← Nouns Cooking · Korean

Ingredients

• 1 napa cabbage (about 2.5 kg), quartered lengthways
• 150 g Korean coarse sea salt
• 2.5 l Water
• 250 g Korean radish or daikon, cut into thin matchsticks
• ½ Korean (Asian) pear, half cut into matchsticks, half grated
• ½ red pepper, cut into thin strips
• 3 Spring onion, cut into 4 cm lengths
• 4 Dried jujubes (Korean red dates, daechu), pitted and thinly sliced
• 1 tbsp Pine nuts
• 4 Peeled chestnuts (cooked or vacuum-packed), thinly sliced (optional)
• 6 cloves Garlic, minced
• 1 tsp Ginger, grated
• 2 tbsp Saeujeot (Korean salted shrimp), finely chopped
• 1 tbsp Fish sauce
• 1 l Water
• 1 tbsp Glutinous rice flour
• 2 tsp Salt

Method

1. Dissolve half the coarse salt in the 2.5 l water. Dip each cabbage quarter in the brine, then sprinkle the remaining salt between the leaves, mostly on the thick white stems. Leave cut side up for 6–8 hours, turning every 2 hours, until the stems bend without snapping.
2. Rinse the cabbage three times in cold water and leave it upside down in a colander for 30 min to drain.
3. For the brine, whisk the rice flour into 120 ml of the water and simmer for 2–3 min until it thickens. Stir it into the rest of the water with the salt and leave to cool.
4. Mix all the filling ingredients together. Spread a little filling between the leaves of each cabbage quarter, working from the outer leaves in, then fold each quarter in half and pack tightly into a large jar or tub.
5. Pour the cooled brine over the cabbage until it is just covered. Leave at room temperature for 1 day, then refrigerate; it is ready in 3–4 days and keeps for weeks.

Tips

• Leave out the salted shrimp and fish sauce and add a little more salt for a vegan white kimchi.
• Serve the chilled brine too; it is meant to be sipped like a soup.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

Korean Bapsang Beyond Kimchee