Kimchi is a Korean version of sauerkraut, full of flavor and immune-boosting properties. Kimchi typically contains red pepper and napa cabbage, but many variations exist. I love this adaptation featuring daikon radish and fish sauce.
How to Make Kimchi
This recipe is adapted from my go-to fermentation book, Real Food Fermentation. Feel free to modify to suit your preferences. Garlic is a healthy addition, but I prefer it without. Fish sauce is optional but helps with the fermentation process. (I buy Red Boat Fish Sauce.)
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup sea salt
- 2 cups filtered water
- 2 pounds vegetables (cabbage, napa cabbage, bok choy, daikon radish, red cabbage)
- 1/2 head garlic
- 1/4 inch ginger root
- 1 large onion
- 1/4 cup red pepper flakes or powder
- 1 tablespoon sugar (this will be fermented and will not remain in the final product)
- 1 teaspoon fish sauce (optional)
- 2-3 scallions
Directions
- In a mixing bowl, dissolve the salt in filtered water.
- Cut/slice/chop the cabbage, daikon radish, bok choy, and/or red cabbage.
- Place the cut vegetables into the brine and mix with clean hands.
- Cover the bowl and leave overnight or a minimum of six hours.
- Drain the vegetables thoroughly. Taste them. They should be fairly salty. You can always rinse if you think they are too salty.
- Peel the onions, garlic, and ginger.
- Blend all three in a food processor with a bit of filtered water, to allow them to mix. You can chop them finely or use a mortar and pestle (the ancient way).
- Add the red pepper, fish sauce, and sugar to create a paste. Add water if needed.
- Cut the scallions diagonally and blend into the paste.
- Move the drained vegetables to a mixing bowl and add paste. Blend thoroughly with a spoon. Taste the vegetables. Add more salt if needed.
- Pack the vegetables into a fermenting jar, leaving one inch of head room. I use a silicone waterless fermentation airlock from Pickle Pipe. You can also use a Fido jar or mason jar with tightly capped lid. (Be sure to burp the mason jar daily.)
- Leave the jar on a pantry shelf for several days. Wait until you like the taste. Store in refrigerator.
Kimchi
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Ingredients
- 1/3 cup sea salt
- 2 cups filtered water
- 2 pounds vegetables (cabbage, napa cabbage, bok choy, daikon radish, red cabbage)
- 1/2 head garlic
- 1/4 inch ginger root
- 1 large onion
- 1/4 cup red pepper flakes or powder
- 1 tablespoon sugar (this will be fermented and will not remain in the final product)
- 1 teaspoon fish sauce (optional)
- 2-3 scallions
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl, dissolve the salt in filtered water.Cut/slice/chop the cabbage, daikon radish, bok choy, and/or red cabbage.
- Place the cut vegetables into the brine and mix with clean hands. Cover the bowl and leave overnight or a minimum of six hours.
- Drain the vegetables thoroughly. Taste them. They should be fairly salty. You can always rinse if you think they are too salty.
- Peel the onions, garlic, and ginger. Blend all three in a food processor with a bit of filtered water, to allow them to mix. You can chop them finely or use a mortar and pestle (the ancient way).
- Add the red pepper, fish sauce, and sugar to create a paste. Add water if needed. Cut the scallions diagonally and blend into the paste.
- Move the drained vegetables to a mixing bowl and add paste. Blend thoroughly with a spoon. Taste the vegetables. Add more salt if needed.
- Pack the vegetables into a fermenting jar, leaving one inch of head room.Leave the jar on a pantry shelf for several days. Wait until you like the taste. Store in refrigerator.
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This looks great Andrea! So happy to see so many people enjoying making and eating kimchi. Gone are the days when I couldn’t eat it outside my home, let alone see non-Koreans make kimchi!
I bet, Karen! 🙂
Our oldest son just got His dad 2 jars of kimchi for Father’s Day. He totally loves it. No kidding, I have been meaning to get a recipe online, and today I got one in my email 🙂 THANKS!!!!!
So glad to hear, Heidi!! Let me know how it works for you. What an awesome Father’s Day present.
Hi, I love the look of your kimchi recipe. But can you make it fit on only one page to print? It takes two pages now and if you look at it you will be able to see that it can easily fit on one page. Thank you so much for the recipe.
Hi Michelle!
I cut it back so that it all fits on one page, but you’ll have to select single page. The second page has the link which you won’t need. Hope that helps!
Hello Andrea,
I am recovering from mold toxicity and I want to know if fermented foods are safe for my family and me? I believe I am experiencing the Herx reaction as I have just started making my own raw milk dairy kefir, kombucha and fermented vegetables. My symptoms hAve been sired up with the use of these products. But, before I knew mold was making me and my family I’ll, I was placed on six courses of antibiotics for chronic sinusitis.
I feel that I really need these natural foods. I am trying to research but, the information is all over the board. I have read your posts and would greatly appreciate any information specific to using these fermented foods to assist in healing from mold toxicity and fungal infections .
Thank you, Angela
The key with fermented foods is to listen to your body. Sometimes they can be too much. Or other times you can tolerate one type of ferment but not another. Homemade sauerkraut can be too strong for some. But these are not toxic foods. They can simply be too much. Less is more when it comes to fermented food from my experience.
Thank you, that makes perfect sense 🙂
Can I make this in a crock pot and take out what I want now and then?
Some apps require WiFi to download but most we can use with this hookup.
It depends on the temperature of the crock pot. You don’t want to overheat it as it will kill the beneficial enzymes.
Do you mean ferment it in the crock. If so, once fermented, if should be refrigerated, in an air tight container. The added salt and lactic acid generated during frmentatin, help in preserving this food, but left out, in an open container and bad stuff will eventually spoil your stuff. Best to jar it and keep it closed in the refrigerator.
I like to sweeten up the kimchi, and have found that one coffee sized packet of Stevie per pint of kimchi sweetened the mix to my tastes, and takes some of the bite and bitterness out of the pepper sauce.
Just a suggestion.