Kimchi-Making

Hello Friends! As I began this new blog post, I pondered how I should address my readers. A part of me wants to give my supporters a nickname, like how celebrities give their fan base a nickname. 😂 Any suggestions?

Today's post is all about my kimchi recipe. Back in 2021, I made a blog post on a kimchi-making tradition called kimjang. If you're interested in learning about the history and tradition of making kimchi, please head over to Kimjang: Kimchi- Making Experience.

I always love getting responses from my followers/friends whenever I put up food pictures of things I've made at home. I wouldn't say I'm much of a cook but my kids seem to think I'm the best cook they know (they're just biased 😂). One of the most requested recipes was my cabbage kimchi. The thing about kimchi is that it lasts for quite a bit in my house so I wouldn't say I necessarily make it often since it's mainly me having to finish the kimchi. Sometimes the kimchi gets so fermented (due to sitting in the fridge for so long), that it turns sour.

I like my kimchi on the fresher side, so as soon as it turns sour, it goes into a pot to make kimchi jjigae (kimchi stew). A pro tip: if you feel you messed up on the marinade and your kimchi flavor is off, make something else with the kimchi, like kimchi jeon (a Korean pancake) or kimchi jjigae. Don't let your hard work go to waste.

The Importance of Brining Your Cabbage

The one thing I would like to stress about making kimchi is the brining process. This step is very crucial and will determine how well your kimchi turns out. However, there are lots of factors that come into play in the success of your kimchi.

In some seasons, the harvested cabbages at the farms are not the best. In return, it will create some not-so-ideal kimchi. So take the time to examine the cabbage you're buying. The leaves should look healthy and firm.

The salting process is long so be prepared to wait for your cabbage to reach the tenderness they need to make a flavorful kimchi. In the beginning years of my kimchi-making journey, I would cut my brining process short due to impatience. I just wanted my cabbage to be marinated and the mess cleaned up. DO NOT, I repeat, do not cut your brining process short. You'll end up with very bitter kimchi later on.

The Ingredients

Picture of the brands I used for this recipe.

I want to make some comments on the different ingredients that are pictured above.
The red pepper powder has a mild spice for those who can't take heat well. I wouldn't worry too much about the brand, to be honest. I switch between brands depending on the sales. I recommend getting a sun-dried pepper powder ingredient, taeyangcho (태양초).

Sea salt is an important one that I'm still trying to figure out. My mom uses iodized salt but my aunt and I use natural sea salt. I've tried using iodized salt before to brine the cabbage with multiple failures so I'm a bit confused as to why things don't pan out when I use iodized salt. But regardless, sea salt is the best option to brine your kimchi.

I've had no problems with different brands of fish sauce. so if you can't find the TIPS brand, go for another brand.

The Korean pear juice can be sold in cans like the picture above, or you can buy bottles of Asian pear juice. If Asian pears are in season, you can experiment with grinding the pear into a puree for your marinade. I personally have never tried this method, but maybe I will experiment later this year.

The Marinade

1/2 cup of minced garlic
2 cups of red pepper flakes
1 cup or 1 can of Asian pear juice
1.5 cups of fish sauce
2 tbsp of cane sugar

*All the ingredients can be put into a food processor and blended. If you don't have a food processor like myself, mince the garlic as best as you can, and don't worry if you think they are too "big" for your marinade.

The Non-Essential Ingredients

1 medium-size carrot, julienned
2 small onions cut into thin slices
1 bunch of spring onions cut into thin slices
1.5 cups of julienned Korean radish

All the non-essential vegetables that can be put into the marinade are up to your preference. Sometimes, I have all these ingredients on hand, so I'll put all of them in. Other times, I only have two of these ingredients, and the kimchi still comes out great either way.

Another ingredient that some of you may be interested in is sliced jalapeno peppers. My mom loves incorporating this into her batches.

The non-essential ingredients should be mixed into your marinade with a spoon after the base has been well mixed.

The Cabbage

9-10 lbs of napa cabbage
About 3 cups of sea salt

Salting your cabbage is an important step, as this is part of the brining process. After quartering your cabbage length-wise, run your cabbage through the water so that the sea salt sticks when you go to salt. Make sure to find a bowl or tub big enough to hold all your cabbage. (I've heard that some Korean families that make large batches will even brine their kimchi in their bathtubs. 😳) Starting from the outermost leaf, salt liberally at the innermost part of the leaf. Focus more on the hard part of cabbage leaves and less on the leafy part. This is a tedious process because you have to salt between every layer. Don't worry about the back side of the cabbage leaves, as the salt will be sandwiched in between.

Once all the leaves have been salted, put water in your large bowl, just enough to cover the cabbage. Don't overdo the water, or you'll run into the problem of not having enough salt in the water to brine. The cabbage will float in the water so be sure to keep an eye on how much water is going into the bowl. Personally, I dip my finger in the water after the cabbage has time to soak to see if the water is salty. 😅

During the next few hours, you will want to rotate your cabbage from back to front and front to back so that all the parts of your quartered cabbage are nice and evenly brined.

The Waiting Game

Now, it's time to wait for your cabbage to get nice and tender. This process will take a few hours. It can be anywhere from 3-5 hours depending on how fast the cabbage gets tender. The test to see if your cabbage is ready is by bending the inner, hard part of the cabbage. If it can bend without snapping, your cabbage is ready for the next step. Give some of your other quartered cabbages a test as well. See the picture below.

After you've determined that your cabbage is ready, rinse it thoroughly with cold water and gently wring the cabbage to get rid of excess water.

Once all your cabbage is rinsed and wrung out, put on some food-grade gloves. Starting with the outer layers, smother some marinade from the innermost part of the cabbage. Essentially, you are doing the same thing as when you salted your cabbage. Do this until all your cabbage has been marinated. Put your kimchi into a container or a glass mason jar. Pop it into the fridge and wait a few days for a nice flavor. You can also keep your kimchi out on the counter to ferment, but I personally haven't done this before, so I have no insight on fermenting it at room temperature.

However, I heard that if you ferment your kimchi at room temperature, it's best to keep it in a plastic container because the juices will explode if kept in a glass jar.