This is an American recipe, and we say so plainly. It is the kimchi published by Oregon State University Extension, which reproduces it with permission from the Ball home-preserving brand. We use it because it is a tested process, written down in full, with the salt, temperature, time and storage we need to follow it exactly. Korea’s own version is the Korean Food Promotion Institute’s baechu kimchi (in Korean), which is the dish this one is borrowed from.
Read fermenting vegetables safely first, and in particular the part about washing the cabbage. A shop-bought kimchi caused an outbreak of E. coli in Canada even though it was properly acidic, and the most likely source was the napa cabbage.
The measures below are the recipe’s own, with grams worked out from USDA FoodData Central portion weights where the recipe uses spoons. You need a jar of about a litre and a fermentation weight or spring that keeps the cabbage pushed down.
- Dissolve 1 tsp (6 g) of salt in 240 ml of non-chlorinated water, such as filtered water, and set it aside.
- Take off any bruised outer leaves. Wash the cabbage, quarter it, cut out the core, and slice the quarters into ribbons about 6 cm wide. Put them in a large bowl.
- Sprinkle over 1 tbsp (18 g) of salt and massage it in, squeezing to release the liquid. Cover the bowl and leave it 1 to 2 hours.
- Blend the garlic, chilli flakes, ginger, fish sauce and soy sauce to a paste.
- Scrub and grate the carrot without peeling it, and slice the spring onions, white and green. Add both to the cabbage, add the paste, and massage it all together.
- Pack it into the jar, tamping it down firmly with a spoon, and leave at least 5 cm of space at the top. Pour over any liquid left in the bowl, pressing down so it covers the cabbage. There may not be much yet; the cabbage keeps giving it up.
- Put the weight on top and close the lid. Wipe the jar, cover it with a cloth, and keep it somewhere at 20 to 22 °C for 24 to 36 hours.
- Then check: the brine must cover the cabbage by 2.5 cm. If it does not, open it, top up with the reserved brine, wipe the rim and close it again. Pour away any reserved brine left over.
- Check every day that the vegetables are still under the brine.
- After one week, taste it. If you want it stronger, give it up to one more week, tasting every three days.
- When it tastes right, take out the weight and top up with fresh brine to cover: ½ tsp (3 g) of salt in 120 ml of water. Close it and put it in the fridge.
Keeps up to six months in the fridge. Oregon State notes that kimchi’s quality falls the longer it ferments, so six months is a limit, not a target. Anything growing on the surface, a slimy texture or a bad smell means read this first, and if you are unsure, the batch goes.
The chilli flakes must be Korean gochugaru. Half a cup of ordinary crushed chilli would be inedible. The recipe contains fish, from the fish sauce, and most soy sauce contains wheat, so check the label if that matters.
This needs a fridge once it is made. Kimchi is traditionally fermented cold, over weeks, which the safety page also covers.
Makes about a litre jar.