Once you make your own Homemade Kimchi with this super easy recipe, you wouldn't dream of buying it from a store again. Shall we?
Explore More
- What Ingredients You Need for Homemade Kimchi
- Homemade Kimchi, Fast and Easy Recipe
- What is Kind of Cabbage to Use for Kimchi
- How Many Pounds is One Napa Cabbage Head?
- What's the Best Way to Cut Napa Cabbage for Kimchi?
- How to Make Homemade Kimchi
- Prep Kimchi Seasoning
- Pro Tips, Tricks, and Techniques
- What to Make with Kimchi
What Ingredients You Need for Homemade Kimchi
Homemade Kimchi fresh/refrigerator ingredients:
- Napa cabbage - 1 head, about 3 pounds
- Carrots - 1 cup julienned, about 2 carrots
- Green onions - 1 cup sliced, about 1 stalk
- Korean radish - 1 cup julienned
- Asian pear
- Onion - ¼
- Garlic - ¼ cup cloves
- Ginger - 1 tablespoon
Homemade Kimchi dry/pantry ingredients:
- Sea salt, 1 cup
- Fish sauce, ¼ cup
- Gochugaru, 1 cup
Homemade Kimchi, Fast and Easy Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup coarse sea salt
- 4 cups water
- 1 head Napa cabbage about 3 pounds
- 1 cup carrot julienned (1-2 large carrots)
- 1 cup green onions 2 inch pieces (2-3 stalks)
- 1 cup Korean radish julienned
Seasoning
- 1 Asian pear
- ¼ onion rough chopped
- ¼ cup garlic cloves
- 1 tablespoon fresh ginger
- ¼ cup fish sauce
- 1 cup gochugaru
Instructions
Prep Cabbage
- Dissolve 1 cup of coarse sea salt in 4 cups of water in a bowl large enough to hold chopped cabbage.
- Remove any bruised or very wilted outer leaves from napa cabbage. Split the cabbage lengthwise in half. Do this by turning the cabbage upside down, making a cut about 2 inches down through the core, then pulling the two halves apart. Split each half lengthwise again into quarters in the same manner. Cut off and discard the core out of the bottoms of the wedges. Cut each of the cabbage quarters into 1½ to 2-inch pieces.
- Place the chopped cabbage in the bowl with the salt water. Add more water until the cabbage is submerged. Set aside for 1½ to 2 hours while you prepare the remaining ingredients, giving the cabbage a stir every 20 to 30 minutes.
- Drain salt water from cabbage, rinse a few times with fresh water, drain, squeeze out as much water as you can with your hands, then set aside.
Make Kimchi Seasoning
- Place 1 Asian pear, ¼ onion, ¼ cup garlic cloves, 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, ¼ cup fish sauce into a blender or food processor and blend on high until smooth. Add 1 cup gochugaru. Pulse a few times until well combined.
Make Kimchi
- Add 1 cup julienned carrots, 1 cup sliced scallions, and 1 cup julienned Korean radish to the bowl with drained cabbage. Pour the Kimchi Seasoning over the vegetables and cabbage then stir everything to combiner hands (wear gloves!), spread the mixture over the cabbage leaves to makes sure they are evenly and well coated.
- Pour the Kimchi Seasoning over the vegetables and cabbage then stir everything to combiner hands (wear gloves!), spread the mixture over the cabbage leaves to makes sure they are evenly and well coated.
- Place the kimchi into large glass jars, pressing down to remove air pockets. Cover with lids.
- Store the kimchi at room temperature overnight. After 24 hours, transfer the jars to the refrigerator. Kimchi will taste like a highly seasoned cabbage salad after the first day, and will start to taste like actual kimchi on the third day and beyond. Kimchi will keep for up to two weeks.
Notes
Nutrition
What is Kind of Cabbage to Use for Kimchi
Use napa cabbage for this fast and easy kimchi recipe.
If you can't find napa cabbage where you are, the recipe will also work with regular round green cabbage, which is actually a real thing called called yang-bae-chu kimchi/양배추 김치. You just let the cabbage soak in the salt for about half the time because the green cabbage leaves are thinner than napa cabbage leaves.
Is Kimchi Healthy?
Yes! Kimchi is super healthy! Depending on your health needs and dietary considerations, of course. To be honest, I can't really think of a case in which Kimchi would not be healthy, unless maybe spice or acid from the fermentation causes heartburn or other gastric issue for you.
Dietary Considerations of Kimchi
As published, this recipe for Homemade Kimchi is:
- pescatarian (uses fish sauce)
- dairy-free
- gluten-free/wheat-free
- grain-free
- refined sugar-free
- anti-inflammatory
This recipe for Homemade Kimchi is easily vegan/vegetarian-adaptable by substituting in vegan fish sauce (usually made with mushrooms) for the regular fish sauce.
How Many Pounds is One Napa Cabbage Head?
Because cabbages come in so many different sizes and shapes like so many um, other things, it's better to "measure" cabbages by actual pounds, not by number of heads.
According to the USDA, one average napa cabbage weighs about 2½ to 3 ounces, but what is this? The 1800s? Cabbages in grocery stores have gotten bigger, and the average cabbage based on my own experience weighs more like 3 to 4 pounds.
This recipe is kimchi though, not precision baking, so it's ok to come close enough with the amounts.
You will more than likely become hyper-fixated/obsessed/addicted to your own Homemade Kimchi, so I highly recommend you just go for that 6-pound double pack of kimchi!!!
What's the Best Way to Cut Napa Cabbage for Kimchi?
The best way to cut napa cabbage for Kimchi is to make a 2-inch deep cut in the bottom/stem end of the cabbage through the core, then pull the halves apart with your hands. This keeps the leafy edges attached, and "ruffly," which will hold onto more of the seasoning mix. Cut each half again in the same way so you have 4 quarters.
Use a large, sharp chef's knife to cut the quarter cross-wise into 2-inch pieces. It may seem like the pieces are large, but they will shrink quite a bit after salting and fermenting.
Additional Ingredients Notes and Resources
Gochugaru: Gochugaru is a bright red Korean chili pepper powder made from a specific variety of Korean chili pepper. Its heat level ranges, but gochugaru is generally considered a medium spicy chili powder. Look for gochugaru that is made from Korean peppers that are sun-dried, and for this recipe specifically, a coarse grind, or flakes, not a fine powder. You can find gochugaru in Korean grocery stores like H-Mart and other Asian grocery stores. I have also seen some independent, new-ish spice companies like this and this at Whole Foods. This organic brand and the one in the photo above, purchased at HMart, are currently what I have in my pantry.
Fish sauce: This brand has been my favorite for years available at Whole Foods if you can't get to an Asian market, and this one I've tried recently and like, too!
Korean radish. Korean radish, translates to "mu" or "moo," looks like a shorter, wider Japanese daikon radish with pale green skin at the neck and shoulders. It is slightly more dense than other radishes, and a more pronounced flavor, though radishes tend to have a mild flavor in general. Because the seasonings, spices, and fermentation in the final kimchi are very strong, Korean radish can stand up to them! I buy Korean radish at whatever Asian grocery store happens to be on my shopping route at the time. You can substitute with Japanese daikon.
Asian pear. Traditional kimchi has some degree of sweetness, usually from the addition of either sweet rice flour or actual sugar. Because we are keeping this Kimchi refined sugar-free, we use Asian pear blended into the seasoning mix for natural sweetness. If you can't find Asian pear, use one of the sweeter variety of regular apples like Fuji, and peel it.
Onions, garlic, and all other fresh herbs and produce from either the Santa Monica Farmers' Market on Wednesday, or Whole Foods Market.
How to Make Homemade Kimchi
Prep Cabbage
Dissolve 1 cup of coarse sea salt in 1 quart of water in a bowl large enough to hold chopped cabbage.
Remove any bruised or very wilted outer leaves from napa cabbage. Split the cabbage lengthwise in half. Do this by turning the cabbage upside down, making a cut about 2 inches down through the core, then pulling the two halves apart.
Split each half lengthwise again into quarters in the same manner.
Slice off and discard the core out of the bottoms of the wedges.
Cut each of the cabbage quarters into 1½ to 2-inch pieces.
Place the chopped cabbage in the bowl with the salt water. Add more water until the cabbage is submerged. Set aside for 1½ to 2 hours while you prepare the remaining ingredients, giving the cabbage a stir every 20 to 30 minutes.
Drain salt water from cabbage, rinse a few times with fresh water.
Squeeze out as much water as you can with your hands, then set aside.
Prep Kimchi Seasoning
Place 1 Asian pear (peeled or unpeeled), ¼ onion, ¼ cup garlic cloves, 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, ¼ cup fish sauce into a blender or food processor and blend on high until smooth.
Add 1 cup gochugaru. Pulse a few times until well combined.
Make Homemade Kimchi
Pour half the Kimchi Seasoning over the cabbage, stir together using hands to really massage the seasoning into the cabbage pieces. Wear gloves!
Add 1 cup julienned carrots, 1 cup sliced scallions, 1 cup julienned Korean radish to the bowl, and remaining Kimchi seasoning.
Combine everything together, making sure all of the ingredients are evenly distributed.
Place the kimchi into large glass jars, pressing down to remove air pockets. Cover with lids.
Store the kimchi at room temperature overnight. After 24 hours, transfer the jars to the refrigerator. Kimchi will taste like a highly seasoned cabbage salad after the first day, and will start to taste like actual kimchi on the third day and beyond. Kimchi will keep for up to two weeks.
Pro Tips, Tricks, and Techniques
Use your hands!
Wear dark clothes or an apron.
Tools and Equipment
There isn't any special tool or piece of equipment that is absolutely required for this Homemade Kimchi. You can make it using a sharp chef's knife on a sturdy cutting board to prep the cabbage and vegetables! However, that isn't to say there are a few tools that might make it slightly easier to get from napa cabbage on your counter to jar in the fridge!
- Chef's knife, my personal workhorse
- Wooden cutting board, oversized for all those carrots
- Glass mixing bowls
- Mini ¼-cup liquid measuring cup
- Glass storage container with airtight lids, perfect size for storing Spicy Carrots you make it in advance
- Glass mason jars, wide mouth because they're easier to use and wash
- Mason jar lids that are better than those horrible 2-piece metal lids
What to Make with Kimchi
- Kimchi Tofu
- Kimchi Jjigae with Tuna and Tofu
- Kimchi Deviled Eggs
- Shakshuka, stir chopped kimchi and some of the juice into the tomatoes to add an umami kick
Best Spicy Banchan and Korean-ish Side Dishes
- Oi Muchim, Korean Spicy Cucumbers
- Spicy Korean Radish Salad, Mu-saeng-chae
- Radish Kimchi, Kkak-du-gi
- Korean Carrot Salad, a carrot banchan
Korean Vegetable Side Dishes
- Din Tai Fung Spicy Cucumbers copycat, similar but different
- Spicy Cucumber and Avocado Salad
- Garlicky Spinach, Shigeumchi Namul
- Soy Sauce Pickles
JF says
Is that steak and kimchi and if so, where can I order it? That looks good.
Craig says
You are beyond ethnic, gender and other identifiers, you are delicious and lets just leave at that.
saul says
Baby, you're speaking my language... that looks amazing... I love Kim-Chee
Anonymous says
Wait, you mean not everyone has kimchee with everything?
Blasphemy!
Ima Wurdibitsch says
I've tried. I lived in Seoul for three years as a kid and would eat just about anything (including silkworm pupa) but couldn't handle kimchee. Flash forward many years and I found myself, happily, at a Korean restaurant. I decided that my immature palate had been the reason for my dislike of kimchee all those years ago. I tried again.
I still don't like it.
~hanging head in shame~
hermz says
If we go by the food metric, then I guess I'm even more Korean than the "half" that Brian and Steve bestowed upon me.
SteamyKitchen says
I even eat kimchee with my carnitas tacos
and i'm not even korean.