Korean Kimchi

Kimchi is a traditional Korean dish made of seasoned vegetables and salt. Koreans eat it at nearly every meal. It can be fresh, like a salad, or it can be fermented. While the most popular variety is spicy kimchi made of cabbage, there are hundreds of different types of kimchi made of different vegetables, and not all of them spicy. Kimchi is also a main ingredient in many other Korean dishes.

There are so many kind of Kimchi in Korean cuisine. Some of them are:

Cubed radish kimchi (Kkakdugi 깍두기)

Easy-to-make kimchi (Mak-kimchi 막김치

Emergency kimchi (Yangbaechu-kimchi 양배추김치) 

Napa cabbage kimchi (Tongbaechu-kimchi 통배추김치)

Napa cabbage kimchi and radish kimchi (Baechu-kimchi, kkakdugi 배추김치, 깍두기)

Perilla leaf kimchi (Kkaenip-kimchi 깻잎김치)

Ponytail kimchi (Chonggak-kimchi 총각김치)

Radish water kimchi (Dongchimi 동치미)

Spicy stuffed cucumber kimchi (Oisobagi kimchi 오이소박이 김치)

White Kimchi (Baek-kimchi 백김치)

Young summer radish water kimchi (Yeolmu mulkimchi 열무 물김치)

We already familiar with the classic Kimchi caled tongbaechu-kimchi, a.k.a. baechu-kimchi or pogi-kimchi.

This kimchi uses the whole cabbage leaf, so you’ll need to take time to spread the spicy paste leaf by leaf.

Ingredients (source)

Makes about 8 pounds (3.6 kg) of Kimchi

For salting cabbage:

6 pounds napa cabbage (3 to 4 heads of medium napa cabbage)

½ cup Kosher salt

For making porridge:

2 cups water

2 tablespoons sweet rice flour (glutinous rice flour)

2 tablespoons turbinado sugar (brown or white sugar)

Vegetables:

2 cups radish matchsticks

1 cup carrot matchsticks

7 to 8 green onions, chopped

1 cup chopped Asian chives (buchu), optional (substitute with 3 green onions, chopped)

1 cup water dropwort (minari), optional

Seasonings and spices:

½ cup garlic cloves (24 garlic cloves), minced

2 teaspoon ginger, minced

1 medium onion, minced

½ cup fish sauce

¼ cup fermented salted shrimp (saeujeot) with the salty brine, chopped

2 cups hot pepper flakes (gochugaru)

How to make this Kimchi.

Recipe source