How To Make Easy Kimchi at Home

By mluoceanbeach

Ingredients

• 1 medium head (2 pounds) napa cabbage
• 1/4 cup sea salt or kosher salt (see Recipe Notes)
• 1 tablespoon grated garlic (5 to 6 cloves)
• 1 teaspoon grated ginger
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 2 to 3 tablespoons seafood flavor or water (optional, see Recipe Notes)
• 1 to 5 tablespoons Korean red pepper flakes (
• 8 ounces Korean radish or daikon, peeled and cut into matchsticks
• 4 scallions, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces

Details

Servings 1
Adapted from thekitchn.com

Preparation

Step 1

How To Make Easy Kimchi - Recipe | The Kitchn

Maker Talks

How To Make Easy Kimchi at Home

, or simple kimchi, has been a great place to start.

While questioning my Korean family and friends about kimchi, I have received all kinds of opinions. Some cooks swear by a little bit of sugar, others completely shun sweeteners. There are people who include carrots and there are people who wrinkle their noses at the idea. I'm a vegetarian and my mother-in-law happily makes fish- and shrimp-free kimchi for me, but I'm sure some would consider it blasphemy to leave out the seafood. (I like adding a bit of kelp powder for umami flavor.)

This can be confusing, but I think it's actually a good thing. It means that you and your family can make kimchi your own. Rely on your own sense of smell and taste and you'll end up with a fine batch. Two words of caution from my mother-in-law, however:

too much garlic can make the kimchi bitter, and too much ginger can make it sticky.

How to Make Cabbage Kimchi

Makes 1 quart

Bowl or plate to place under jar during fermentation

Place the cabbage and salt in a large bowl. Using your hands (gloves optional), massage the salt into the cabbage until it starts to soften a bit, then add water to cover the cabbage. Put a plate on top and weigh it down with something heavy, like a jar or can of beans. Let stand for 1 to 2 hours.

Make the paste:

Meanwhile, combine the garlic, ginger, sugar, and seafood flavor (or 3 tablespoons water) in a small bowl and mix to form a smooth paste. Mix in the gochugaru, using 1 tablespoon for mild and up to 5 tablespoons for spicy (I like about 3 1/2 tablespoons).

Combine the vegetables and paste:

Mix thoroughly:

Let the jar stand at room temperature for 1 to 5 days. You may see bubbles inside the jar and brine may seep out of the lid; place a bowl or plate under the jar to help catch any overflow.

mixed with 3 tablespoons water, or simply 3 tablespoons of water.

wheat-free

no-oil-added

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