Napa Cabbage Kimchi
Step by step on how to make traditional Napa Cabbage Kimchi, a staple food that is almost used in every Korean meal as a side dish or ingredient in cooking.
Servings: kg
Ingredients
- 3.3 lbs (1.5 kg) napa cabbage, about 2 large napa cabbages
- 1/4 cup (35 gr) kosher salt
Rice Porridge Paste
- 1 cup (240 gr) water
- 1 tbsp glutinous rice flour
- 1 tbsp sugar
Seasoning
- 1/4 cup garlic cloves, about 12 garlic cloves
- 1 cm ginger, peeled
- 1/2 onion, roughly chopped
- 1/2 pear or apple, roughly chopped
- 1/4 cup (60 ml) fish sauce
- 2 tbsp saeujeot/salted fermented shrimp
- 1/2 - 1 cup (50-100 gr) gochugaru/Korean red pepper flakes
Vegetables
- 1 cup radish matchsticks, about 1/2 medium radish
- 1/2 cup carrot matchsticks, about 1/2 large carrot
- 4 green onions, thinly chopped
- 1/2 cup chives, cut into 1-inch/2.5 cm pieces
Instructions
Salt the Napa Cabbage
- Remove outer layer leaves of cabbage and rinse with water. Make a slit at the base of the core and pull apart with your hand to split the cabbage in half. Then, remove the hard core with a paring knife (you need the leaves still attached to the core) before cutting in half lengthwise again, leaving you with quarters.
- Sprinkle salt between the leaves. Lift the leaves and concentrate the salt at the thicker stem end of the leaves where they are thicker.
- Let the cabbages rest for 2-3 hours, turn over every 30 minutes until the cabbages turn soft.
- Wash the cabbage under cold running water for a few times to remove the salt. Drain the water.
Make The Rice Porridge Paste
- While the cabbage is salted, heat water, glutinous rice flour, and sugar in small pot until it starts to bubble and thicken. Remove from heat. Cool down completely before using.
Make The Seasoning
- In a food processor, puree garlic, ginger, onion, pear, fish sauce, and saeujeot until blended.
- Pour the fish sauce mixture and gochugaru into rice porridge paste until well combined.
- Add radish, carrot, green onion, and chives into the mixture until well combined.
Mix Seasoning with Salted Cabbage
- Spread a thin layer of the paste on every leaf of salted cabbage. Try to include the raw vegetables between the leaves. Add more paste at the thicker stem end of the leaves where they are thicker.
- Wrap the cabbage into a bundle and pack it tightly into a container. Press packed bundles down to ensure there are no air pocket or empty space into a container (leave a little bit of space at the top to prevent overflowing kimchi juice)
Ferment Kimchi
- Leave kimchi in room temperature for 1-5 days, out of direct sunlight. Taste each day to make sure the kimchi is ready. You may see bubbles inside the jar and brine may seep out of the lid.
- When the kimchi tastes ripe enough for your liking, transfer the jar to the refrigerator. Press down on the vegetables with clean spoon to keep them submerged under the brine.
Notes
Use salt that is free of iodine because it can inhibit the fermentation.
You can make kimchi without saeujeot, but it will not taste the same as the one with it. Sauejeot gives kimchi the umami flavor. You can also substitute sauejeot with dried shrimps, but I found kimchi tastes the best with sauejeot.
Use 1/2 cup gochugaru for mild spiciness and 1 cup gochugaru for spicy kimchi.
Nutrition
Serving: 1kg | Calories: 806kcal | Carbohydrates: 145g | Protein: 56g | Fat: 19g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 9g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Cholesterol: 289mg | Sodium: 30512mg | Potassium: 5923mg | Fiber: 58g | Sugar: 53g | Vitamin A: 43847IU | Vitamin C: 390mg | Calcium: 1592mg | Iron: 26mg
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