How to make Easy Kimchi (막김치)

napa cabbage

🥗Healthier: savoy cabbage

💰Cheaper: green cabbage

Savoy cabbage is more nutritious, while green cabbage is often less expensive.

fish sauce

💰Cheaper: soy sauce

Soy sauce is a budget-friendly alternative for a vegetarian option.

Trim the discolored outer leaves of the napa cabbage. Cut the cabbage lengthwise into quarters and remove the cores. Chop it up into bite size pieces. Soak the pieces of cabbage in cold water and put the soaked cabbage into a large basin. Sprinkle salt. Every 30 minutes, turn the cabbage over to salt evenly (total salting time will be 1½ hours). 1½ hours later, rinse the cabbage in cold water 3 times to clean it thoroughly. Drain the cabbage and set aside.

Put 3 cups of water and sweet rice flour in a pot and mix it well and bring to a boil. Keep stirring until the porridge makes bubbles (about 5 minutes). Add ¼ cup sugar. Stir and cook for a few more minutes until it's translucent. Cool it down.

Place the cold porridge into a large bowl. Now you will add all your ingredients one by one. Add fish sauce, hot pepper flakes, crushed garlic, minced ginger, and minced onion. *tip: it's much easier to use a food processor! Wash and drain the salty squid. Chop it up and add it to the kimchi paste. *tip: how to prepare salty squid is posted on the FAQ above! Add green onions, chopped leek, Korean radish, and carrot. Mix all ingredients well and your kimchi paste is done.

Put the kimchi paste in a large basin and add all the cabbage. Mix it by hand. *tip: If your basin is not large enough to mix all the ingredients at once, do it bit by bit. Put the kimchi into an air-tight sealed plastic container or glass jar. You can eat it fresh right after making or wait until it’s fermented.

Spice Level:

Dietary

Allergens