Kimchi

Published in

Stuff we've been cooking

3 min readDec 31, 2020

Below is the recipe I use (Maangchi my favourite Korean chef, has amazing videos on this: https://www.maangchi.com/recipe/tongbaechu-kimchi or https://www.maangchi.com/recipe/easy-kimchi and here a vegan version of hers: https://www.maangchi.com/recipe/chaesik-kimchi). Other recipes of interst: http://www.marystestkitchen.com/homemade-vegan-kimchi-recipe/ or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VuJQaXqehY.)

All for 1 kg nappa cabbage

Cabbabge prep

Wash and cover cabbage in salt water over night, then wash.

3% — 30g per liter is the usual fermentation ratio.
Use non idised salt as iodine inhibits fermentation.

Note:
Maangchi uses 30g per kg cabbage when salting the cabbage, 60g per kg, i.e. a 6% solution when covdering the cabbage in water. But values vary by receipe.

Probably better value:
2% salt by weight of all veg + 1 tbs sugar
Rub veg in salt over night, then discard most of the water that comes out of the cabbage. Use rest of the water to get the kimchi to a good consistency

Cut the thick stems lengthwise, and carefully salt at thick parts.

Cabbage should be all soft (not breaking at the spine when bending, and salty throughtout after being washed).

Good nappa cabbge should be green on outside and yellow inside, with thin leaves. (If you can get it like this in Europe).

Porridge (optional):

1 cups water
1 tbsp flour (ideally rice flour)

Boil for aroudn 10 mintes until it starts to ‘gel’.

While this is traditionally I’m not a fan, and am not convinced this makes Kimchi better. Some recipes state this is for fermentation, others state it is only for mouth feel.