I’ve always been a fan of kimchi. Many years ago, I was very lucky to learn to make Kimchi with an amazing Korean chef. And today, I’d like to share with you my homemade kimchi recipe. It’s easy and delicious. Let’s get started.
Kimchi Recipe
Rest time: 3 hours and 20 minutes
Prep time: 45 minutes
Cook time: 5 minutes
For the Napa Cabbage:
3 pounds Napa cabbage
3 tablespoons coarse sea salt
For the rice paste:
3/4 cup water
3 tablespoons sweet rice flour
For the spicy paste:
6 garlic cloves, pureed
1/2 teaspoon ginger, peeled, pureed
1/2 apple, chopped, pureed
1/4 onion, chopped, pureed
2 tablespoons sand lance fish sauce
2 tablespoons anchovy fish sauce
1 tablespoon salted shrimp (saeu-jeot)
2 tablespoons Korean plum extract syrup (maesil chung)
2 stalks scallions, cut into 2 inch pieces
1 1/2 cups Korean radish, cut into matchstick pieces
1 cup carrot, cut into matchstick pieces
1/2 cup Korean red pepper flakes (gochugaru)
Instructions
To brine the Napa cabbage:
First, cut the Napa cabbage into bite-size pieces.
Rinse the cabbage in running water. Drain.
Transfer a layer of Napa cabbage to a large mixing bowl, and sprinkle some coarse sea salt over the Napa cabbage, and mix with your hands. Repeat until we are finished with all the Napa cabbage and salt. Toss and turn the cabbage every 30 minutes.
The total brine time is about 3 hours until the white part of the cabbage becomes soft and flexible. (Salt will soften up the Napa cabbage and also kill germs.)
Rinse the Napa cabbage in running water until all the salt, on the surface, has been removed, about 3 times. Drain the Napa cabbage until there is no more excess of water.
To make the rice paste:
In a saucepan, over low heat, add the water and sweet rice flour. Constantly stir until the paste becomes sticky and pasty, about 5 minutes. Let it come to room temperature, about 20 minutes.
To make the spice and seasoning paste:
In a food processor, transfer in the garlic, ginger, chopped apple, chopped onion, sand lance fish sauce, anchovy fish sauce, salted shrimp, and plum extract syrup. Blend until it becomes a paste.
To prepare other vegetables:
Slice the scallions into 2 inch pieces.
Slice the Korean radish into matchstick pieces
Slice the carrot into matchstick pieces.
To make the spicy paste:
In a large mixing bowl, combine the rice paste, spice and seasoning paste, and the Korean chili pepper flakes. Whisk. Also transfer in the scallions, Korean radish, and carrot. Mix well.
To make the kimchi:
In another large mixing bowl, transfer in a layer of Napa cabbage and spicy paste. Combine everything with your hands. Repeat until we are finished with all the cabbage and spicy paste.
Transfer the kimchi to an airtight container. Ferment in your fridge for 5 to 7 days. And for tangier kimchi, you could ferment it under room temperature for the first 2 days, and then transfer it to your fridge for the next several days.
6 thoughts on “How to Make Kimchi, Small Batch Easy Kimchi Recipe”
I so want to try kimchi. I love cabbage, but I’m not a fan of fish. If it tastes fishy, I’m afraid I won’t like it and will have wasted a lot of money and ingredients. Do this taste at all fishy? I like shrimp and other shell fish, and I can eat cod fish, and other light tasting fish. How does this compare as far as fishiness goes?
You don’t taste anything fishy. Perhaps buy a jar of kimchi to try before making
Ty for the recipe. I’m a fan of kimchi, just love the stuff. Now I’m going to go buy the stuff I need to make it.
Hi Rita, You are so welcome! I hope it will work out for you, and happy cooking!
Hello CiCi Li,
Thank you for presenting such an outstanding video.
I lived in Korea 1977 & 1978. My life long worldly hobby remains learning everything food with it’s unique culture. Your video was fun to watch. I’ve taken part in a neighborhood production of kimchi, it was amazing, the meal afterwards was simply wow. We buried the kimchi into the ground to age, unlike here in the USA.
Watching how the hot pepper is made was unique, shut down the street just like when preparing kimchi and then what? 🙂
The best Korean meal I ever experienced included what looked like BBQ chicken, very tasty. The restaurant was part of a farm homestead. After eating dinner the farmers boy helped translate between his dad and me. The BBQ bird’s were actually “the birds that bother my fields”. Many types of birds but still a great dish. How about producing a video of the BBQ birds 🙂 that will never happen.
“Bull” is not the same as “K”, I learned after we ate and drank to much.
K-Go-E \ Bull-Go-E
My lovely wife and I will prepare kimchi this week following your video except ours will be buried into the cold ground.
I thank you for bring Korea back to me.
We are all the same no matter what part of this planet we live.
Francis
Hi William,
Thank you so much for taking the time to share your journey in Korea with me. I love the fact that you buried the kimchi in the ground instead of putting it in the fridge. That’s fascinating!
I remember when I was a few years old in Northern China, we did something similar with our fermented napa cabbage. I recall that piles of napa cabbage would stack up in every household.
I hope you enjoy this homemade kimchi recipe. Please keep me posted on how it turns out!
Best,
CiCi