Kimchi (also spelt as kimchee), is a traditional Korean dish of fermented chilli peppers with a variety of vegetables, the most common being made with Chinese cabbage. It’s deeply ingrained into Korean culture and whilst it is mostly served as a side dish, it can also be used as a basis for other meals such as fried rice, broths and stews. Many Koreans, myself included, will only last a few days before the cravings kick in and kimchi must be eaten in some shape or form.
An example of how much we Koreans love kimchi? In 2005 a report was released that heavy consumption of kimchi could not be very good for your health…and as a result, the professor who released this statement received a variety of death threats.
Kimchi is serious business.
My mother’s kimchi is unlike any other that I’ve tasted, and whilst this is probably due to the care she takes with her particular recipe, it is extremely time-consuming (but very very worth it!). So, if you’ve got a spare weekend with absolutely nothing on your hands, try her family recipe for kimchi. By the end, your back will ache, your hands will be pruney and you’ll have salt and chilli flakes everywhere…but you’ll also have a little slice of fermented heaven.
Mmm, spicy goodness!
Now, we usually use about 10 heads of Chinese cabbage (around 20kg of kimchi), but I’ve trimmed the recipe down for just 1 head of Chinese cabbage
Ingredients
1 fresh Chinese cabbage, dark green outer leaves removed
1 1/2 cup cooking salt
1L water
1 heaped tbsp glutinous rice starch (sticky rice powder, not regular rice powder)
1 cup Korean chilli powder – aka gochugaru (not flakes, look for it at your local Korean grocery store)
1/2 cup fish sauce
2 tbsp white sugar
6 spring onions, washed and sliced on an angle into slices about 1-2″ long
5 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 knob of ginger, grated
1/4 nashi pear, cored and peeled
1/4 brown onion, peeled
200g white/chinese radish (long and white as opposed to small, round and pink-tinged)
1. Cut the cabbage in halves or quarters, and cut into the stem to remove most of it.
2. Combine 1L water with 1/2 cup of cooking salt into a large bowl, then plunge one half or quarter of cabbage into the water at a time. Carefully seperate the leaves layer by layer and make sure that you get the salted water right to the base of the leaves.
3. Drain water from the cabbage segments, then sprinkle a light layer of cooking salt over each layer of leaves, making sure to get more towards the thick, white base of the leaf rather than the thinner, green end. This is usually done by coating the lower half of your fingers in salt and using a flicking motion. Don’t feel that you have to use the ENTIRE 1 cup of salt here – just as much as is needed to give the leaves a light sprinkling – its hard to judge how much salt you will need/use as it depends on how big and how ‘ripe’ your cabbage is.
4. Place the cabbage segments into a bowl and leave covered for 5-6 hours, or till cabbage is floppy enough so that the leaves can be bent over, but still make a crisp ‘snapping’ noise when snapped.
20kg of Chinese/Napa cabbage that has been salted and is now ready to be washed and wrung out before the seasoning process begins!
5. After leaving for 5-6 hours, rinse the lettuce twice in clean water, then squeeze as much water out of the lettuce as humanly possible (yes, squishing the cabbage is perfectly alright), and leave on a strainer for another 15-30 mins to drain the last of the water out.
6. The ‘sauce’ can be made whilst you’re waiting for the cabbage to wilt (in step 4). Combine 1 heaped tbsp of glutinous rice powder with 1/2 cup water in a pot, stir vigorously over a low heat till the mixture has turned white, has a very thick consistancy and bubbles whilst being stirred.
7. Let the rice powder glue cool down, and while it’s cooling, blend together the garlic, ginger, nashi pear, onion and Chinese radish into a pulpy liquid. Once the rice powder glue is completely cool, stir in the chilli powder, sugar and fish sauce, then pear mix and spring onion and combine well.
8. Lay out the cabbage and coat the front and back of every leaf with this rice chilli paste, making sure that they’re well coated and you haven’t missed any bits.
9. Once all the cabbage has been coated, press down into an airtight container and store in a cool, dark place for 3 days to aid the fermentation process. Taste it after 3 days, and if the lettuce tastes slightly tangy, soft but with some crunch and spicy, then place in your fridge. This can be stored in your fridge for up to 3 months (if it lasts that long!)
If you’ve never tried eating this before, I’d suggest going to a Korean restaurant to try it first befrore making it, but once you taste this, I guarantee you’ll come back for more!
So, the recipe is time consuming, requires a lot of effort and is very hands on. You have to really be a fan to make it often, but we go through a 10-head batch in about 4-6 weeks, so it’s usually a monthly process for me and mom 
As for how serious we are about our kimchi – I’d like to introduce you to our ‘kimchi refrigerator’. That’s right, a refrigerator dedicated to storing your kimchi and keeping it as tasty as possible. Mr Woofy models next to it to provide a bit of a size comparison.
Have you actually read this entire entry? Good grief – I demand you go pour yourself a glass of wine and congratulate yourself on suffering through the length of this Please, anyone who tries this, please let me know how you go as me and mom would love to know of anyone trying this most favourite food of ours!
Others who have tried this recipe:
I just wandered upon your recipe. I love Korean food and all Asian food for that matter. I have 4 really close friends that are Korean American and they grew up with their Mothers making kimchi. I am about to go buy the ingredients from a combination Korean store and regular grocer. I will post pics on my facebook and link them here and also comment on the outcome. I will be interested to see how my friends like my first go round at it, especially their Moms.
Good luck! I’d love to hear what they say
Hey again lol.
I love love love love kimchi. I really need to try making some and your recipe seems straightforward enough. I’ll letcha know the results some day. heh.
Sounds good! Let me know if you have any questions about this or any other recipe
Dear Ellie – you are a lifesaver. We have a little Korean girl living with us on a school exchange – she has only been in Australia for three days and is very homesick. I have been really worried that she is not eating enough so after a google search I found your reciple for Kimchi. Tonight we had Korean dinner – steamed ricem Kimchi and plum steak. She ate so much that there was no room for chocoloate ice cream! I am so relieved and you have made a little girl very very happy. Do you have any other tips about what to servve for breakfast? The lunch box is also proving to be bit tricky. In Australia schools do not serve lunch you have to take with you – ie a sandwhich but I can ‘t find anything she likes.
Do
Hi Rebekah,
I’m glad to hear that this came in handy!
As for breakfast, Korean breakfasts are traditionally steamed white rice served with some light side dishes and in winter with a mild broth on the side, so quite savoury. However, things like toast and cereal are becoming more popular these days. I would recommend getting a light Japanese miso (“white” or “yellow” as opposed to “red”) and then serving kimchi and a rolled egg dish on the side. Something like strasburg ham sliced into thin rounds and dipped in egg and fried will also go along well with this.
As for lunchboxes, a bento box will serve you well here – some steamed rice, sliced boiled egg, and some of the banchan that I’ve put up on the blog will work. The typical ham and salad sandwich will be very unfamiliar to her, so you might look to some Japanese bento blogs to get an idea of what you could pack for her lunch!
Anyway, good luck and I’ve emailed you my phone number so please feel free to give me a call if you have any further questions!
Cheers,
Ellie
Hi Ellie & Rebekah,
Snap ! I’m in Australia too, and we have a young Korean student living with us too, he arrived yesterday, and I had already purchased some Kimchi from my local Asian grocer – only because I wasn’t sure of the making of it until now! I will do some investigating for breakfast and maybe some lunch box ideas too, but thanks girls, glad to find this recipe !
Cheers,
Andie
Thanks Andie, and best of luck with your exchange student!
Hi,
In Singapore, it’s hot and humid, around 30 degrees celsius. Is it ok to leave it at room temperature for 3 days ? Should I put them in the fridge sooner to prevent spoilage?
Appreciate some help !!!
Thanks,
Cheng
Hi Cheng,
It should be fine to leave out but as soon as it is sufficiently ‘ripe’ then it should be placed in the refrigerator immediately
Cheers,
Ellie
Hello~ So I just made some kimchi (a different recipe) and it basically had every ingredient listed EXCEPT the glutinous rice flour. Is this critical to making kimchi???
Also, haha, being a beginner at making kimchi I put TOO much chili powder by accident and now it’s kinda bitter tasting because of the chili…How do you suppose I save this batch of kimchi???
Thanks so much in advanced~
Critical? No, not critical, it just adds a little depth to the flavour that’s all
as for the kimchi tasting bitter, I’m afraid that there’s not much that can be done other than using the kimchi in other dishes rather than eating it straight. Try making kimchi stew, pancakes or even kimchi fried rice 
Elli
Thank for sharing you KIMCHI recipe we really enjoy it !!!, as starter, as pica pica , as part of daily meal we love it!!!
My pleasure! I’m so glad that you enjoyed it!
Having trouble finding Korean Chilli Powder (I live in country nsw). Is there another type of chilli that is the same or similar enough to be a good substitute? Thanks!
Sorry Jamie, I’m afraid that there is no real substitute – the reason for this is that Korean chilli powder is made with a very particular kind of chilli and also the grain size is very different to any other chilli powder I’ve come across so any different powder will affect the flavour and texture of the paste used to season the cabbage.
Try Amazon! I buy all my asian food needs off there because we have no asian store around where I live that I know about
is it possible to substitute chili powder with crushed/blendered fresh chili…i already made my 1st kimchi but chili powder in my country is not too spicy n the color is not really red..my kimchi color is orange instead of red..thank youuu
Allson, you can definitely add some freshly blended chilli to the “paste” for this kimchi, but I’m afraid that you really need to use Korean chilli powder since any substitution won’t work as well.
oopss and one more about the rice powder..i couldnt find the glutinous rice powder so can i substitute it with usual rice powder and add more sugar in the recipe?thank youuu so much
Rice powder and glutinous rice powder are very very different and can’t be used interchangeably. If you can’t find glutinous rice powder then it’s better to leave it out altogether.
hey…i tried out the recipe today and i’m planning to wait for another 3 days…but i love it soo much i took a little bite:D tastes great! thanks for the recipe!:D
Glad to hear it!
I’m sure going to try to make this kimchi receipe, but I was wondering: what do you serve it with? (I want to make it for dinner since my parents never had kimchi before XD)
Almost any Korean meal can (and should) be served with kimchi
but as a starting point, try plain white steamed rice and some bulgogi 
The Asian market that I shop at has several kinds of Fish Sauce. What kind should I use? My 15 year old daughter and I really love Kimchi. We’ve only had store bought kind, so I’m looking forward to making this. I love your website and I will be trying lots of your recipes. By the way, I’m an American and I am addicted to Korean dramas! I can’t go 1 day without watching some online. My teenage daughters think I’m crazy!!
I happen to have some Korean HOT PEPPER PASTE. Ingredients are wheat flour, soybean, rice, starch syrup, grape sugar, hot pepper powder. Can I use this as a base to make kimchi together with the rest of the veggies? Can’t wait to try out the recipe. Thanks!
Ellie, is there any substitute for glutinous rice powder? Can it be any rice powder because I can’t find some in an Asian grocer.
Do you cut the radish or grated it? can I subtitute the fish sauce with the salted shrimp? If yes, how much do I need to use the salted shrimp?
Most intriguing situation here – am reading ONE THOUSAND CHESTNUT TREES, by Mira Stout and keep rushing to Google this, that and the other. I might as well read the book here at my computer?
Co-incidentally, the BBC Travel Channel is screening a programme on South Korea, so I am living it in all ways and loving it. Now, I HAVE to make kimchi ( I can’t tolerate chillies, but my family ADORE them), so my question is? If I can’t get Korean chilli powder, can I use cayenne pepper? The pear that is described, not available in South Africa, so can one use a regular but slightly green one instead? We have two Asian supermarkets nearby (thankfully) so I may source some of the stuff needed. Have decided that this may make an unusual Christmas gift for family and friends, as a stocking filler? Look forward to hearding from you soonest, on my regular email. Regards, Terri
Absolutely delishus, kimchee is my favourite I even use the kimchee sauce in the bttom of the airtight container to flavour chicken, noodles, fish, pawns, rice soup and almost everything else that I cook, my wife thinks I am kimchee crazy.
My other favourite spicy meal is Thai Somtam with fermented crab.
Thank you so much for your kimchi recipe!. I recently saw part of a cooking show featuring Korean food and became kimchi crazy without ever even trying it. I made it that very day with what I had on my shelves … no korean chili, no glutinous rice, and no fish sauce … Can’t wait to make it the proper way. Beautiful dog and fridge!
Greetings from Canada. Made my first Kimchi this past weekend and it is incredible. Bringing jars of it to people at work to try. Our engineers from Bupyeong love it. Cheers.
Hi Ellie,
I made the kimchi a few days ago and i don’t know how to store it… Do you recommend to sterilize the kimchi jar the same way as jam?
Hi from Thailand,
I made Kimchi follow your recipe and it turned out superb! It’s my first attempt to make kimchi.
Thank you very much for the recipe. ^^
I am not Korean but traveled there many years ago and fell wildly in love with kimchi (and all the wonderful Koreans I met). After reading this, I am desperately anxious to whip up a batch!!!! Ellie, you are a gift to us all! Thank you so very much for sharing your recipes and all the best to you!
I chose your recipe for my first attempt at Kimchee. Wow! We love it. Definitely making a double batch next time (made a 1/2 batch this time and it’s almost gone after just 2 days). Thanks for sharing the recipe (and thank your mom for us too)
Hi Ellie, just wondering if the nashi pear can be omitted. I would love to make this kimchee but i need to find the korean chilli powder first.
I was wondering if you could put the Hangul after the ingredients, for example: Chinese cabbage: 배추. I eat so much 김치 and it is very expensive at the Korean markets in the States, so I would like to try making my own. I tried it once 10 years ago when I lived in Korea, but it didn’t turn out well back then. The Hangul will help me in the market if I can’t find the ingredient then I can ask for it. I know the Hangul for most of the ingredients, but not all of them. Also, how important is the 배? Is that very common in traditional 김치? My parents actually have Asian pears that grow in the end of the summer, but during the rest of the year they are difficult to find, even in the Korean markets where I live… 고맙습니다 !
Hi 해수,
I can definitely do this, but it will take a considerable amount of time as I’ll need to go back over past recipes to do this for you
As for the asian pears, it’s not that common an ingredient but one that comes through from my mother’s side of the family as being from the country and with limited access to sweeteners, using Asian pears was quite common for them! When they’re not in season, you can use Fuji apples or just sugar instead 
Cheers,
Ellie
Just came across this recipe today, though I have been googling kimchi and sauerkraut recipes for several days now. I am an American who likes to cook almost any kind of food except American. I have loved kimchi since the 70s when my Japanese-American Indian girlfriend introduced me to it. A lot of questions here about substitutions and the like. What I have learned the past few days is that there is quite a bit of variety. There is a food museum in South Korea that has documented 187 varieties of kimchi. Some varieties do not use the glutinous rice powder, others don’t use the fish sauce, some use oysters and/or dried shrimp, etc. There is even a white kimchi which does not use the red chili pepper (just thought I’d mention that as one respondent said she didn’t like chili peppers). Mostly, it seems that kimchi is quite amenable to experimentation, so there is no great need to sweat over some minor details.
Yes, there is a myriad of variations for kimchi recipes out there, as well as very many different types of kimchi. However, when people say “kimchi”, the one people (well, Koreans) think about is standard kimchi made with chinese cabbage. All other kinds of kimchi (such as the white one) actually have different names.
However, while kimchi recipes are open to a limited amount of substitution with ingredients (some people use fish sauce, some use salted shrimp etc) there is a baseline of common ingredients which cannot be replaced for each type of kimchi out there.
As far as “sweating” over minor details – it depends what the detail is as to whether it’s actually minor or not. For example, replacing Korean chilli powder with Cayenne is unacceptable as the powders have entirely different grains, colours and flavours. Which means that while the end result will be spicy pickled cabbage, it’s definitely not kimchi.
Hi ellie, your recipe for making kimchi looks good but do you really use one cup of chilli powder for only one cabbage. It seems an awful lot.
Hi Mike – we really do
But you can vary how much you use according to how spicy you want the kimchi to be!
Hi Ellie,
Im from the Philippines and I was having a slightly hard time looking for the Korean Chili Powder in our local Department Store, I even tried to go to the “International Flavor” section, I found the bundles of korean products however I could not find any labeled as Korean Chili Powder, however thanks for posting the korean translation “gochugaru” and luckily too I know how to read han-gul. The only concern to me is it was labeled in English as “Red Pepper Powder”. Just to confirm, is “Chili Powder” the same as “Red Pepper Powder”? Or is it just maybe Im just naive that chili is also pepper. hehe. Anyways, just for verification. thanks!
Hi Ellie,
Im from the Philippines and I was having a slightly hard time looking for the Korean Chili Powder in our local Department Store, I even tried to go to the “International Flavor” section, I found the bundles of korean products however I could not find any labeled as Korean Chili Powder, however thanks for posting the korean translation “gochugaru” and luckily too I know how to read han-gul. The only concern to me is it was labeled in English as “Red Pepper Powder”. Just to confirm, is “Chili Powder” the same as “Red Pepper Powder”? Or is it just maybe Im just naive that chili is also pepper. hehe. Anyways, just for verification. thanks!..
Hi Cliff,
It’s fine to use so long as it says “gochugaru” in the hangul name
The “red pepper powder” is just a translation thing.
Good luck!
Cheers,
Ellie
Hi Ellie
Me again? Would it be ok to just use iodized salt? I heard some rumors that iodized salt isn’t good for kimchi. just rumors.
Hi Cliff,
To be honest, I don’t actually know – we have always used non-iodized salt for our kimchi but that’s just because it’s the only one available in the bulk bags that we buy (o_O)
As the recipe is only for a small amount of kimchi, perhaps you can give it a try with the iodized salt and let me know if it turns out?
Cheers,
Ellie
ellie i live in mexico and im in need to try authentic kimchee but i dont have any korean markets just one poorly stocked wannabe asian market so i need to know will korean chili paste work? cus its not written like you have it i cant remember its written with a k i thing ughhhh sorry im not even specific
Hi Natasha,
Please don’t try this recipe with Korean chilli paste (gochujjang). Korean chilli paste is a fermented blend of Korean chillis as well as other seasonings so it will result in a very strange result at the end. I’d suggest buying it online if you can’t buy it locally:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Premium-Sanitized-Red-Pepper-1kg-Kimchi-Korean-Food-/280602650263?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item415538a697
http://www.amazon.com/Singsong-Korean-Pepper-Powder-1-10/dp/B004W71CJU
Cheers,
Ellie
annyeonghasayo Ellie …im just went and bought all my ingredients for make kimchi and i salted and everything but where do i store the if for the 6 hours? in my fridge or leave it out? please answer as soon as possible please and thank you
Hi Shylin,
It’s fine just to leave it out – but please make sure you check it at the 3 hour mark and once an hour after that and rinse as soon as the cabbage leaves can be folded in half without snapping. Leaving it any longer will result in the cabbage being too salty.
Good luck, and let me know if you have any questions!
Cheers,
Ellie
Hey Kitchen Wench, I’m a complete kimchi n00b about to attempt my first batch. I’m generally following your family’s secret recipe you posted on-line. However, I have read other (i.e. inferior) recipes and many of them suggest chopping the cabbage into smaller pieces. This sounded good to me as it will not only be easier to cram into a jar, it will also be easier to eat. Will this modification result in an epic kimchi failure and earn me the scorn of sophisticate kimchi consumers or is this ok?
BTW, the Korean chili powder and glutinous rice starch is being elusive where I live. I’m planning a trip to the asian part of town in an attempt to score these. Korean food is woefully under-represented in the super markets of North Texas.
Hi Dahveed,
You can absolutely chop the kimchi up into smaller pieces and this does make it much easier to store and also remove to eat later on. The reason that we don’t do it this way is because this limits the useability of the kimchi later on – there are many recipes that use the ripe kimchi as an ingredient but it requires the kimchi to be left in long pieces.
As for the Korean chilli powder (or Korean red pepper powder, as many places call it) and glutinous rice starch, both these can be found on Amazon if you don’t have any luck there in North Texas!
Cheers,
Ellie
Hi Ellie,
I was wondering, how many cups does this recipe generally make?
Hi Owen,
Depends entirely on the size of your cabbage – but I’d say anywhere from 4-6.
Cheers,
Ellie
Hi Ellie,
First of all, I am so very thankful that you have shared this very handy recipe. With this I have successfully made my very first korean kimchi. There’s just one thing though Id want to ask. As I was fermenting my kimchi I noticed that it produced some sort of a liquid, it’s like a red juice or something and it’s quite man. Will I throw this liquid away? Cause maybe it could affect the taste or the longevity? Or would it be ok to keep it that way?
I just made your kimchi family recipe, had a hard time finding koren chili powder… found pure chili powder, didn’t like the smell. found mexican chili powder, too much other ingridents in it. found crisp chili oil (taiwan)…found Aleppo chili pepper (powder) love the smell, closes thing I could find…but could only get 1/2C, so I used 1/2C Aleppo chili pwdr, 1T cayenne pepper, 3T crisp chili oil (drained)….turned out great!!!
suprised I did find gutous rice flour (in local health food store)
did leave cabbage in salt water too long so soaked in plain cold water for 1hr, rise/sqeeze out excess, like…
used daikon radish, asian pear, garlic, green onion and added sweet onion…Love!!
next time hoping to have koren chili powder
Very Good, Thank You Very Much!!
Hi Pamm,
My pleasure
Next time you try and find gochugaru (Korean chilli powder) try amazon or ebay as there are quite a few stockists online 
Cheers,
Ellie
can hardly wait to try this, our small town in Saskatchewan, Canada opened a Korean/Japanese restaurant, and I love, love, love it. Kimchi is one of my favorites, in fact, informed my husband instead of bringing me flowers he can bring me kimchi. Only problem is I am not sure if I can find all the ingredients in our small city, will check it out. Thank you for posting.
Hi Dawnell,
Try Amazon or ebay for anything that you can’t find locally
You can find some links in one of my previous comments to this post.
Cheers,
Ellie
soooooo have any recipes youd recommend for me?
I’m looking forward to making this…although my mother will probably have something to say about it. She usually makes my kimchi, but she’s on holiday for the next month and a half and I need to have kimchi. I’m tired of buying it in the stores for ridiculous prices.
Question – fish sauce…what kind? There are too many out there to count. Also, brown onion? I live in the states and am not familiar with that. We have white, yellow, red and sweet onions. Any suggestions?
Thanks so much! I’m excited to trying out the different flavors!
I know your recipe is for only 1 cabbage, but if I was to add more should I just double it? Or triple it? Thanks!
this recipe look so great! I am actually in the middle of making it right now! I have a flour mill, so it was easy peasy for me to just grind some glutinous rice into flour
But now I’m wondering about the radish and pear?? How and when does one add it? In the recipe description you just say: ‘add the pear’ and nothing about the radish??? Or am I missing s.th??
I’ll just do it bt instinct this time, but would love to hear your input! I’m looking forward to this being ready to eat!
Hey there,
Thanks so much for this awesome recipe – my wife is Korean and I have had to learn many different Korean recipes – but I have been reluctant to try Kimchi until now because I know how serious they are about it in Korea and I really would like my head to stay on my shoulders
.
Anyway, thanks to you, I can see a very happy wife… and very pruney hands… in my future XD
Perfect!!!!
Hi Elle –
Thank you and your blessed mother for the recipe. I have made it several times, adjusting the ingredients just a bit (sugar intolerant) I eat this at least 5 times a week. It is awesome and reminds me of the kimchi I used to eat in Seoul. For those that asked about cutting the cabbage into smaller pieces, I do this with some of the jars I make (I like to snack on it and sometimes I am too lazy to cut it up!). I have found that one head of medium sized napa cut into approximately 2″ slice and adding alll the other ingredients will yield one firmly packed quart of kimchi.
hi, i actually brought glutinous rice powder instead of glutinous rice starch. is it the same thing or do i have to use rice starch?
thankz
Greetings from Quebec, Canada.
First of all, thank you so much Ellie for posting this amazing recipe. It’s really hard in this day and age to find an authentic recipe on the Net which brings me to the topic that I’ve been trying different Kimchi recipes for the past few years but this seems so far the most comprehensive and traditional recipe I’ve ever tried (besides, it’s absofreakinglutley scrumptious!!!). Can’t wait to try out other recipes on your blog. Say Hi+thanks to your mom to
Passez une bonne journeé!