Kimchi

Recipe from Kelly Geary and Jessie Knadler

Adapted by Julia Moskin

Updated May 1, 2024

Kimchi
Con Poulos for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Christine Albano.
Total Time
15 minutes, plus 4 days’ storage
Rating
4(653)
Comments
Read comments

You don’t need stoneware crocks or special jars to make kimchi. You do need a large bowl and multiple containers. When you become confident, you can add radishes and turnips, but this is the basic formula, from a book on preserving, “Tart and Sweet” by Kelly Geary and Jessie Knadler. The carrots are not strictly traditional, but I particularly like their crunch. Some people like their kimchi “new,” and some let it get really funky. Refrigerated and covered, it lasts indefinitely. I eat it many ways: finely chopped with steamed rice, fried eggs and Japanese sesame salt; stirred into chicken noodle soup; on steak, mixed with fresh watercress. In Korean food, it’s ketchup, mustard and relish, all in one. —Julia Moskin

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Ingredients

  • 2napa cabbages, weighing 3 to 4 pounds total
  • ⅓cup salt
  • 2tablespoons soy sauce
  • ¼cup fish sauce
  • 1½cups Korean chili powder, also called gochugaru
  • 2bunches of scallions, thinly sliced
  • ¼cup garlic, minced
  • ¼cup ginger, minced
  • 4cups thin carrot sticks (optional), about 3 inches long
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)

138 calories; 5 grams fat; 1 gram saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 1 gram monounsaturated fat; 3 grams polyunsaturated fat; 26 grams carbohydrates; 14 grams dietary fiber; 6 grams sugars; 7 grams protein; 2192 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Cut the cabbages lengthwise into quarters, then across into thick ribbons. Put the cabbage in a big bowl and use your hands to toss it with the salt. Pour in cold water to cover the cabbage. It will float, so invert a plate on top, or a zipper-lock plastic bag of water, or whatever is handy, to keep it submerged. Cover the bowl with a towel and leave it out overnight.

  2. Step 2

    The next day, use your hands to lift the cabbage out of the brine and put it in a big bowl. (Keep the brine, too.) In a small bowl, make a chili paste of the soy sauce, fish sauce and Korean chili powder. (Check the ingredients list to make sure you get pure chili powder, not the kind that has salt mixed in.)

  3. Step 3

    Add the chili paste to the cabbage along with the scallions, garlic, ginger and, if you like, the carrot sticks. Mix the kimchi well and pack it into hard plastic or glass containers. Pour in enough of the brine to cover the vegetables.

  4. Step 4

    Cover the containers and leave out at room temperature (but not more than 75 degrees, or it ferments too fast). Taste it after three or four days, and every day after. As the vegetables shrink, the kimchi can be combined in ever-smaller containers; just keep it covered with brine.

  5. Step 5

    When it tastes good to you, it’s done.

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Ratings

4 out of 5
653 user ratings
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Comments

Sarah

I am a Korean mom and make my own kimchi. We don't use soy sauce in traditional Kinchi recipe, it would make kimchi saltier than necessary.
I would recommend to add a cup of light sweet rice porridge (stir in one Table spoon of sweet rice powder in a cup of boiling water, cool it down completely) in the paste, it adds bit of sweet taste (not sugary sweet, but subtle sweetness from rice). I would go with less ginger and no salty brine in this recipe. Hope many more people enjoy Kimchi!

Susan

There is no salt added Korean pepper for kimchee...
It's ground fine..normally we don't add salt to finished priduct...when we prepare the cabbage we add the salt...let it 'degorge' ..for several hours until limp...add the sweet rice flour to boiling water until thickened, stir and cool..then add the loose korean hot pepper flakes/powder, green onions garlic etc...then add to the drained cabbage in container ...for faster pickling let sit out....then refrigerate...

Dave

I have to think that the indicated 1.5 cups of gochugaru is a misprint, unless you're a masochist. Every other kimchi recipe I perused online indicated between 1-5 tablespoons for a similar amount of cabbage and other ingredients.

FrankW`

This recipes comments got me started when I first decided I should make my own kimchi after being introduced to KimChi in NYc Korean Town in the 30’s. The critical comments pointing out the non traditional aspects of this recipe led me to do my own research and then I made my first batch back in 2017. Now after many batches, in the end from what I learned this recipe is actually a good place to start, even including the fish sauce.

Julia

I've made this approximate recipe at least five times in the last couple of years, Here in Spain there is practically nothing Korean so it's DIY almost always, and the few bottled kimchis I've found are really meek and mild. I don't think there is a need here for absolute authenticity (even if such a thing exists). Just make it to your taste and invite your friends to a tasting!

Bob S

I may get razzed for saying it but this is GREAT on hot dogs. And it lasts forever in the fridge in a sealed jar.

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Credits

Adapted from “Tart and Sweet” by Kelly Geary and Jessie Knadler

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