Napa cabbage kimchi, called baechu kimchi in Korean, is salted whole napa cabbage packed with a seasoned chili paste and left to ferment until it turns tangy and alive. You make it in two stages: salt the cabbage for a few hours so it wilts and gives up water, then coat every leaf with a paste of gochugaru, garlic, ginger, fish sauce, and a little sugar, and let wild lactic acid bacteria do the rest at room temperature. It is the most common style of kimchi on a Korean table, and it is very forgiving once you understand the salt.
Kimchi is old. Koreans have been salting and fermenting vegetables for storage for well over a thousand years, and napa cabbage became the dominant kimchi vegetable in the eighteenth century once that variety was widely grown. What you are making here is the modern household version: cabbage, radish, aromatics, chili, and time.
The One Thing That Matters: Salt
Everything good about kimchi and everything safe about kimchi comes from getting the salt right. Salt pulls water out of the cabbage so the texture holds up, and it holds back spoilage organisms long enough for lactic acid bacteria to take over. Those bacteria convert the sugars in the vegetables into lactic acid, the pH drops, and once it falls to about 4.6 or lower the kimchi is both sour and stable. University extension guidance on vegetable fermentation puts the working range at roughly 1 to 3 tablespoons of salt per quart of brine, or a dry salting of a few tablespoons per five pounds of vegetables, fermented somewhere around 68 to 72 degrees Fahrenheit. Warmer than the high 70s and it ferments too fast and can go soft or off.
Use coarse salt without iodine or anti-caking agents. Iodized table salt can cloud the brine and slightly inhibit the fermentation. Kosher salt or Korean coarse sea salt both work.
Napa Cabbage Kimchi
Serves 4 as a side dish, and makes roughly one quart. Prep 45 minutes, salting 3 hours, active work after that 30 minutes, then 1 to 5 days fermenting at room temperature.
Ingredients
- 1 medium napa cabbage, about 2 pounds
- 3 tablespoons coarse non-iodized salt, plus more for the soak
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 2 tablespoons sweet rice flour cooked with 1/2 cup water into a thin paste, cooled (or leave out and use the sugar alone)
- 4 to 6 tablespoons gochugaru (Korean red pepper flakes), to taste
- 4 cloves garlic, grated
- 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
- 2 tablespoons fish sauce
- 4 ounces Korean radish or daikon, cut into thin matchsticks
- 3 scallions, cut into 1 inch pieces
Method
- Cut the cabbage in quarters lengthwise through the core, then crosswise into 2 inch pieces. Put it in a large bowl.
- Dissolve about 1/4 cup coarse salt in enough cool water to cover the cabbage. Pour it over, press the cabbage down, and let it sit 3 hours, turning it over once at the halfway mark. It is ready when a thick piece of stem bends without snapping.
- Drain and rinse the cabbage three times in cool water, then let it drain in a colander for 20 minutes. Taste a piece. It should be pleasantly salty, not harsh. If it is too salty, rinse once more.
- In a large bowl combine the cooled rice flour paste, sugar, gochugaru, garlic, ginger, and fish sauce into a loose paste. Stir in the radish and scallions.
- Add the drained cabbage. With a gloved hand, work the paste into every piece until evenly coated.
- Pack it firmly into a clean quart jar or container, pressing down so the brine rises to cover the vegetables. Leave at least an inch of headspace. Seal loosely so gas can escape.
- Leave at room temperature, out of direct sun, for 1 to 5 days. Check it once a day and press the vegetables back under the brine. Taste from day 2. When it is as sour as you like, move it to the refrigerator.
- It keeps in the refrigerator for a month or more and keeps getting more sour slowly. If the surface ever grows fuzzy mold, or it smells of solvent or rot rather than clean sourness, discard the batch.
Nutrition (per serving, estimated)
Estimated by calculation for one of four servings, not lab verified. Sodium varies widely with how thoroughly you rinse.
| Calories | Protein | Carbohydrate | Fat | Fiber | Sodium |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 45 | 2 g | 9 g | 0.5 g | 3 g | 600 to 900 mg |
Tips and Variations
- Vegan version: replace the fish sauce with 2 tablespoons soy sauce plus a small piece of kombu simmered in the rice flour paste.
- Milder: drop the gochugaru to 3 tablespoons. It will still ferment fine.
- Faster: ferment at the warm end of room temperature and start tasting at 24 hours.
- Use the older batch: kimchi that has gone very sour is what you want for kimchi jjigae, kimchi fried rice, and kimchi pancakes. Do not throw it out.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need a special crock to make kimchi?
No. A clean glass jar or food grade plastic container with a loose lid is enough for a household batch. What matters is keeping the vegetables pressed under the brine and letting gas escape.
How salty should the cabbage be after rinsing?
It should taste clearly seasoned but still pleasant to eat on its own, similar to a well salted potato chip. If it makes you wince it is too salty and the fermentation will stall, so rinse again.
How do I know it is fermenting and not spoiling?
Fermenting kimchi bubbles gently, smells sharp and sour and a little funky, and the brine turns slightly cloudy. Spoilage smells of rot or nail polish, or grows fuzzy colored mold on the surface. Clean sourness is the goal. Anything else, discard it.
Can I ferment it straight in the refrigerator?
You can, but it will take one to two weeks to sour instead of a few days because the cold slows the bacteria right down. Most people give it a day or two at room temperature first, then refrigerate.
Why did my kimchi go soft?
Usually too little salt, too warm a room, or too long before refrigerating. Keep the salting honest, ferment cooler, and move it to the fridge once it hits the sourness you want.
Tools for the Job
Kimchi is mostly knife work and bowls. A sharp knife makes the cabbage and radish quick, and a heavy airtight container keeps the ferment under brine.
- 13-Inch Damascus Chef Knife for the cabbage and radish
- Two-Tone XL Cutting Board
- Rice and Cereal Storage Container works well as a fermentation vessel with its sealing lid
- Kitchen Essentials
More Technique Guides
These publish together as a set. The full recipe index lists everything on the site in one place.
Who Is Writing This
I am Chef Alan. I have spent 35 years in professional kitchens, I have formal culinary training in New Hampshire, and I have been honored as a 6-time 4-Diamond chef. More about me here. If a step did not make sense, or the recipe missed something you needed, get in touch and I will fix it.
Thank you for cooking this one with us. From all of us at Wine Drop Cookery.
Fermentation salt, temperature and pH guidance from the University of Minnesota Extension guide to fermentation for home food preservation. Historical note on napa cabbage kimchi from the Journal of Ethnic Foods review of the history of kimchi.