Today we will experience a quick and easy way to make fresh and great tasting kimchi, if there is such a thing. 
In the past, I posted a recipe for making a more traditional napa cabbage kimchi.
The last kimchi recipe I made was “whole cabbage kimchi,” which is called PoGi (포기), or Tong Baechu (통배추). People use that method for making winter kimchi. It is only cut into four pieces. This time, we will cut the cabbage into bite-sized pieces. This will make serving easier since you will not have to cut the kimchi. This way of making kimchi is also good if you only have one or two heads of napa cabbage. There are some more differences between the two recipes. You can figure out what they are. hehe.. Try this recipe someday. I hope you like it as much as I do.
Yield: 1 Gallon
Short Korean Lesson: *^^*
- NalSsi (날씨) = Weather
- GaeJeol (계절) = Season
Main Ingredients
- 2 Napa Cabbage Heads (about 4 lb each)
- 1 Onion
- 4 Green Onions
- 1 Handful Garlic Chives
Cabbage Brine Ingredients
- 1⅓ Cup Coarse Sea Salt (Sprinkle)
- 20 Cups Water
- 1 Cup Coarse Sea Salt (For Salt Water)
Kimchi Paste Ingredients
- 20 Dried Red Hot Peppers
- ½ Cup Cooked Rice
- About ½ Cup Fish Sauce
- ¼ Cup Water
- ½ Onion
- 14 Garlic Cloves
- 1 Piece Ginger (Unshelled Brazil nut sized, cut into 3 pieces)
- ⅔ Cup Red Pepper Powder
- 2½ Tbsp Sugar
- 1 Tbsp Sesame Seeds
Directions
Remove any bad parts from the napa cabbage.
Divide the cabbage into 4 pieces.
Remove the heart from the cabbage. (Now the cabbage has a broken heart. ㅋㅋㅋ)
Cut the remaining cabbage into 2 inch pieces. Cutting the cabbage will reduce the soak time of the cabbage. Plus, it’s easier to mix the cabbage with the kimchi paste.
Put some cabbage into the big bowl and sprinkle 1 handful of coarse sea salt onto the cabbage. In the same way, add another layer of cabbage on it and sprinkle more salt. I used 1⅓ cup of coarse sea salt in this step. Keep adding more layers in this prescribed manner until the supply of cabbage has been exhausted.
In another bowl, pour 20 cups of water and 1 cup of coarse sea salt. Stir it until the salt dissolves.
Evenly pour the salt water into the cabbage bowl. Soak the cabbage in the salt water for 3 hours. Every hour, mix the cabbage (up and down), so all the cabbage can get well salted.
After 3 hours, rinse the cabbage in cold water 3 times.
Drain the water for about 2 hours.
Wash the dried hot peppers once. Remove the stems from the peppers if they are present. Cut them in half with scissors.
To make the kimchi paste: in a mixer, grind 20 dried red hot peppers, ½ cup of cooked rice, about ½ cup of fish sauce, ¼ cup of water, ½ of an onion, 14 garlic cloves, and 3 pieces of ginger. Leave out some of the fish sauce. You can add the remainder later to adjust the saltiness to your tastes. I used a little less than ½ cup of fish sauce for my kimchi.
Cut 1 onion, 4 green onions, and 1 handful of garlic chives as in the picture.
Pour the mixture into the big bowl, and add the rest of the ingredients for the kimchi paste: ⅔ cup of red pepper powder, 2½ Tbsp of sugar, and 1 Tbsp of sesame seeds. In this step, depending on your tastes, you can add some of the left over fish sauce you saved from the grinding mixture. Add the onion, green onion, and the garlic chives into the paste. Mix well.
Add the napa cabbage.
Mix the cabbage with the kimchi paste. Put the kimchi in a glass jar or container. Leave it outside (room temperature) over night, and then put it in the refrigerator. It will take several days to a week until it is properly fermented.
Of course, you can eat fresh kimchi with the freshly cooked rice. Yummy! hehe. If you are a vegetarian, you can substitute the fish sauce with salt and water. I recommend sea salt. Thank you for visiting my blog. I’ll be back with more delicious recipes later! God bless you all.
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Hi Aeri!
We dont have peppers like yours in our country… We only have the small ones called “Siling Labuyo” in our language ( http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siling_labuyo ) or Bird’s Eye Chili… And only the fresh ones are always in the market… Can i use this fresh instead of the dried ones you have?
I use korean brand fish sauce. if you click the link in the ingredient section you can see the brand I used.. thanks
hi aeri, I really love this site, it’s the best site to find korean recepies ^-^
next mondag i’ll cook for the first time, but it’s so fast i don’t have time to put the kimchi in the refrigerator, is it possible to use it right away? and i don’t have a mixer for the kimchi paste, what can i use the best?
Hi meike,
Thanks for your comment. You can eat the kimchi right away… but the taste will be different between fresh kimchi and fermented kimchi.. This kimchi recipe doesn’t use mixer to make kimchi paste.. you can try this instead then..
http://aeriskitchen.com/2009/01/napa-cabbage-kimchi-%EB%B0%B0%EC%B6%94-%EA%B9%80%EC%B9%98baechu-kimchi/
Hi!!!! Aeri
I watched your video about napa kimchi. That’s so easy and I really like your recipe. But I was wondering why my napa kimchi didn’t have sour taste yet. I leave them outside the fridge but it’s not be sour still.
Is it about the temperature?
Now I currently live in Arizona, USA. The temperature is a little cool down.
Please give some advise.
Thank you so much!
hi Jessie,
I don’t know how long you waited for the kimchi… I mean..how old that kimchi is…. it takes time… so maybe you didn’t wait enough yet.. in 2 or 3 weeks.. it will be fermented and become sour.. thanks
Hi Aeri,
I am soaking the kimchi now with salt solution. Can I replace the kimchi paste recipe (using cooked rice) with the one meant for the whole napa cabbage (using sweet rice flour)? I have lots of sweet rice flour on hand, and want to get rid of it, but I have already cut the cabbage into pieces, so I can’t use whole cabbage for making kimchi.
Thanks for your help!
hi Bee,
Yes you can use the kimchi paste using sweet rice flour.. ^^
Hi Aeri,
I wanted to ask, if I were to substitute sweet rice flour+water for the cooked rice how much would I need for this recipe?
Hi S,
I have other recipe using sweet rice flour and water for kimchi paste.. so you can consider that recipe for a tip..
here is a link for you.
http://aeriskitchen.com/2009/01/napa-cabbage-kimchi-%EB%B0%B0%EC%B6%94-%EA%B9%80%EC%B9%98baechu-kimchi/
Hi Aeri!!
May i request on how you make a Korean Beef stew 
I can’t find the right one on the net(i would really appreciate it if you’re the one who makes it 
) Thanks! 
I so so love all your recipes! I almost tried all of them and it’s very delicious! And also the “Easy Napa Cabbage Kimchi” turned out great!
hi chin027,
Sorry.. but what is korean beef stew ?? can you tell me more detailed about it ?? I might already have the one you want.. ^^ thanks
Hello,
I’m going to make for the first time Kimchi.
I have some questions:
With a cup: do you mean a tea cup format?
20 dried hot pepers: isn’t that a litle hot? Can I use 10 or 15 dried hot pepers?
thanks
Hi Isabel,
In North America there are standard measuring cups for dry and liquid ingredients used in cooking. One cup is the equivalent of 250 ml in metric.
In regard to 20 hot peppers, that is correct because kimchi is usually hot. You can certainly use a little less for your first time and if you find it not hot enough increase the amount the next time you make it.
Hi SL,
I appreciate it.
Thanks for your accurate answers for Isabel.
thanks for your anwer
Hi Aeri,
Can you take a shortcut and use a ready-made red pepper paste in place of the kimchi paste ingredients? The one I have is 태양초 고추장.
Btw, thx for your effort in making all these nice recipes ＾＾
hi Jinnie Joy,
고추장 is not made for kimchi.. so I don’t want you try it for your kimchi..hehe thanks
Aeri,
I’m curious to know why you would use both dried hot pepper and hot pepper powder. Why not use only hot pepper powder as in the whole cabbage kimchi?
hi SL,
It is just personal choice. Original way to make Kimchi from my hometown.. (at least, that’s what I’ve seen from my mom from young age..hehe) they grind dried hot peppers with other ingredients as i did in this post…. and mix with hot pepper powder.. I think.. it’s more for flavor..and give some texture to the kimchi when you eat it.. .. the dried hot pepper gives some fresh.. hit.. flavor.. (oops hard to explain..) but anyway.. you can use both ways for making kimchi. ^^
Hi Aeri,
Thanks for all the wonderful recipes. I was just wondering if I can substitute cabbage with tofu and turn it into tofu kimchi instead?
hi LinS,
well..that is an creative imagination..but to be honest, i’ve never heard of it before. ^^ For me, I will not try that…but each person’s taste is different.. so.. If you want.. you can always try what you imagine and see how you like it for cooking.. thanks