How to Make Kimchi

December is the time to make kimchi, the food most of the world associates with Korea. The cabbage is fresh and cheap, the weather cold, and the spirits high. Jo and I have made kimchi once before while attending a home stay, but it was a very rushed experience. Since it’s a dish we eat often when we’re out at restaurants, it would be nice to be able to get our kimchi fix at home.

William Cho (Discover Korea (Travel and Culture and Sports and Hiking)) posted on Facebook one day that he finished making a batch of kimchi. This prompted a strong reaction from his friends for two reasons. First, he made the kimchi, something that is usually only done by mothers and grandmothers. Here is a MAN making kimchi – AMAZING! Second, the fact he said it was easy. We pleaded with him to conduct a class on how to make this tasty treat and he complied.

Jo and I ventured into Seoul to his flat where a few others to learn his secret joined us.  I knew (from previous experience) that making it was easy, but the recipe that we have is really involved. William makes it easy!

What you need:

1 head of Chinese cabbage
1 Korean radish
1 cup red pepper
½ cup sugar
½ cup salt (fine grain)
10 cloves peeled garlic
3 nodules peeled ginger
Lots of coarse grain salt
Gloves

The process of making kimchi will take a whole day, but it’s so much fun! Here’s how you do it the fun (and easy) William Cho way.

1) Peel off your leafy, outer cabbage leaves. These make for bad kimchi. Once you get the good stuff, cut off the stem of the cabbage. Finally, quarter the cabbage and place it into a large container.

2) With the coarse salt, make a saltwater solution with warm water. You’ll want to use a lot of salt and dissolve it completely. Pour this mixture over the cabbage. Do this until the cabbage is about 40-50% is submerged. Let sit for 4-6 hours.

Now’s a good time to watch a movie, play some games, or just sleep.

3) Pull the cabbage out of the saltwater and rinse and scrub the leaves to make sure they’re clean and free of any pesticides. Once the cabbage is clean, chop it up into what ever size you want. (The traditional Korean method doesn’t do this, but William thinks it’s easier to manage and I agree.)

4) Cut the Korean radish into julienne strips.

5) In a blender, add a small amount of water to the garlic and ginger. Blend into a sauce.

6) Add the red pepper, fine grain salt, and sugar to the Korean radish. Put on your gloves and mix for a few minutes. Add the garlic and ginger paste. Mix all together. Now add the cabbage.

7) Once everything is mixed well. Store it for 2 days in containers before refrigerating. Enjoy!

The entire process is really easy and produces the best kimchi I’ve had in Korea.

Here’s the video, condensing a day into a little over three minutes.





Now, what to do with all that kimchi? Jo and I mange to have a little with each meal, but by far our favorite way of consuming the dish is to make kimchi jjigae (김치 찌개) or kimchi stew. Take your kimchi, add water, a little oil, and meat/tofu if you choose. Boil the mixture for a few minutes and serve. It tastes awesome!