Mak Kimchi

“normal” simple kimchi, cut into squares

Makes 1.7 quarts · 32 kcal per serving

Ingredients

• 700 g napa cabbage
• 21 g salt
• 140 g daikon radish
• 35 g scallion
• 11 g glutinous rice flour
• 195 g water
• 28 g Korean red pepper (coarse)
• 42 g fish sauce
• 35 g garlic
• 7 g ginger
• 21 g honey
• 35 g carrot
• 35 g onion

Method

1. Salt: Chop the cabbage into bite-size pieces, toss with the salt, and rest 1½–2 h, tossing every 30 min, until wilted and bendy. Rinse three times and drain well.
2. Porridge: Whisk the rice flour into the water, simmer to a thin paste, ~3–5 min, and cool.
3. Paste: Stir the gochugaru, fish sauce, garlic, ginger, and honey into the porridge. Stir in the shredded carrot and grated onion.
4. Pack: Combine the cabbage, matchstick daikon, and green onions. Work in the paste until evenly coated. Pack into jars, pressing down to remove air pockets and leaving ~2 in headspace.
5. Weigh down with a glass canning weight or other food-safe object and tightly close the lid (use an airlock if you have one).
6. Ferment at room temperature 1–2 days (I like 2 days, personally), pouring off excess liquid and pressing down air bubbles if contents approaches top of container daily, then refrigerate.

Notes

I like to use the glass canning jars with the airlock lids, but plastic fermenting containers will also work. Traditionally, kimchi is a cold ferment, so if you’d like to try it with a slower ferment (keeps it crunchier), you can leave it out a much shorter time before refrigerating.