How to Make Kimchi: The Ultimate Beginner's Recipe

How to Make Kimchi: The Ultimate Beginner's Recipe

Kimchi is the heart of Korean cuisine. These fermented vegetables are not only delicious but also incredibly healthy.

What is Kimchi?

Kimchi is traditionally fermented Napa cabbage, seasoned with chili, garlic, ginger, and fish sauce. It accompanies almost every Korean meal.

Ingredients (for 1 large jar)

For the cabbage: - 1 large Napa cabbage - ½ cup salt (non-iodized) - Water for soaking

For the paste (Yangnyeom): - 1 cup Gochugaru (Korean chili flakes) - 5 garlic cloves - 1 thumb-sized piece of ginger - 1 small onion - 2 tbsp fish sauce - 1 tbsp sugar - 3 tbsp rice flour porridge (optional, for sweetness)

Vegetables: - 2 carrots, julienned - 1 daikon radish, julienned - 4 green onions - 1 Asian pear or apple

Step-by-Step Instructions

Step 1: Salt the cabbage Quarter the cabbage lengthwise, keeping the core intact. Sprinkle salt between each leaf. Soak in salt water for 2 hours, turning every 30 minutes.

Step 2: Prepare the paste Blend garlic, ginger, onion, and pear into a paste. Mix with Gochugaru, fish sauce, and sugar.

Step 3: Cut vegetables Cut carrots and radish into fine strips. Cut green onions into 2-inch pieces.

Step 4: Mix everything Mix the washed and drained cabbage with the paste and vegetables. Rub each leaf individually!

Step 5: Ferment Pack into a clean jar, seal airtight. Ferment at room temperature for 1-2 days, then refrigerate.

Grandma Kim's Tips

• Never use metal utensils!
• The paste should be sweet-spicy-salty
• Perfect after 3 days in the fridge
• Keeps for 3-6 months

Serving Suggestions

• As a side with rice
• In Kimchi Fried Rice
• In Kimchi Jjigae (stew)
• Pure as a healthy snack