Kimchi
Salted napa cabbage fermented with chilli, garlic and fish sauce โ the constant of every Korean meal. ยท South Korea
Salted napa cabbage fermented with chilli, garlic and fish sauce โ the constant of every Korean meal.
๐น See Kimchi
AI-generated illustrative footage ยท Whatwherevacay.com
About Kimchi
Kimchi is not one dish but a family of them: vegetables salted, seasoned and left to ferment. The best known version, baechu-kimchi, uses whole napa cabbage, brined and then coated leaf by leaf in a paste of gochugaru chilli flakes, garlic, ginger, spring onion and salted seafood such as fish sauce or fermented shrimp.
Left at room temperature it begins to sour within days, then keeps developing for months in cold storage. Young kimchi is crisp and fresh; older kimchi turns sharp and deeply savoury, which is when it goes into stews, fried rice and pancakes rather than being eaten as a side. Some form of it appears at essentially every Korean meal.
๐๏ธ History & Culture
Fermenting vegetables to survive the Korean winter is centuries old; chilli, however, only arrived from the Americas in the sixteenth century, so the red kimchi recognised today is comparatively recent. Before that, kimchi was a white, brined preserve closer to what is still sold as baek-kimchi.
The communal late-autumn making of a winter's supply, kimjang, is the cultural centre of the dish โ households once buried earthenware onggi jars in the ground to hold a steady cool temperature, a job now done by dedicated kimchi refrigerators. UNESCO inscribed kimjang on its list of Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2013, recognising it less as a recipe than as a shared practice between neighbours and generations.
๐ณ How to make Kimchi
AI-assisted, not kitchen-testedBaechu-kimchi (Napa Cabbage Kimchi)
The classic whole-leaf napa cabbage kimchi that anchors the Korean table. Plan ahead: the cabbage needs several hours of salting and the kimchi then ferments at room temperature before moving to the fridge.
- Prep
- 60 min
- Total
- 60 min
- Serves
- Makes about 2 litres / 8 cups
- Difficulty
- Medium
Recipe ingredients
- 2 kg (4ยฝ lb) napa cabbage, whole, sound heads
- 200 g (7 oz) coarse sea salt, non-iodised; for brining
- 120 g (ยพ cup) gochugaru
- 60 g (about 8 cloves) garlic, finely chopped
- 20 g (about 1 piece) fresh ginger, finely chopped
- 100 g (4 oz) spring onions, scallions, cut into 4 cm / 1ยฝ in lengths
- 150 g (ยพ cup) Korean fish sauce, myeolchi-aekjeot; or use a few tablespoons of saeujeot (salted fermented shrimp) for a more traditional flavour
- 30 g (2 Tbsp) sweet rice flour, chapssal-garu, cooked into a porridge to help the paste cling; flour paste is an acceptable substitute
- 300 ml (1ยผ cups) water, for the flour porridge
- 15 g (1 Tbsp) sugar
Steps
- 1 Cut each cabbage in half lengthwise, then quarter each half so you have 4 wedges per head. Leave the cores attached at the base so the leaves stay connected.
- 2 Dissolve the 200 g of coarse sea salt in about 4 litres / 16 cups of cold water to make a brine. Submerge the cabbage wedges in a large bowl or bucket, weighting them so they stay under the brine. Brine for 6 to 8 hours, turning the wedges once halfway through; the thick white ribs should bend easily without snapping. Note: at this salinity and duration the cabbage is salted, not fermented yet.
- 3 Make the rice porridge: whisk 30 g sweet rice flour into 300 ml water in a small saucepan, bring to a simmer and cook 2 to 3 minutes until it thickens to a thin paste. Cool to room temperature.
- 4 In a large bowl, combine the cooled porridge with the gochugaru, garlic, ginger, spring onions, fish sauce and sugar. Stir into a smooth, thick red paste. Taste: it should be salty, spicy and savoury โ remember it will be spread across many leaves.
- 5 Rinse the brined cabbage wedges thoroughly under cold running water to remove excess surface salt, then drain well, shaking out water from between the leaves. Let them drain, rib side down, for 20 to 30 minutes.
- 6 Working one wedge at a time, gently separate the leaves and smear a thin, even layer of paste over every leaf from the tip down to the thick white rib. Fold the wedge back together so the paste is enclosed.
- 7 Pack the coated wedges tightly into clean glass or food-grade plastic containers (lidded), pressing down so the kimchi is just covered by its own liquid. Leave 2 to 3 cm / 1 in of headspace.
- 8 Leave the containers at cool room temperature (around 18 to 22 ยฐC / 65 to 72 ยฐF) for 1 to 2 days until you see small bubbles and the liquid turns slightly tangy. Loosen the lids once a day to release gas.
- 9 Transfer to the refrigerator at 4 ยฐC / 40 ยฐF or below. Kimchi is safe to eat as soon as it is sour to your taste, usually from day 3 onward. It will keep, flavour deepening, for several months.
- 10 Storage safety: if any container smells rotten (not sour), shows pink or fuzzy mould, or the cabbage turns mushy, discard the whole batch. Always use clean utensils to remove kimchi from the jar.
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Kimchi โ frequently asked questions
What is Kimchi?
Kimchi is not one dish but a family of them: vegetables salted, seasoned and left to ferment. The best known version, baechu-kimchi, uses whole napa cabbage, brined and then coated leaf by leaf in a paste of gochugaru chilli flakes, garlic, ginger, spring onion and salted seafood such as fish sauce or fermented shrimp.
What is Kimchi made of?
Kimchi is made with napa cabbage, gochugaru, garlic, ginger and fish sauce.
Where does Kimchi come from?
Kimchi comes from South Korea, and is especially associated with Nationwide. Fermenting vegetables to survive the Korean winter is centuries old; chilli, however, only arrived from the Americas in the sixteenth century, so the red kimchi recognised today is comparatively recent.
Where can I eat Kimchi?
Everywhere in Korea as banchan; sample regional and aged versions.
How do you make Kimchi?
Making Kimchi at home takes about 60 minutes of prep. Full ingredient list and step-by-step method are in the recipe section above.
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