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Easy Kimchi

The Editors
Yield
Makes about 2 quarts.
Category
Pickles and Preserves
Course
Side Dishes
Preparation Method
No Cook
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Kimchi is a tasty fermented food similar to sauerkraut but made with Korean flavors (garlic, ginger, chili). It’s easy to prepare at home and, importantly, fermented foods are great for gut health, aide digestion, and boost immunity.

If you’re not famliar with kimchi, it’s considered Korean “soul food” and has been served as a side dish there for many generations. Koreans consume about 40 pounds of this superfood per person per year! 

Our recipe is a simple one that takes about 20 minutes to prepare. Then you let nature take over with fermentation—for all those amazing health benefits. Kimchi is packed with “good” bacteria, or probiotics, that boost immunity, energize the body, aid digestion, lower cholesterol, and regulate blood sugar. 

A few cooking tips:

  1. You can certainly make as spicy or mild as you like.
  2. You need to use Napa cabbage, not just any type of cabbage.
  3. Many traditional kimchi recipes involve a seafood ingredient, such as fish sauce to add depth but you can leave this out. Or, use soy sauce if you wish.

You can eat kimchi as a side dish, add to rice, eat with eggs, make a strew, flavor a braise, or top off a BBQ sandwich! Get creative. 

Ingredients
6 tablespoons salt
1 large head Napa cabbage
1/2 cup daikon radish, shredded or cut into matchsticks
6 scallions, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon minced ginger
1 tablespoon crushed red pepper flakes or chili powder
1 tablespoon minced garlic
10 cups water
(Optional) 1 to 2 tablespoons fish sauce or chopped brined shrimp
Instructions

1. In a bowl, dissolve 5 tablespoons of salt in 6 cups of water to make a brine. Set aside outer leaves from the cabbage. Cut the remaining head into quarters. Remove the core and cut the quarters crosswise to form 2-inch pieces called nabak. Soak cabbage in brine for 8 to 10 hours, or overnight.

2. Drain and rinse cabbage. Discard brine.

3. Return cabbage to bowl and add radish, scallions, ginger, red pepper flakes, garlic, and (optional) seafood ingredient.

4. Stir to combine. Pack mixture tightly into a widemouth, 2-quart canning jar with a plastic lid (metal will corrode), leaving at least 2 inches of headspace. Fold and place reserved cabbage leaves on top of kimchi to hold it down.

5. Make a fresh brine from 1 tablespoon of salt dissolved in 4 cups of water. Pour enough fresh brine to cover cabbage, leaving 1 inch of headspace. Put on the lid, making it snug but not too tight, as some gas may need to escape. Place in a bowl or on a rimmed baking sheet and put in a cool place.

6. Let ferment for 7 days. Check daily to make sure cabbage is still submerged under brine. After a week, taste, then refrigerate when you find it to be satisfyingly tart and tangy!

It will keep for (at least) a few months in the fridge when the kimchi is submerged below the brine and only gets more flavorful with time.

About The Author

The Old Farmer's Almanac Editors

We love introducing fun new recipes as well as time-tested recipes, straight from the archives! Read More from The Old Farmer's Almanac Editors

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Comments

Joe (not verified)

4 years ago

hello, be sure the salt you use is not ordinary table salt, which has potassium chloride. Kosher salt, pickling salt, any pure salt is necessary as the additive inhibits fermentation.

Joe (not verified)

4 years ago

hello, be sure the salt you use is not ordinary table salt, which has potassium chloride. Kosher salt, pickling salt, any pure salt is necessary as the additive inhibits fermentation.

Hoby (not verified)

6 years 3 months ago

I love Kimchee, make it instead of coleslaw for meals. I prefer the more spicy form. I have tried many recipes, some made with rice wine vinegar. This recipe sounds perfect.

DB (not verified)

6 years 6 months ago

What a wonderful recipe. Easy and tasty. Cannot thank you enough!

Howard (not verified)

6 years 8 months ago

Not kimchi ! Kimchi has shrimp or fish in it !

I'm not an expert on kimchi but for the last 20 yrs or so I have got kimchi from a korean lady in Deerfield Beach, Fl and she has never said anything about adding sea food to the making of Kimchi. (she don't say much because I don't think she speaks too much English) To me I would add the fresh sea food as an addition to serving Kimchi. I was in the military for 21 years and have enjoyed Kimci in several different countries But like I sday, I am not an expert on it but I do love a good dish of it. And I just may add some fresh cooked shrimp to my next serving.

While many kimchi recipes do have a seafood element—often fish sauce or shrimp paste—there are some varieties that do not. The above recipe is meant to be an easy recipe for someone just getting into kimchi, so we have kept it as simple as possible!

Kathryn B (not verified)

6 years 8 months ago

For the 1st overnight brining, it's not clear whether or not to include the set-aside, uncut outside leaves. Please let us know soon? Thanks for this hard-to-find recipe!

The outermost leaves of the cabbage can sometimes be tougher than those on the inside, which is why we’ve said to leave them out. If the outer leaves of your cabbage seem fine, you are welcome to slice them as you did the rest of the cabbage and include them in the brine.

Anne (not verified)

6 years 8 months ago

I would not like Kimchi because I was taught fermented food is old food; I do not like Sauerkraut altho Sauerkraut is high in Vitamin C; I like Kiefer and Yogurt;