There are many different kinds of kimchi, and Koreans eat kimchi everyday. There are even songs about kimchi such as “I Can’t Live Without Kimchi.” Moms love to have a good kimchi refrigerator. Today I will post the most common kimchi, “napa cabbage kimchi.” Kimchi is a dish of fermented vegetables with various seasonings. It is a traditional dish in Korea.
Yield: 1 Gallon
Short Korean Lesson: *^^*
- SutGaRak (숟가락) = Spoon
- JeotGaRak (젓가락) = Chopsticks
Video Instructions
Main Ingredients
- 1 Large Napa Cabbage (4 lb)
- 2 Cups Korean Radish
- 1 Cup Garlic Chives
- 5 Green Onions
- 1 Onion
- 2 Hot Peppers
Brine Ingredients
- 10 Cups Water
- ½ Cup Coarse Sea Salt (For Salt Water)
- ⅔ Cup Coarse Sea Salt (For Sprinkling)
Sauce Ingredients
- 2 Cups Water + (3 Tbsp Water and 3 Tbsp Sweet Rice Flour)
- ¼ Sweet Apple + ¼ Onion
- 1¼ Cup Red Pepper Powder for Kimchi
- 1 to 2 Tbsp Sugar
- ¼ to ⅓ Cup Fish Sauce
- 3 Tbsp Minced Garlic
- ½ Tbsp Minced Ginger
- ½ Tbsp Salt
- 2 Tbsp Sesame Seeds
Directions
Remove any bad parts from the napa cabbage.
Divide the napa cabbage into 4 pieces. Some people divide it half, but I prefer 4 pieces, since 4 pieces are easier to put in a jar and cut later.
In a huge bowl, combine 10 cups of water and ½ cup coarse sea salt to make salt water. Stir until the salt is dissolved.
Prepare ⅔ cup coarse sea salt. Divide the salt evenly for 4 pieces of cabbage. Sprinkle the salt inside each leaf. Put more salt on the thicker parts than the thinner parts. This step is important to make kimchi. The right amount of salt and time to marinate the cabbage will change the results of your kimchi.
Dip the cabbage in the salt water. Put some heavy thing (like a big pan full of water) on top of the cabbage to keep them under the brine. That will help the cabbage to get salted better. Leave it for 4 to 5 hours until the cabbage leaves become a little soft.
Rinse the salted cabbage twice in water.
Drain the water, and set it aside for about 2 hours until more of the water drips out: or you can squeeze the water out.
Mix 3 Tbsp of sweet rice flour and 3 Tbsp of water.
In a pan add the mixture and 2 cups of water. Boil it until it makes bubbles on medium. Keep stirring it so that it will not stick to the bottom. It took about 10 minutes for mine.
Cut the radish very thinly into 2-inch lengths.
Cut 5 green onions the same length as the radish.
Cut the garlic chives into 1½-inch Pieces.
Cut 2 hot peppers thinly and slice ¾ of an onion thinly.
Grind ¼ of an onion and ¼ of a sweet apple.
In a big bowl, add the rice flour mixture, 1¼ cup of red pepper powder, and 2 cups of radish. Mix everything together.
Add the rest of the ingredients: chopped onion, hot peppers, garlic chives, green onion, onion & apple mixture, 1 to 2 Tbsp of sugar, ¼ to ⅓ cups of fish sauce, 3 Tbsp of minced garlic, ½ Tbsp of minced ginger, and 2 Tbsp of sesame seeds. Mix all of the ingredients well. Taste it and salt it to your tastes. I added ½ Tbsp of salt.
Spread some of the mixture into each leaf of the cabbage. Make sure all of the surfaces get covered in the sauce.
Wow! At last, it is done! 
I prefer to use a glass jar to keep kimchi since the kimchi has a strong smell. It is easier to remove the smell from glass jars than from plastic containers, and glass helps to contain the smell. 
Keep the kimchi at room temperature for about a day, and then put it in the refrigerator. You can eat kimchi before it is fermented, but it tastes best when it is properly fermented. (In about 1 week, depending on your refrigerator’s temperature.) Even old (sour) kimchi can be a delicious dish if you cook it and make: fried kimchi rice, kimchi dumplings, kimchi jeon, Kimchi soup, and etc. Enjoy!
Tips for delicious kimchi: *^^*
- Good ingredients are important, especially the Red Pepper Powder and Napa Cabbage.
- Getting the right amount of salt for marinating the napa cabbage in the salt water is very important. You don’t want the kimchi to be too salty, but if it doesn’t have enough salt, it becomes sour too quickly, and it produces too much juice later. Use coarse sea salt, not normal salt.
- Depending on your personal tastes, it is good to add raw oysters or salted shrimp (SaeUJeot) also.
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Hi Aeri!
I used this recipe but I cut the napa cabbage (like in your “Easy” recipe) I think I bought too many Korean radish but it’s delicious!!!
Hi Aeri Uhnni,
I’m a big fan of your recipes!
I was hoping to use SaeUJeot in your kimchi recipe. I was wondering how much and when I should use it in your recipe. Thanks for your help!
hi Ellen,
^^ thanks..
grind the saeujeot with the onion and apple.. maybe 1/2 tbsp depending on how much flavor of it you want for your kimchi..and that case.. reduce the fish sauce amount.. when you make it.. taste the paste…and adjust the saltness with salt or fish sauce.. thanks
Hi Aeri,
I have tried this recipe two weeks ago. It is delicious but too sour for my mum’s taste. Have rinse the cabbage thrice in water as it was too salty. Is this the reason why it turn out too sour?
hi Catherine,
Usuallly.. if the cabbage isn’t salted enough… the kimchi fermented faster … so I guess that’s the reason.. in Korea.. for winter kimchi which we keep for a long time to eat for the winter.. we make the cabbage very salty.. but if we are going to eat in short time.. use less salt than the winter kimchi.. thanks
Hi Aeri,
Two weeks ago, I tried this recipe. Quite delicious but it is too sour for my mum’s taste. Had rinse the cabbage thrice in water as it was too salty. Is this why the kimchi is too sour?
hai aeri.i just try your receipe for bae chu kimchi. can i put the kimchi in the refrigerator after i finish made the kimchi.. i forgot about 1 day in room temperature.. izzit ok?i havent try it yet. its only for a day.. sweet rice flour is glutinous flour? thxx aeri for the baechu kimchi receipe..
Hi rasmi lee,
Yes, it’s okay if you forgot to leave it..just it will take longer to get fermented.. Yep.. sweet rice flour is glutinous flour.. I hope your kimchi turns out great.. thanks
I made this kimchee and it looks so good right now. I’m going to wait a bit to eat it. I love your recipes and youtube videos, Aeris. Keep up the wonderful work. Best wishes to you and your expanding family.
In the future, after you get your rest, I would love for you to do a product video. There are so many brands of pepper powders (fine and course), hot pastes, soy pastes.. etc. If you can recommend what you prefer, that would be wonderful.
hi moomoo,
Oh… yes.. I was thinking to do a video for products I use a lot for Korean cooking. Thanks for good suggestion. 
Thank you very much for your kind comment. I hope your kimchi turns out great.
Hi Aeri
I’ve just found your website and I’m making your kimchi right now! BaeChu kimchi is my favourite (its my husband’s favourite treat too), but this is the first time I have made it. I couldn’t find the chives, so I added more onions like you suggested instead. I have lots of daikon left over – do I have to salt the daikon for 5 hours too? Thanks and I will send you a photo of my kimchi when its done!
Hi, Sadie
Nice to meet you !!!
wow.. I hope your kimchi turns out great. Yes.. greenonion or onion can be good as a substitute garlic chives.. I have a recipe for radish kimchi also. You can use your daikon for it. You can find it in my picture index. Thanks !!!
P.s I will be so happy to see your kimchi picture.
Hi Aeri,
Could you teach us how to make cucumber kimchi… or was it called stuffed cucumber or something like that… tried it in a korean restaurant as a side dish… it was great… thanks!
Hi, jhny69
aha.. you are talking about “Oi SoBakee” ?? Okay..I will add it to the list.. hehe thanks
Honestly, I have never in my life heard of this dish, but it does sound delicious. I love the cultural background you give as well.
Hi, Online Classes
Oh.. you never heard of it ?? ^^ I’m happy that you know it now..hehe thanks !!!
Yeah, I’ve never heard of it before but I will definitely have to try it. All of your recipes sound delicious. Keep up the good work.
Hi, Online Classes
Yes.. I will try to keep this work. Thanks !!!
Hi Aeri,
Love love your blog and have tried several recipes very successfully. I am dying to try this; however, I cannot for the life of me find garlic chives. What would a good substitute and what quantity. Thanks!
Hi, Alethea
aha… yes.. sometimes it’s difficult to find garlic chives..I have same problem.. okay.. use more green onion instead of garlic chives. I said 5 green onions for this recipe.. maybe you can use 8~10 green onions instead. Thanks !!!
you can grow garlic chives. they sell the seeds at walmart & places like lowes & stuff. just put them in a pot & stick them outside & don’t forget to water! if you cut them, instead of pulling them up, they will regrow within a few weeks.
you can plant more than one package, though, and put them in different pots, that way you have a steady supply of garlic chives. they’re very easy to grow, even if you live in an apartment! 
just as long as you have a sunny place to set the pot you’re growing them in! 
if indoors, make sure there’s a fan nearby. if you put a fan on low, it simulates wind & makes them stronger. 
hi misspookietoodle,
Very good information..
I didn’t know that you can buy the garlic chive seeds at walmart or lowes..hehe great.. thanks
Hi Aeri!!! You explain the step perfectly and not to complicated to understand.
Ohhh thank you so much!! I love Kimchi!!
I am going to make some this weekend and hopefully it will taste great…
Again thank you very much~~GO GO GO!! ^_^
Hi, Katrina
Thanks !!!
I’m very happy to read your comment. I hope your kimchi turns out great also. Enjoy ~~~~
Hi Aeri,
) I’ll be looking forward to your response. God bless you!
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. I tried making it yesterday and it turned out very very well!! It resembles a lot to the one I used to buy from Hanahreum (Korean store). I’d been using this recipe which uses little red powder and that doesn’t require the kimchi porridge (flour&water) so it had always been watery and not as tasty. Anyhow, I found out yesterday that there was a lot of ‘leftover’ sauce even after the cabages have been fully stuffed with the mixture. I used one big (5 lbs) napa cabbage and soak it in the same amount of salt as stated here. But I realized that in the end the cabbage became very wilted and shrunk in size. I end up with only a half gallon of kimchi.
How many pounds of cabbage did you use for this recipe? If next time I’d like to use more cabbage (say, 8 pounds) for the same recipe for the sauce, should I put more salt in the water?
Thanks alot again, Aeri.
Hi, Fran
Thank you very much for your comment. Oh.. I’m sorry that I didn’t tell exact size of the napa cabbage. Usually.. we cook with feeling.. don’t measure exact thing in Korea. So.. when I post recipes.. I write down how much I used for the food.. unfortunately, for this recipe.. I forgot to measure the weight of napa cabbage. When I get a chance to make kimchi again.. I will definitely weight it..and edit the recipe. sorry for poor answer.. the salt amout is depending on your water amount.. so if it’s same amount of water..I don’t think you need to add more salt in it.
you can use the leftover mixture to make kkadugi, raddish kimchi. aeri has a recipe for that. just follow that but use this mixture. ^hope this will help you. you think so, aeri?
forgot to add that usually you’ll have leftover radish after making cabbage kimchi.so might as well use this to make raddish kimchi too. just cut it in cubes and follow aeris’s instruction for your raddish’s preparation but use those leftover mixtures instead.
hi, layping
You are an expert of Korean food. hehe very proud of you.. 
hehe… yep you are right layping..
thanks for answering a good answer for him.
Aeri, I hope you remember me… I’m lovetohavefungirl from YouTube.. I haven’t messaged you in a while.. Anyway, I made this recipe before, and my husband said it was very good. I was so surprised because I heard it was hard even for Korean people to make Kimchi.. anyway, I made it again today.. I think I actually did better this time.. Also, I don’t have garlic chives.. so I put a little more green onion and garlic.
Hi, Jacqueline
Of course I remember your name from Youtube. Good to see you again. Wow.. you tried to make kimchi and your husband liked it??? awesome !!! yes.. You did a good job to substitute the garlic chives to more green onion and garlic. Enjoy your kimchi..and thank !!! Hope to see you more often.
WoW! Thats great can’t wait for it… thanks Aeri…
Hi, jhny69
You are ve~~~~~ry welcome..hehe
Thanks
Hi Aeri.
I’d liketo let you know that finally my Kimchi’s done. I actually made double of your recipe which I could see my cabbges were not enough as I questioned before about the weight, however, the suace was too much but the color was so beauty. Because of making a lot everytime (I found that no matter make more or less I spend the same time and energy) I always give away to my friends which I hope to hear comment soon because they’ve been testing different recipe for a while. I can’t imagine if I really use sweet rice flour how it would be, but I will definietly use your recipe from now on, by the way I also made radish kimchi last Sat. so….excited. thank you Aeri for giving us all the good recipe
Hi, lunar
Oh~~~ so you like your kimchi.. phew~~ That’s good.. since I’m not 100% happy about this recipe… I’m still trying to make better recipe for kimchi… but I’m happy you liked it. later I will post more kimchi recipes.
Thanks again !!!
Hey Aeri,
Today I have tried to make Kimchi for the very first time based on your recipe. I am so excited haha. I didn’t had quite a few things, so I had to use a bit of substitute creative ingredients
. I didn’t had chives, radish so I didn’t add them. And I also didn’t had the Korean red pepper powder, so I substitute the red pepper powder for Turkish red pepper flakes. (now runs ,lol). I did had hot pepper paste at home. So I had added a tablespoon of it in the sauce to have at least a little hint of the real hot pepper powder in the kimchi. I am not sure if that was really a wrong thing to do. I hope it doesn’t affect the fermentation.
I skipped the part to let the cabbage set for 2 hours. Instead I used a salad spinner. I think it worked, the kimchi doesn’t look watery.
I am a little scared about the fermentation. How can I tell it is properly fermentated?
Thank you so much for sharing the recipe and the detailed information:).
Hi, Poeh
Haha… I smiled while I was reading your message. Though you didn’t have many ingredients for kimchi you needed.. I think… you made it work. I hope the taste is okay also. Usually it takes about a week or more than that depending on the temperature to be fermented.. usually you know that by tasting it. Thanks !!
Hi! Aeris, question, i just finished making my Kimchi yesterday. It has been fermenting for over a day. But it seems too “wet” inside the jar. there’s just too much liquid. is that normal?
Hi, jhny69
It depends on .. how well you drained the salted water from the cabbage before you add the sauce…but don’t worry.. the kimchi usually gets liquid.. too much..hm.. I don’t know how much you had.. but it will be okay.. thanks ^^
I actually drained it for more than 2 hours… kinda like 10 hours or more… coz I forgot about it… hehehe… I’ll send you a photo coz your a better judge than me. thanks!
Hi, jhny69
Your kimchi is okay ?? ^^;;
Thanks Aeris! Will try this one this weekend. Will let you know of the result in a weeks time. I know this will turn out great!
Hi, jhny69
I’m not 100% confidence about kimchi recipe..but I hope it turns out good.. hehe Thanks !!!
Well know in a week, already finished making mine. I’ll let you know in a weeks time… hehehe
Hi, jhny69
Yep.. let me know the result..
thanks !!
Hey, Aeris… Well it didn’t turn out what I expected it to be, but it was still very good. My family devoured it already and I’m now making another batch… thanks for the recipe…
Hi, jhny69
^^ good it was okay~~~
wow.. you are making another batch ??? Next year.. when I get baby.. my parents will visit USA… then I will learn how to make Kimchi from my mom..and get good recipe.. then I will post a better kimchi recipe.. okay ?? thanks ~~~
Hi Aeri,
Just finished making kimchi, have to wait for a week. Would you mind telling me how much 1 cabbage weigh?. sorry, if it was a strange queston but the cabbages in my country are tiny or even big but they are light so I can use it next time. I’ll write to you again how my kimchi turns out. Thanks Aeri
Hi, lunar
Oh.. you made kimchi.. I hope your kimchi turn out good. I forgot to weight the cabbage when I made this post..(That happens sometimes.. since I have to do many things at the same time..) sorry… as my recipe says.. It filled all in 1 gallon glass jar. I guess..it was 14 inch lengh and 8 inch width.. When I get the cabbage again..I will measure the weight. sorry again.. Other people might have some question.. so thanks for good question !!!
Your website’s really interesting.I started to have Korean food 4-5 yrs ago especially Kimchi’s my favorite.Unfortuanately I stopped eatting beef and pork over 10 years so it was hard to enjoy the ther food.However, I’ve been making Kimchi for a while but I’m not happy with it yet. Anyway I’ll try your recipie and other food, thank a lotxx
Hi, lunar
I’m very happy to meet you !!!
Wow.. it’s great that you like Korean food. Actually.. there are more vegetable Korean dishes..just I’m posting recipes that I got request from other people..so there are many main meat dishes. I will try to post more dishes not using beef or pork..hehe Be honest, I think it’s difficult to make a good kimchi.. I’m also learning and testing to get a good recipe.. I’m not 100% happy about this recipe that I posted.. so someday.. if I make really good Kimchi, (Maybe I have to learn from my mom in person when she visits to America ) I will definitely post it again. Thanks !!!
this looks SOOOO much easier than Maangchi’s version. i’m going to have to try this since i am going broke buying my kimchi from the store.
i like to put this on my hamburger. 
it’s really good.
btw, you have been busy posting recipes while i’ve been gone!!!! i have SO MUCH to catch up on
you are doing great girlfriend!! i am so proud of you. 
Hi, farleen ^^
Yes, if you make your own kimchi, you can save money..even it’s lots of working and time consuming. oops.. haha..kimchi with hamburger.. great !! Thank you !! Yep.. I hope I can catch up all the requests I got so far..hehe I love your comments..thanks again.
Unni i making this tomorrow !!!!!! but my laptop spoiled , remember? now i am printing everything out for me to refer.. if i have my lappy, i can refer it right away..T___T too bad for me.. by the way, just wish me luck for doing this, i scare i failed again!! T___T and if possible i will post it out to let you see! Have a nice day! hope to chat with you soon! MUAKXXX
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Hi, ChuiYew
Let me know the result !! okay ??
Yep..I’m crossing fingers for you.
thanks unni!!! XD i missed talking to you!! I hope you have a nice day!! love you!
Hi, ChuiYew
I just came back from it I told you this morning !! It was fun as always ~~~ hehe.. Yep..I hope we can talk longer next time ~~ thanks ..
Finally its out!!!!! I have been waiting this for years!!! Delicious!! Sis, thanks for the goodest explanation in the world! I will make one soon , but first, i really need to get the best ingredients! Thank you so much for this sis!! I appreciated all your hard work! Miss you! Muakx! have a great day!!
Hi, ChuiYew
Thanks for comment !!
I saw your necklass and earings.. good job !! I know you put lots of time and effort, I wish you good luck !!
Another GREAT recipe and I loved your explanation & tips. I’ve always wondered what to do with older kimchee and it never occurred to me to make kimchee fried rice which I usually go OUT to eat for because it’s such a favorite food, too. I can’t wait to see your other kimchee and recipes. It reminds me of my high school best friend who’s mom would cover the table with banchan which included many, many kinds of kimchee…..such a treat for this ilbonsaram!! Thank you , Aeri!!
Hi, Eric
Now, I can remember your name. Thanks for all these kind comments !!! Yes, I will post different kinds of kimchi later. Have you ever tried green onion kimchi ?? it’s one of my favorite..hehe oh..so you are a Japanese ?? ilbonsaram..hehe that was cute Korean word !! thanks, Eric !!!