NAPA Kimchi
- 1h 0mPrep Time
- 0sCook Time
- 0h Ready In
A traditional napa cabbage kimchi with daikon, gochugaru, garlic, ginger, and fish sauce. It's bright, spicy, and versatile for use in various Korean dishes.
Ingredients
- 2 medium heads napa cabbage
- 118 ml sea salt
- 454 g daikon radish
- gochugaru (dried Korean red pepper flakes)
- scallions green parts chopped into 1-inch pieces and white parts thinly sliced
- 20 clove garlic minced, pressed, or pulsed
- 44.4 ml fresh ginger minced or finely grated peeled
- fish sauce
- 14.8 ml sugar
Nutrition (per serving, estimated)
Estimated based off 7 of 9 identified ingredients (per 100 g food data, scaled by amount).
Vitamins & minerals
- Calcium: 5082 mg
- Iron: 49.2 mg
- Magnesium: 766 mg
- Phosphorus: 4276 mg
- Potassium: 11797 mg
- Zinc: 32.6 mg
Let's Prepare
Collect
Gather these ingredients — no prep needed yet.
- 2 medium heads napa cabbage
- 118 ml sea salt
- 454 g daikon radish
- gochugaru (dried Korean red pepper flakes)
- fish sauce
- 14.8 ml sugar
Prepare
- scallions, green parts chopped into 1-inch pieces and white parts thinly sliced
- 20 clove garlic, minced, pressed, or pulsed
- 44.4 ml fresh ginger, minced or finely grated peeled
Let's Cook
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Step 1.
Halve each cabbage lengthwise, remove and discard the core, then cut each half lengthwise again. Slice each section crosswise into about 1-inch-wide and 2- to 4-inch-long pieces.
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Step 2.
Put the cabbage in one or two large bowls, a food-grade bucket, or your clean sink, and cover it with water to quickly rinse and soak it.
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Step 3.
Drain the cabbage, put it back in your container, and sprinkle it with the salt. Toss it with your hands until the cabbage is thoroughly coated, and then press it down firmly to help the cabbage release water.
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Step 4.
Let the salted cabbage sit at room temperature for 4 to 5 hours, pressing it down every hour or so to help it release water.
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Step 5.
Transfer the cabbage to a colander in batches, and rinse it with cold water until it tastes slightly less salty than you want your future kimchi to be. Keep in mind that you’ll be adding fish sauce, which is quite salty. Gently squeeze out the excess water, and transfer the cabbage to your container.
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Step 6.
While the cabbage is salting, trim, peel, and halve the daikon lengthwise, and then halve each of the pieces lengthwise again. Slice all 4 pieces of daikon crosswise into ⅛- to ¼-inch-thick rounded triangles.
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Step 7.
Add the daikon, gochugaru to taste, scallions, garlic, ginger, fish sauce to taste, and sugar to the cabbage, and mix thoroughly. I like to mix my kimchi by hand so that I can thoroughly blend everything and feel its texture and moisture. Note that it does leave my hands and arms a little warm for the next 30 minutes or so, even after washing all the chili off, so consider using gloves.
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Step 8.
Pack the kimchi into a gallon jar or other nonreactive, lidded container. (If you have more than a gallon of kimchi, simply use another small jar for the remainder.) Push it down until the salty liquid released from the rinsed cabbage rises above the cabbage and vegetables.
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Step 9.
Cover the jar with a very loosely fastened lid, put the jar in a bowl or deep dish (in case it overflows), and let it sit at room temperature, away from direct sunlight, for several days. Sample the kimchi every day or so, releasing pressure from the jar as you do.
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Step 10.
Fermentation time varies, but it should take 2 to 3 days to ferment in the spring or summer and up to 1 week in the fall or winter. It will get more sour, wilted, and juicy the longer it ferments. During fermentation, the kimchi will bubble and off-gas, and liquid might rise up and overflow. I keep an additional jar nearby to store the overflow liquid. I often return it to the kimchi later, when it seizes up in the refrigerator, or use it in other dishes.
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Step 11.
Once the kimchi is to your liking, as zingy and tart as you want it, enjoy it and/or store it in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 months.