Recipes / Vegetables

Sue Pressey’s napa cabbage kimchi

Name: Sue Pressey’s napa cabbage kimchi
Yield: 7 litres, according to the author
Ingredients: 4 kg napa cabbage, tough outer leaves removed; 3840 ml water for the brine; 285 g coarse Korean sea salt or natural rock salt for the brine; 97 g salt with medium-sized crystals, for salting the leaves; 2 tbsp glutinous rice flour; 360 ml water for the rice paste; 141 g gochugaru (Korean chilli flakes); 540 g Korean radish or daikon, cut into thin matchsticks; 1 tbsp fine sea salt for the radish; 3½ tbsp Korean fish sauce; 2 tbsp finely chopped salted fermented shrimp (saeujeot); 90 g garlic chives, cut into 5 cm lengths; 140 g carrot, cut into thin matchsticks; 42 g finely chopped garlic; ½ tbsp finely chopped ginger; 2 tbsp raw sugar; 75 g onion, puréed or finely grated

Traditional cabbage kimchi (pogi-kimchi) made with napa cabbage quarters, radish, Korean chilli flakes, fish sauce and salted fermented shrimp. From Sue Pressey’s recipe at My Korean Kitchen.

Recipe author: Sue Pressey · My Korean Kitchen

2 hours 30 minutes prep + 6 hours salting (8 hours 30 minutes total), then 24 hours fermenting + 3–4 days chilling for fuller flavourMakes: 7 litres, according to the author

Jump to the steps Ingredients and their stories ↓Download printable PDF

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Ingredients

4 kg napa cabbage, tough outer leaves removed
3840 ml water for the brine
285 g coarse Korean sea salt or natural rock salt for the brine
97 g salt with medium-sized crystals, for salting the leaves
2 tbsp glutinous rice flour
360 ml water for the rice paste
141 g gochugaru (Korean chilli flakes)
540 g Korean radish or daikon, cut into thin matchsticks
1 tbsp fine sea salt for the radish
3½ tbsp Korean fish sauce
2 tbsp finely chopped salted fermented shrimp (saeujeot)
90 g garlic chives, cut into 5 cm lengths
140 g carrot, cut into thin matchsticks
42 g finely chopped garlic
½ tbsp finely chopped ginger
2 tbsp raw sugar
75 g onion, puréed or finely grated

Use a 15 ml tablespoon. Water and other metric amounts are reproduced directly from the author’s recipe.

Equipment

A large bowl, tray, food-safe bag or bucket, colander and saucepan
A kimchi container or an airtight container with a lid

Instructions

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Recipe card to download and print

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Quarter the cabbage
Cut the cabbage lengthways into quarters and rinse under running water. Keep the leaves attached to the core.
Salt the leaves
Dissolve the coarse salt in the 3840 ml water. Dip each cabbage quarter in this brine and place on a tray. Sprinkle the 97 g salt between the leaves, concentrating on the thick white parts. Keep the brine.
Leave to salt
Put the cabbage in a food-grade bag or bucket, with the wedge sides facing up, and pour in the reserved brine. Seal the bag, or place a weight over the cabbage in the bucket. Leave for 6 hours, turning every 2 hours.
Rinse and drain
Rinse off the salt under running water, paying particular attention to the thick white parts of the leaves. Drain in a colander for 1 hour.
Make the rice paste
Cook the rice flour with the 360 ml water over a medium heat for 5–8 minutes, until thickened. Allow to cool, then stir in the gochugaru.
Mix the seasoning
Combine the radish, fine salt, fish sauce and saeujeot. Leave for 10 minutes, then mix in the remaining seasoning ingredients and rice paste.
Coat the leaves
Place a cabbage quarter on a tray and spread the seasoning over one side of every leaf. Use 1–2 small handfuls of paste per quarter, keeping the leaves attached to the core.
Ferment and chill
Pack into a kimchi container or an airtight container with a lid, filling it only 70–80% full. Close and leave at room temperature for 24 hours, then refrigerate. Check the pH before eating, as explained below. Serve once chilled and at pH 4.6 or lower, or wait a further 3–4 days for a fuller flavour.
Cut as needed
Cut a small portion and keep it in a smaller glass container for serving. Leave the rest in quarters in the larger container, cutting more as needed.

Tips

Contains fish and crustaceans from the fish sauce and saeujeot.

Additional Colorado State University guidance: before eating, verify that the kimchi has reached pH 4.6 or lower. Fermentation time and chilling alone do not confirm this value. Discard the entire batch if mould appears.

Storage

After 24 hours, refrigerate, ideally at 3–5°C. Keep tightly covered and use clean utensils to serve.

How to serve

Cut into bite-sized pieces and serve with rice. Use more mature, sour kimchi in fried rice, kimchi-jjigae stew or kimchijeon pancakes.

Ingredients / history / science

Discover the ingredients and their stories

What goes into the jar? Where does the flavour come from? Open a topic and explore its sources.

About the ingredientsKimchi is more than cabbage

Kimchi includes many kinds of seasoned, fermented vegetables. Baechu-kimchi is made with napa cabbage. In pogi-kimchi, the leaves remain attached to the core: after salting, they are coated with a paste of gochugaru, garlic and other seasonings.

Sue Pressey · My Korean Kitchen · Kimchi Recipe

History on a plateKimjang: preparing for winter together

In late autumn, families and neighbours in Korea make and share supplies of kimchi for winter. This custom is called kimjang. In 2013, UNESCO added it to the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

A closer lookWhy kimchi keeps getting sourer

Bacteria naturally present on the vegetables produce organic acids, including lactic acid, as kimchi ferments. That is why its flavour becomes sourer even though the recipe contains no vinegar. Moving it to the fridge slows fermentation but does not stop it completely.