 1/2 Tbsp minced ginger
- 2 Tbsp raw sugar
- 75 g onion (2.6 ounces), blended (with a stick blender or vegetable chopper) or finely grated
Instructions
- Cut the napa cabbage into quarters and rinse it in running water. Make sure the stem is intact.
- Dissolve the coarse salt in the water (16 cups) in a large bowl. Dip the napa cabbage in the saltwater one at a time and transfer it onto a tray for further salting.Pinch some cooking salt (1/2 cup total for all pickled cabbages) and rub over the thick white part of the cabbage. Open each leaf gently and sprinkle the salt over the thick white part. Repeat this for the rest of the cabbage. Reserve the saltwater from when you soaked the cabbage for later use.
- Put the salted cabbage in a large food grade plastic bag or large bucket (wedge side of the cabbage to be facing up) and pour in the reserved saltwater from step 2. Close the plastic bag. If using a bucket, get something heavy on top of the cabbage to press down (e.g heavy pot with water).Set the cabbage aside for 6 hours to pickle. Rotate the cabbage upside down every 2 hours. Using a large food grade plastic bag will make the turning process much easier than using a large bucket.
- Once the soaking process is finished, rinse the cabbages in running water, especially the thick white part of the cabbage, to get rid of the salt. Place them in a colander and allow to drain for 1 hour.
- While waiting, prepare the glutinous rice paste. Mix glutinous rice flour with the water (1.5 cup) in a saucepan and boil it over medium heat for 5-8 minutes, until it thickens. Once ready, transfer the rice paste to the medium-size bowl and let it cool. Add Korean chili flakes once it has cooled. Then, combine them well.
- Prepare a large mixing bowl and add radish, fine sea salt, Korean fish sauce, and salted shrimp. Leave it for 10 minutes for the radish to salt down. Add Korean chives, carrots, minced garlic, minced ginger, sugar, blended onion, and the Korean chili flakes mixture from step 5. Mix them well. Now the kimchi seasoning / kimchi paste is made, ready for use.
- Place a quarter of a cabbage on a tray. Spread the seasonings over each leaf. (You only need to season one side of the leaf.) 1 to 2 small fistfuls of seasoning is enough per quarter of cabbage. Repeat this step for the rest of the cabbage. Donโt pull the cabbage leaves off the stem, leave them attached so it holds together better.
- Transfer the kimchi into a kimchi container or an airtight container (and put the lid on). Leave it out at room temperature for 24 hours, then move it to the refrigerator. While you can start eating it once itโs chilled, you may want to wait 3-4 more days for it to develop more flavor.
- Once the kimchi is ready to eat, chop a small portion and store it in a smaller glass container. This makes it more convenient to serve with your meal. Keep the other batches intact in the large kimchi container. This way, you only cut it up as needed, which helps keep the remaining kimchi fresh longer.
Notes
- 1 Tbsp = 15 ml, 1 cup = 250 ml
- If you want to learn more about Korean ingredients, check my essential Korean ingredients list.
- If you skipped over my tips for making kimchi, including substitution information, be sure to read them to increase your chance of success.
- Kimchi can typically last in the fridge for a couple of months, but depending on the storage conditions, you could keep it for up to a year or so. Read more about kimchi storage tips.
Nutrition Info (per serving)
The nutrition information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionistโs advice.
I have made this but it is very spicy. Is there a way to tone the spice down before we decant it from the main batch?
Itโs tough to fix kimchi once itโs finished. I suggest briefly rinsing it under cold water to remove some of the excess spicy paste, or using it in a dish that includes kimchi as an ingredient, like rice or noodles or stew, and using less spice in those dishes.
What type of chili flakes did you use? Do you usually find Korean kimchi spicy, or was it just this batch that turned out spicy for you?
Thank you for your reply. Normally, Kimchi is fine to eat for us, though this was the first time I have made it. The kimchi itself is lovely and we will eat it but Iโll make it again with less spice. I used Taekyung red pepper powder. Your instructions are clear and easy to follow.
The pictures look like the kimchi has been chopped and put into jars at some point, but I donโt see that in the recipe.
Sorry, I thought it was obvious. That would be:-
Step 9. Once the kimchi is ready to eat, chop a small portion and store it in a smaller glass container. This makes it more convenient to serve with your meal. Keep the other batches intact in the large kimchi container. This way, you only cut it up as needed, which helps keep the remaining kimchi fresh longer.
I havenโt yet tried this recepy (but I will), but a similar one, but with Savoy cabbage.
I let the cabbage be in an airtight glass container in room temperature for two days, and then put it in the fridge (4 degrees celsius). Five days later I opened the jar. It didnโt smell bad, but the cabbage smell was really strong and I had to air out the house for 30 minutesโฆ Not very practical!
So I put it back in the fridge and waited 2-3 weeks. Now the strong smell is gone, but the kimchi doesnโt taste at all like the softer and more rich Canned kimchi I buy at the store. Itโs also dryer than canned kimchi โ there isnโt much liquid in the jar.
Your thoughts on the initial smell, the taste and the dryer feel? I have previously made german style sauerkraut where the cabbage is fermenting in brine, but the kimchi recepies Iโve seen only uses brine for preparation.
In my experience, kimchi doesnโt have a strong smell initially; itโs mostly the aroma of spices like garlic, ginger, chili flakes, and salted cabbage. It develops a more pungent smell and taste as it ages, becoming stronger after a few weeks to a month. Iโve never tried canned kimchi, so I canโt comment on that, and I canโt imagine what โdried kimchiโ would be like.
Can I use gochujang instead of doing the kimchi paste on my own?
Gochujang isnโt the same as kimchi paste, and itโs not used in making kimchi. ๐
Gochujang is a Korean chili paste made from Korean chili powder, glutinous rice, soybeans, and salt. Itโs rich, savory, slightly sweet, and adds a spicy kick to dishes like bibimbap and many other Korean favorites.
In contrast, kimchi paste is specifically for making kimchi. It blends chili flakes, garlic, ginger, fish sauce, and sometimes sugar or fruit to aid fermentation, giving kimchi its tangy flavor.
While both enhance Korean cuisine, gochujang adds bold flavors, whereas kimchi paste is crucial for making kimchi.
Thanks for your reply, hadnโt seen it. Last time I made kimchi with gochujang and after two weeks it was rotten, itโs because of that or I didnโt close it well?
How big a clip top jar would I need to contain this recipe?
Hey Sue, Im from a small town in New Zealand and itโs not always easy to get hold of ingredients like Korean fish sauce. I have attempted to make a batch of Kimchi and it looks quite different to the one you made , was hoping I could send you a pick to look at. You probably know whatโs wrong with it , just looking at it .
Iโm not sure if I can identify the issue just by looking at it, but you can send me an email with your photo if you like. sue at mykoreankitchen.com
The most common area of error is not using the correct ingredients โ e.g., Korean fish sauce and Korean chili flakes, as well as not brining for the right amount of time.
This recipe was the best kimchee Iโve ever made. I donโt like fish flavor so ommited the fish sauce and shrimp thank you very much.
Hi Sue, can I combine Gochugaru And Korean Chili Flakes on this? and whatโs the measurement?
Korean chili flakes and Gochugaru are the same thing.
Hello! Great recipe- thank you for sharing! However, I have just finished the process and really donโt have much liquid at all to cover the vegetables. Would you suggest I make a liquid some other how and cover the vegetables? I am worried they will spoil.
Iโm unclear about which liquid youโre referring to here. Are you talking about the one used to paste over the cabbage leaves? If so, the paste isnโt runny like water; it has more of a glue-like texture. Could it be possible that you applied too much per cabbage leaf and ran out?
If youโre referring to a liquid to cover the kimchi after the entire kimchi-making process is complete, you donโt need it. The kimchi will release some liquid as it ferments.
Perfect recipe. Making alredy third time. Result โ real Korean kimchi .