Homemade Kimchi recipe

Easy homemade kimchi recipe that you can make at home, using two different sized jars! Takes around 10 minutes to make and 1 week to ferment.

• 1/2 Chinese (napa) cabbage
• 1 tbsp sea salt
• 4 or 5 red radishes
• 4 spring onions
• 2 red chillies
• 3 cloves garlic
• 3cm piece ginger
• 1/2 tsp paprika

1. Finely slice the napa cabbage and place in a large mixing bowl. Then, add the salt and rub this into the cabbage using your hands for no less than 5 minutes. The cabbage will become ‘soapy’ and reduce in volume.
2. Finely slice both the spring onions and the radishes; dice the red chillies (do alter the amount, to taste!); grate the garlic and the ginger and then mix everything in with the cabbage mixture. Finally, add the paprika and mix well to combine.
3. Add the mixture to the jar, insert the smaller jar and push down until the mixture is covered by it’s own liquid.  Check to make sure there are no pieces of food exposed to air. Pop the lid on complete with the ‘cork’ to let any air out. NB. If you don’t have a nifty fermentation jar (as per the above picture) you can just as easily ferment your kimchi using two different sized jars, putting a lid on the larger jar.  If you choose this method, it is important that you open the jar each day to let out any extra air created by the fermentation process, or it may explode! You could also leave the lid off, to avoid this entirely!‍
4. Keep your jar of fermenting kimchi outside of the fridge, away from direct sunlight.  The warmer the room, the quicker the fermentation process.  I usually leave my kimchi for about a week at room temperature, but I’d recommend simply tasting the kimchi after 3-5 days so you can judge how long you’d like to leave it for. I don’t think there are any hard and fast rules here, just eat it when you want!
5. Once you are happy with the texture and flavour of your kimchi, pop a lid on it and keep it in the fridge, this will slow the fermentation process right down to preserve the kimchi in its current state.

Kimchi makes a great side dish to many meals, typically to Korean dishes but it’s a great accompaniment to other Asian dishes and I often have it with Japanese food. Hope you enjoy! Please do share any tips you learn along the way :D