Korean Kimchi Recipe/ Making Kimchi/ How to Make Kimchi at Home

 Let's Make Kimchi with One Head of Napa Cabbage

Ingredients:

• 1 head of napa cabbage

• 2/3 Korean radish (mu)

• 200g small green onions (jjokpa)

• 200g garlic chives (buchu)

• (To taste: 100g of water parsley, a stalk of green onion)

For salting the cabbage:

• 1 cup (200g) coarse sea salt

• 1 liter of water

Sweet rice paste:

• 1/2 cup(100ml) water

• 3 tablespoons sweet rice flour

• (If you don't have sweet rice flour,  you can add 1 cup of cooked rice)

Broth:

• 1/2 cup(100ml) water

• 1 piece kelp (dashima)

• 1 dried anchovy (myeolchi dapo-ri)

• 1 piece dried pollack (hwangtae)

Seasoning:

• 1 pear

• 1 apple

• 1 cup(200g) Korean chili powder (gochugaru)

• 2 tablespoons minced garlic

• 1/2 tablespoon minced ginger

• 4 tablespoons fish sauce (kanari or anchovy)

• 3 tablespoons salted fermented shrimp (saeujeot)

• 3 tablespoons plum extract (maesil-cheong)

• 1/3 Korean radish

• 3 red chili peppers

• (To taste: 1/2 tbsp MSG, 1 tbsp New Sugar, 2 tbsp Sugar)

Measurements:

• 1 tablespoon = 15ml

• 1 teaspoon = 5ml

• 1 cup = 200ml

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Instructions:

1. Salt the Napa Cabbage

Rinse the cabbage lightly with water and cut it into quarters.
From the 1 cup of sea salt(200g), take two handfuls and sprinkle between the stems of each quarter to salt evenly.
Mix the remaining salt with 1 liter of water.
Pour the saltwater over the cabbage leaves and cover with a colander or mesh.
Let it sit for 4 hours. (If the stems bend softly, it’s ready. If they snap, it's not yet done. Depending on the weather, it can take 5–6 hours.)

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2. Make the Seasoning Paste

Make the broth and sweet rice paste:
Boil 1/2 cup(100ml) of water with kelp, 1 dried anchovy, and 1 piece of dried pollack. Let it cool.
In another 1/2 cup(100ml) of water, mix 3 tablespoons of sweet rice flour using a whisk, then heat while stirring until it thickens like a soup. Let it cool. Mix both when they cool.

Make the kimchi filling:
Grind in a Blender together the pear, apple, chili powder, garlic, ginger, fish sauce, fermented shrimp, plum extract, 1/3 radish, and 3 red chili peppers until smooth. Kelp becomes bitter when mixed in seasoning, so use it only when making broth.

Prepare the vegetables:
Shred the radish with a slicer. Cut the small green onions and chives into 4–5 cm pieces for bite-size. (You can add water parsley or green onions to your taste)

Mix everything:
First, mix half of the spice mix with the shredded radish so it gets colored. Then add the green onions, chives, and the rest of the seasoning and mix well. (If you add 1/2 tablespoon of MSG, 1 tablespoon of New Sugar, and 2 tablespoons of sugar according to your taste, it will be sweet and savory! 😄)

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3. Fill the Cabbage with the Seasoning Mix

Rinse the salted cabbage 3 times, then drain it on a strainer for about an hour.
Spread the seasoning mix between the layers of cabbage, focusing on the inner stem side.
Also, apply the mix to the outer leaves.

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