Korean Kimchi at Home
Kimchi is napa cabbage salted for two hours so it loses its water, then coated in a paste of rice flour and Korean chilli flakes (gochugaru) with garlic and ginger, and fermented at room temperature for one to three days before refrigerating.
- Prep
- 180 min
- Cook
- 10 min
- Total
- 190 min
- Calories
- 35
Photo: 최광모 — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Kimchi is not a pickle — it is a living fermented food full of beneficial bacteria. That fermentation keeps changing its flavour, so a single jar passes through several distinct stages over months.
Method
-
1
Salt the cabbage
Quarter the cabbage lengthways and wash it. Sprinkle the coarse salt between the leaves one by one, concentrating on the thick white stems where most of the water sits. Leave it two hours, turning every half hour. Salt draws water out by osmosis, so the leaves soften and take on seasoning.
-
2
Rinse thoroughly
Rinse the cabbage three times in plenty of cold water to remove the excess salt, and drain it in a colander for at least 30 minutes. Any water left will thin the paste and make the kimchi soupy. Taste a leaf — it should be lightly salty, not aggressively so.
-
3
The rice paste
Whisk the rice flour into the water in a small pan over medium heat until it thickens like pudding — about 3 minutes. Stir in the sugar and let it cool completely. This paste feeds the bacteria, speeding fermentation, and helps the seasoning cling to the leaves.
-
4
Mix the paste
To the cooled paste add the gochugaru, garlic, ginger, grated onion and soy sauce, and mix well. Wear gloves — gochugaru stains your hands and will burn if you touch your eye afterwards. Stir in the radish and spring onion.
-
5
Coat the cabbage
Rub the paste between every leaf by hand, working from the stems outwards. Not sprinkled on the outside — distributing it between the leaves is what gets flavour everywhere. Fold each quarter onto itself and pack it into a clean glass jar, pressing out the air.
-
6
Ferment
Leave 5 cm of headroom above the kimchi — fermentation produces gas and the jar will overflow. Seal it and leave it at room temperature for one to three days depending on the weather, opening it once a day to release gas. When you see bubbles and smell a light sourness, move it to the fridge.
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Tips that actually matter
- Use coarse non-iodised salt — iodine disables the beneficial bacteria and fermentation stops.
- Glass jars only; plastic absorbs the smell and colour, and metal reacts with the acidity.
- Kimchi keeps fermenting slowly in the fridge and grows more sour over time — that is normal.
- Older kimchi (two months and up) is the best for cooking — kimchi stew and fried rice.
People also ask
How long does kimchi keep?
Three to six months in the fridge, growing more sour over time. Fresh kimchi (the first fortnight) is best eaten as it is; older kimchi is stronger and better suited to cooking such as kimchi stew and fried rice.
Why coarse non-iodised salt?
Iodine is antimicrobial and disables the lactobacillus responsible for fermentation, so the kimchi never ferments at all. Anti-caking agents in fine salt also cloud the liquid.
How do I know it fermented properly?
You will see small bubbles rise when you press it, smell a fresh sourness, and taste a light acidity. A foul smell, or black or green mould, means it has spoiled — throw it out.
Can I make it vegan?
Yes. The traditional recipe uses fish sauce or salted shrimp, and you can replace them with soy sauce or miso paste. The umami will be lighter but the fermentation works exactly the same.
Cook mode
Korean Kimchi at Home
-
1
Salt the cabbage
Quarter the cabbage lengthways and wash it. Sprinkle the coarse salt between the leaves one by one, concentrating on the thick white stems where most of the water sits. Leave it two hours, turning every half hour. Salt draws water out by osmosis, so the leaves soften and take on seasoning.
-
2
Rinse thoroughly
Rinse the cabbage three times in plenty of cold water to remove the excess salt, and drain it in a colander for at least 30 minutes. Any water left will thin the paste and make the kimchi soupy. Taste a leaf — it should be lightly salty, not aggressively so.
-
3
The rice paste
Whisk the rice flour into the water in a small pan over medium heat until it thickens like pudding — about 3 minutes. Stir in the sugar and let it cool completely. This paste feeds the bacteria, speeding fermentation, and helps the seasoning cling to the leaves.
-
4
Mix the paste
To the cooled paste add the gochugaru, garlic, ginger, grated onion and soy sauce, and mix well. Wear gloves — gochugaru stains your hands and will burn if you touch your eye afterwards. Stir in the radish and spring onion.
-
5
Coat the cabbage
Rub the paste between every leaf by hand, working from the stems outwards. Not sprinkled on the outside — distributing it between the leaves is what gets flavour everywhere. Fold each quarter onto itself and pack it into a clean glass jar, pressing out the air.
-
6
Ferment
Leave 5 cm of headroom above the kimchi — fermentation produces gas and the jar will overflow. Seal it and leave it at room temperature for one to three days depending on the weather, opening it once a day to release gas. When you see bubbles and smell a light sourness, move it to the fridge.
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