Kimchi is a type of fermented food that originates from Korea. Kimchi’s 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. It’s also a healthy and tasty food with many benefits. Let’s make it at home!
Kimchi / Kimchee (김치) 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.
Traditional Kimchi Recipe & Video
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, 배추김치), kkakdugi (made with radish, 깍두기), and oi kimchi (made with cucumber, 오이김치).
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.
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.
Napa Cabbage Kimchi (baechu Kimchi) Recipe
Third, it has umami flavor. It’s also seasoned with Korean fish sauce to aid fermentation, so as time goes by, the deeper the kimchi’s 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 don’t 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.
Making kimchi successfully is more challenging than you might think. That’s because there are many variables that could go wrong. I will highlight some important aspects of making kimchi at home.
Traditional Napa Cabbage Kimchi (tongbaechu Kimchi: 통배추김치) Recipe By Maangchi
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.
Hausgemachtes Gourmet Kimchi (vegan) * Restaurant Und Kimchi Manufaktur
Also, if you over-brine kimchi, it can turn out very salty, and there’s nothing you can do to fix this failure. Therefore, it’s important to know the right way to salt it when making kimchi.
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 don’t 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.
Vegan Kimchi Jjigae
When seasoning the pickled cabbage with the kimchi paste, make sure you mentally portion out the seasoning well from the beginning so that you don’t run out of the paste until the end.
Bear in mind that kimchi won’t look very red immediately after being seasoned. It will gradually turn redder over time during the long fermentation process.
Making kimchi can be challenging enough, finding the right kimchi ingredients can add an additional layer of frustration to the whole experience.
Fresh Kimchi (geotjeori)
As someone who was born & raised in Korea, I can’t imagine substituting Korean ingredients for kimchi, even though I can for other Korean dishes.
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 can’t 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.
How To Make Easy Kimchi (simple From Scratch Recipe)
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, I’ve seen other people using Red Boat 40N and Three Crabs fish sauce quite successfully in their kimchi. I wouldn’t know how, or if, the taste differs compared to when you use Korean fish sauce. I’m too scared to let my hard work on kimchi fail this way, so I haven’t 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 – anchovy sauce, sand lance sauce or similar etc. But if these options are not viable, then take your chance.
Easy Kimchi Recipe By Maangchi
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 can’t find saeujeot, you can substitute it with Korean fish sauce.
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.
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.
What Is Kimchi?
It is important to know how to store kimchi properly in order to keep it “fresh” 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 “kimchi refrigerator” 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 “kimchi container” as well. I recommend a stainless steel container in this regard or, at the very least, a BPA-free plastic container.
Grilled Pork Belly And Kimchi Recipe
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.
Traditional Kimchi Recipe
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 fridge’s 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.
Quick Kimchi Recipe
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.
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.
Napa Cabbage Kimchi (authentic & Delicious!)
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
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