← Nouns Cooking · Korean

Ingredients

• 2 kg napa cabbage (1 large head)
• 150 g coarse sea salt (not iodised)
• 1.5 l Water
• 1 tbsp Glutinous rice flour
• 200 ml Water
• 50 g Gochugaru (Korean chilli flakes)
• 3 tbsp Fish sauce
• 2 tbsp Saeujeot (Korean salted shrimp), finely chopped
• 8 cloves Garlic, minced
• 2 tsp Ginger, finely grated
• 1 tbsp Sugar
• ¼ Asian pear, grated (optional)
• 300 g Korean radish or daikon, cut into thin matchsticks
• 5 Spring onion, cut into 3 cm lengths

Method

1. Quarter the cabbage lengthways, cut out the core, then cut across into 4 cm pieces. Dissolve half the salt in the water in a large bowl, add the cabbage and toss, then sprinkle the rest of the salt between the layers.
2. Leave to salt for 2 hours, turning the cabbage every 30 min, until the thick white parts bend without snapping. Rinse it three times in cold water and drain well in a colander.
3. Meanwhile, whisk the rice flour into the 200 ml water in a small pan and cook over medium heat, stirring, for 2–3 min until it thickens into a thin porridge. Leave to cool.
4. Mix the cooled porridge with the gochugaru, fish sauce, salted shrimp, garlic, ginger, sugar and pear into a thick red paste. Stir in the radish and spring onions.
5. Wearing gloves, toss the drained cabbage with the paste in a big bowl until every piece is evenly red.
6. Pack tightly into clean jars or a lidded container, pressing down to push out air, and leave a few centimetres of space at the top. Rinse the bowl with a splash of water and pour it over.
7. Leave at cool room temperature for 1–2 days until it smells pleasantly sour and small bubbles appear, then move it to the fridge. It is ready to eat now and keeps getting tangier for weeks.

Tips

• For vegan kimchi, replace the fish sauce and salted shrimp with 3 tbsp soy sauce (or tamari to stay gluten-free) and a little extra salt; a strip of kelp in the paste water adds depth.
• Fermentation builds pressure: open the jar over the sink and press the cabbage back under the liquid every day while it sits out.

Sources

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

Korean Bapsang Korean Bapsang (traditional) Beyond Kimchee BBC Good Food