Spicy Cabbage Kimchi

Made 2 batches, the first exactly as the recipe instructed except that I used regular crushed hot peppers as I could not find the Korean sort. Most grocery stores with an asian section now carry fish sauce, though it is generallt labled "Thai" fish sauce. Even after much rinsing of the cabbage this recipe was so salty that if any fermentation took place the tingle was lost in the brine. So then... I took the advice of another reviewer and cut the salt in half. This still drew out the water beautifully. I also like a bit more ginger in my Kimchi, so I omitted the ground ginger and added 2 (1") pieces of sliced dried ginger and 2 Tbsp of diced crystalized (candied/ sugared) ginger. Also added a Tbsp of whole black peppercorns. After 4 days in the closet and a day in the 'fridge the Kimchee was bubbly and yummy! This was very easy to make, and the ingredients are inexpensive. I won't be going back to the jar stuff from the grocery store! I understand every Korean Kimchi maker has his/her secret recipe, so just keep adjusting yours until you find what you like!

This is one of the easier kimchi recipes I've come across. Some people may find it a little to salty or spicy. There are milder recipes out there, some with low sodium. "Fish sauce" is a rather non-specific ingredient. Since I'm allergic to shrimp, I usually try to find the kind which doesn't contain shrimp, even though it is usually a primary ingredient in kimchi. Kimchi is an acquired taste for some people. I hated it at first, but even so, I kept craving it. I now eat it every day. It is super-healthy and low calorie. Korean food in general is great if you are trying to lose weight!

I love, love, love kimchi. This came out a little salty for me so I cut the salt in half. It still drew the water out of the cabbage leaves and it all reduced well. I thought that I would get a little creative and added sesame oil for an additional flavor. My Korean friends told me to eat the kimchi quickly as oil will cause it to spoil. How do you spoil fermented (spoiled) cabbage? Anyway, it tasted great, but I didn't feel like eating two quarts of kimchee that quickly. My friends were happy with that. If you have ever heard the term "kimchi breath" you'll know what I mean. As a previous reviewer stated, I hated kimchee at first, particularly the smell of it. But now I crave it. I'll eat it with breakfast, lunch, and dinner. By the way, a serving is like a quarter cup. Small, but loaded with flavor.

As I pulled up the recipe to make this for the 2nd time, I was reminded to help others by rating the recipe. It is so delicious and so authentic, we can't get enough of it. First introduced to Kimchi in the early 70's, this is probably the recipe that has the most authentic taste, just like we had in Seoul. I add slices of Asian radish as well...they make for great additional texture with their crispness. Soooo good!

THIS IS WAY TOO SALTY!!! Our cabbage was wasted! Please next time check your ingredients... next trial i will make the salt tbps instead. OMG, it was so disappointing! wasted all time and efforts, cabbage and all the ingredients. PLEASE CHECK YOUR INGREDIENTS FOR OTHERS NOT TO HAPPEN THIS AGAIN!

Whoo hoo! I don't have to dole out five bucks a pop for a container of kimchi anymore! (It's very easy to go through that in a week or less, so this is great.) I couldn't find Korean chile powder, but I did find hot pepper paste in the refrigerated section. The label said it's from South Korea, so I thought that might do the trick and it has. I used the amount of salt the recipe called for, and after rinsing it very well and squeezing out the extra water, it wasn't too salty. Next time, I'm going to try adding salted shrimp and slices of jicama or asian radish, like other reviewers suggested. I might also try subbing bok choy for the napa cabbage since it's a bit easier to come by, but very similar. Anyway, I'm DEFINITELY going to make this again. Thank you for sharing! Edited to say BEWARE: The second time I made this, it sprayed all over the place when I opened it after waiting the four days the recipe calls for. (It was like when you open a 2 liter of soda that's been shaken.) So, yes, beware! (It still tasted great, though.)

I can fix the saltiness issue. I've made kimchi a few times and this recipe is very similar to the one I use and love. After you rub the salt into the cabbage and let it sit for only about 30 minutes, you should then immerse the cabbage in a large bowl of water for 2 hours. Put a dinner plate on the top to make sure all the cabbage is submerged. The salt's role is to kill the bad bacteria and only add a teeny bit of flavor. After it's done soaking rinse the cabbage very thoroughly. I usually put it in a colander, rinse it well by hand and then rinse it in a water bath 2 or 3 times. Changing the water each time. Kimchi is one of those foods that takes a loooong time to make. I usually put everything that this recipe has and some diakon matchsticks into a mason jar with a rubber seal in a cabinet for 3-5 days (pushing the contents below the surface of the brine everyday) and then refridgerate for a week. Then, boom, it's kimche eating time! Added a photo of mine just for the heck of it. That's an 8 cup mason jar. Larger than most. Bud Ice is not part of the recipe, but when you complete everything at 2am, like I did that time, it might find its way into the photo. :)

This is AWESOME!! My husband was just stationed in Korea, so i thought i would give it a try, hoping to get close to that very addicting korean dish....Blew it out of the park!! said it was better than the kimchi he had in korea:) I also cut the salt to 1/3 C and didnt put as many onions. thanks so much!

wow, i really love this recipe except i used chinese chile paste instead of the powder. I also reduced the salt to 1/3c, but all in all the best recipe i've found online

I've made this 5 times now and it's excellent! I lived in South Korea for 2.5 years and my friends who also lived there think it's amazing, too. The first time I made it I followed the recipe exactly and found it a little salty. The next few times, I cut the salt by half and tweaked it a little to my liking; adding another 1 tbsp sugar, a grated carrot, about 1/2 tsp ground black pepper and fresh ground ginger root instead of dried ginger. I have to say now that it's probably the best kimchi I've ever eaten and it makes amazing kimchi jjigae and kimchi bokeumbap!

I have tried to make numeous version of this using different vegetables that's not typically used for asian food. So far, the mexican root vegetable called "jicamo" worked out best. It gave nice satifying crunch that stayed till the last bite. Wash and peel jicamo and cut into 1/4 in. thick slices or cut to the size of french fries. Either way will work nicely, just make sure to pre- season with sea salt and drain excess liquid before adding it to Kimchee as not to make the mixture too watery.

Way too much salt for me. I think if the salt were cut down by 90% it would be palatable.

I have not made this recipe yet, however for those of you who cant find the Korean pepper powder try going to an exclusive aisian market (which is normally run by Koreans) and ask for " KO CH'U GA RU " They should know exactly what you're talking about.

Great recipe , needs to be tweaked however. As other reviewers have mentioned the salt amount is entirely too much, cut amount in half and still does perfect. Also use real ginger , why skimp now ! The main adjustment I make in my recipe is that Instead of sugar I use 1 pear, 1 apple and 1 yellow onion puréed. This is the authentic touch it is missing and really separates it from the mass produced kimchi out there. If you like sweeter kimchi you can cut the fermentation to two days ( or even over night depending on your tastes) but be aware this rob's it of its healthy pro-biotic qualities. The longer this ferments, and stays in your fridge after, the more sour it will become. Enjoy !!!

Okay. I read about the nutritional benefits of kimchi so before I made this recipe, I bought a small jar from the store to try just to be sure I'd like it. I did really liked it but did not like the price. I found this recipe and read all of the reviews first. Here is what I did. I cut up 1 head of napa cabbage and 1 head of bok choy then put it in zip lock bags. I just sprinkled with salt from my salt shaker...likely less than 1/2 tsp for each of the 2 bags. I let it sit on the counter for about 4 hours then rinsed well. Added jicama, fresh ginger (a lot!), and grated carrot in addition to stated ingredients. Waited 3 days-outside temps starting to warm up! Noticed bubbles so just put the 2 jars in the fridge. Tasted it and it was better than the store bought jar and not salty at all. I will likely try many of the suggested ingredients in the future because I loved making this and really enjoy eating it! Thank you for the recipe and all of the reviews as I always read them and learn from personal tips!

You can use less salt when preparing your kimchi if you wish. The key is to rinse the cabbage well. I usually send mine through a soak in a sink of water after rinsing using running water. Also, don't be afraid to taste the cabbage during this stage. You can get a better idea if you need to rinse more.

Great simple recipe! I used korean chili paste, fresh thai peppers, 1 1/4 cups salt... it came out just fine, but I would put emphasis on rinsing and wringing out in step 2.

Searched this recipe out while looking for ideas for a gift basket of homemade goodies for my parents for Valentines day! My step-father is retired Army, and has always loved Kimchi. Both him and my Mother are big Foodies, and I thought this would be an interesting surprise for them! The first try I made, I could not find the Korean chili powder, so I used regular, mixed with some Siracha. It was insanely hot, but John is still flipping out on how wonderful it is! For my second attempt, I put a message on facebook on where to find the correct chili powder, and a chef that I am friends with told me where it was locally. The second attempt is wonderful also!! On a side note, Dr.Oz (tv personality/doctor), had a show where he was giving advice to help non-morning people wake up. He called it the "kimchi kick-start", and advised to eat a few forkfulls in the morning in order to get you raring to go!

Wish I had read the reviews before starting. It's WAY too salty, and I rinsed the heck out of it.

As noted in other comments, used 1/3c salt. Have not tried the addition of Jicama or Asian Radishes yet, but definitely will for extra crunch and texture variety.

This is my second batch. I use regular American Cabbage....cheaper than Napa...what I do for the salt is sprinkle some on my cutting board and chop and roll it around. You can always add more. I don't like a lot of salt either. The beauty of this receipe is that you can make it your own. Today I'm trying it with some sliced carrot and a diced apple. I will use brown sugar instead of white sugar and I found a spicy sweet red pepper paste. Didn't feel like spending $7.00 on a spice I wasn't sure I would like. This is the easiest recipe I have found for kimchi. Thank you so much for sharing this with us!!!

Really Yummy. I'm so happy I have an alternative to paying $5 per jar!. I was concerned about salt because of some of the other reviews, but when I googled kimchi recipes, they all called for the same amount (or more), so I went ahead and used the amount called for. Some recipes called for soaking it in water, along with the salt, so I tried that. Then I rinsed really well. I'm thinking maybe some people didn't rinse well enough. I tasted it before proceeding with the chili paste, and it had a pleasant amount of saltiness. I'd suggest people try this, and then just rinse more.

well...i feel like kind of a babo because i "forgot" to wash the salt off the cabbage before adding the various seasonings, and it turned out really salty. this may or may not be the reason people keep saying their kimchi comes out really salty, so just remember to wash the salt off so you don't end up feeling like a babo D: past the salt, however, the kimchi was pretty good, and i will try again tomorrow hopefully with better results

I wanted to try making kimchi because my boyfriend is Korean but I have never had it before and so did not know how authentic it would be. I was nervous but read the reviews first and decided to cut the salt as others had done. I only used 2/3 cup to salt the cabbage which seemed like plenty and followed the rest of the recipe exactly, with the exception that I couldn't find Korean chili powder at the Asian market, so I bought a Thai chili powder to stand in. My boyfriend said it was delicious and so I gave it a try. A word of caution: this was hot!!!!!!! My mouth was on fire with the first bite! I have a low tolerance for spicy foods, and my boyfriend admitted this version was spicier than what his mother makes. I'm making another batch, this time with much less chili powder and a little more garlic and onion. Can't wait til it's done, the overall flavor of this dish was delicious, just too hot for me.

This could be very good but I agree it is MUCH too salty for my taste. I made it a second time and only used enough salt to cover the cabbage before setting it. Then washing it thoroughly before covering in the dressing. Much much better IMO.

Good recipe but do not use powder ginger. Always use fresh for the best taste.

Use 1/4 cup of salt,rinse before adding anything else.Use diced ginger,not ground.Do not seal the container,it could explode.Just cover with a cloth for 5-7 days at room temperature,then seal and put in fridge.Always use glass container,plastic breaks down and ruins taste,metal will degrade as well.

Great kimchi! I brine cure the cabbage and rinse once. That gets the salt just right. I also use chili caribe vs. Korean chili because that is what I have on hand. I make two batches a year. I pack it in pint jars after the stormy ferment and LIGHTLY seal the lids. It will last months in the fridge that way.

This will make your recipe easier,(or not depending on you :) ) you don't have to salt the cabbage. You can mix it all together and salt to taste(1/2 cup or so) let it set in a covered tub/large bowl for 24hrs, put it jars and refrigerate. We add 2 pears, 2 apples,(Blend one with the 1/2 onion)2 leaks(instead of the green onion) 1-2 oranges, one lemon, 1 Korean radish, 3-4 sliced carrots and 1 tablespoon honey instead sugar. Make sure you get the right Korean pepper powder. If you don't know go to your local Korean store and ask. BTW there are only 7000 known kimchi recipes in the library in Korea

I love this recipe! It works out great every time. As for it being salty, once you soak it in the salt water for 3 hours, rinse it well and taste it. It should have a bit of a salty taste. After that, you should have perfect Kimchi in a few days!

This seems to be very good, but I couldn't source Korean chili powder and used sriracha instead. Also, after seeing all the comments about excess salt I went with kosher salt instead of sea salt. While it tastes good, mine looks a bit brown around the edges. This is very tasty and I will make it again and again until I get it exactly right. For now I am enjoying it on hot dogs in place of sauerkraut.

As there are only two of us, I only made half the recipe. Using one head of cabbage and 1/4 cup of salt, it was still way too salty. Next time I'll cut down on the salt, or rinse better. The overall flavor is DELICIOUS, I couldn't wait for 4 days !!! I wouldh've eaten the whole bowl that day, had it not been so salty. I LOVE THIS RECIPE and will definitely be making it again.

Everything great except way to much salt.Quarter the salt and rinse well

the real gimchi indeed salty. you may add sesame seeds into it too

i rly want to give this a good review but it deserves a 3. ONLY because it is too salty! i recommend using a 1/3 or LESS, and only soaking for about 3-4 hrs instead of 6! the rest of the recipe is great, just adjsut the salt! author of the recipe you really need to change it from 1 1/4 to 1/3 cup or less of salt!

I have tried to make numerous version of this using different vegetables that's not typically used for Asian food. So far, the Mexican root vegetable called "jicama" worked out best. It gave nice satifying crunch that stayed till the last bite. Wash and peel jicama and cut into 1/4 in. thick slices or cut to the size of french fries. Either way will work nicely, just make sure to pre- season lightly with sea salt and drain excess liquid before adding it to Kimchee as not to make the mixture too watery. For a varied version, you can add a few drops of sesame seed oil for more early Spring style Korean Kimchee, using more green leafy cabbage. Be sure to eat these as soon as possible, without going through the fermenting process as the oil in the Kimchee will start taste rancid in just a few short days...

I changed it up some but turned out great. 1. Did not measure the salt but added it to layers as I drained the water off and hand mixed as I went. 2. Used 5tsp of red pepper and 1tsp of paprika. Also like garlic so used the whole bulb, 1tsp of sesame seed oil and 1tsp of sesame seeds 3. Used crock from crock pot. Placed plastic wrap on top when filled and wrapped it to the sides inside. Filled 1gal zip lock bag with water and placed that on top of this first layer of wrap. Sealed the top with plastic wrap and set the lid on. Set in the basement four days and turned out spicy nice and not to salty. I also soaked and rinsed well. Surprised as this my first try at making it.

First batch was too salty. This time I cut the salt by more than half and left it in the salt for only 4 hours. I've been researching a Korean chili powder recipe. I'm trying dried Cayenne and Thai dragon peppers from the garden with equal parts of smoked paprika powder. It smells and looks (color) great. The hardest part is waiting for the results.....

It is super easy! As much as we eat kimchi around here it is a life saver. I had tried other recipies for kimchi and it never turned out right. If the recipe seems to salty for you make sure you rinse your cabbage well before adding spices. Also if it is too hot for you add more sugar. Thanks for sharing! :D

awful wasted time half salt and everything!

WAY TOO SALTY. I read a bunch of reviews before making this (which I do for all the recipes on this site) and listened to other reviewers and cut the salt by a third.... still too salty. I can't imagine enjoying the original recipe. The flavor was good, but the salt totally ruined it, had to throw away the whole batch. My husband, who loves kimchi, was stationed in Korea in the military and had authentic kimchi thought it was way too salty and couldn't eat it. If you want to make this, I would use like maybe a couple of teaspoons of salt at the absolute MOST!

Very nice. Very easy. I probably close to doubled the spice because I love VERY spicy food. (I have been known to eat spoonfuls of chili sauce and I used to eat hot sauce sandwiches as a child). I cut the salt in half as was recommended by some other reviewers but found that it was still extremely salty. I have a feeling I have to fault myself, and say that I probably didn't rinse it well enough. =) The end result was very very tasty. Everyone in my family who tried it liked it, and I have some picky family members! My dad said it tasted like the outside of "spicy cabbage rolls". I also liked it better than I've liked the store bought or restaurant Kimchi I have had. I will certainly make it again.

LOVED this!

love this recipe! used half the salt and it turned out great.

I tried this recipe twice... the first time was WAAAAAYYYY too salty. The second batch I toned down to 2/3 cup of salt, and it was still pretty salty.

I didn't follow the recipe exactly. I sprinkle the salt as I layer since a lot of people said it's really salty. Then I let it sit in room temperature and mix the veggies with my hands. It only takes less than 2 hour for the water to come out. I rinse it 3 times to make sure all the salt are rinse off. Then I use fresh chopped ginger instead of ground, and I use half korean chile powder and half korean chile paste. The mix turns out really good. The only problem is...I put in container and store in my pantry for 4 days. Nice and dark and dry. On the 4th day, OMG it is sooooooo sour!!! I should of just let it sit for a day then put it in the fridge. So this batch will only use for kimchi soup. Will make another batch to eat.

To the people complaining about the salt- read the directions... the cabbage needs to be THOROUGHLY RINSED of the salt- and then rinsed some more! The spices weren't as good as other recipes I've used but this was still pretty good- assuming you actually follow the directions.

I took other people's reviews into account before I made this kimchee. I only used 3oz of salt. It is still EXTREMELY salty!!! Other than that, it tastes great. Has a lot of potential. I'll make it again, but will only use a couple tablespoons of salt at the most and let the cabbage sit in the salt for 3-4 hours instead of 6.

Hello friends, I made this recipe exactly as described, and it turned out so terribly salty, that I had to throw it out!!! Seems to me that there is too much salt. Other recipes do not call for so much.

I have made this twice. Both times it was a complete success. The one thing you really need to do is take your time and rinse the cabbage well after brining. Talk about guilt free if your looking for low cal, low carb. I love this recipe. Thank you so much for taking the time to share

Yum. Loved this recipe. Really good flavor.

I haven't made this yet, just looking for a simple recipe. This might be it, but, way too much salt. I make homemade sauerkraut, which gets raves, and I use 1 tablespoon of salt per head of shredded cabbage. I will try this recipe though, with less salt, maybe a few changes. Thank you.

To be honest I have no experience whatsoever either making or eating kimchi. My daughter was doing a report for school on South Korea and wanted to make it for her class. She's 11 and was able to make this start to finish on her own with minimal instruction. We did halve the salt after reading reviews and we allowed the container to sit, closed in the fridge for 4 days before she shared with her class (just turning the container to mix every day). I was very pleased with the results as were her teacher and classmates with more adventurous palates.

It was perfect with half the salt mentioned.

too salty

So glad for the reviews about the salt. I would have been so bummed after all that for it to be ruined. I used 1/3 cup kosher salt, no white onion. I had to let it sit for 7 days. I used regular cabbage because Napa gets too slimy for me.

I love kimchi.

No changes. Added the max recommended pepper, and will add even ore next time. Tastes awesome, but I need the heat!

This is salty to the point of being inedible. Is there a way to salvage it?

Super easy to make and I loved it! I did change the recipe a little bit. I added a ton more garlic cloves, more peppers and I added other veggies like cauliflower and celery. I also just used regular cabbage.

This is an excellent basic kimchi recipe. Thank you!! I have made this several times and passed the recipe onto friends and family. I add other veggies such as bell peppers, lots of garlic cloves, radishes, cucumber, summer squash. Whatever you have on hand is fantastic. I do cut the amount of salt used to about 1/3 cup, rinse several times and spin the liquid out with a salad spinner.

As written after squeezing out the water I have no liquid left to cover the vegetables. I added a tiny bit of salt (I cut down on original amount and am worried about spoilage) and topped off with kefir whey. Results in four days. Stay tuned. **People who say it is way too salty. It needs to sit and ferment for at least a week. The salt will mellow. I do not feel it needs this amount.

SO GOOD

I cut the salt in half but kept the salt "soak" at 6 hours. was WAY too long. Kimchi almost ruined, too salty! will make this again but will let it sit in the salt for maybe 2 hours. I have a friend who makes great kimchi and he salts his for 1 hour.

I made per the recipe and it came out way too salty. I made it again using 1/3 of the salt and it came out perfect. Thus my ‘Loved it’ rating. I got rave reviews from my Asian girlfriend and her Asian family. This is quite a compliment as I am 1st generation Scottish!!!

5th time making it, hatchin a batch of it right now, so easy and fast to make it blows my mind. Haven't screwed it up yet. Rinse the salt off well and you won't go wrong.

I've fermented cabbage to make sauerkraut at home, but this was my first kimchi attempt. I followed the ingredients and preparation steps in this recipe exactly, but allowed mine to ferment at room temperature in a large jar with an airlock for about 14 days which resulted in an extremely sour and spicy kimchi. I did not think that it was too salty, but I rinsed and squeezed the cabbage very well with distilled water after the salt soak step, and used distilled water after packing the cabbage into the jar to ensure that the brine level rose above the veggies. Salt is important to prevent the growth of "bad" bacteria, but too much salt (or chlorine in tap water, which is why using distilled water is important) will inhibit the lactobacilli from fermenting the veggies. If you are making this recipe to eat immediately without fermentation, then add much less salt.

I played around with the measurements to taste and always come s out great! Have made it several times with this recipe.

I am making another batch this weekend, since my first batch won't last another day! It goes with almost every savory dish. Do rinse the cabbage very thoroughly after it sits and sweats.

Completed the recipe as is and found it a little too salty. Made a second batch and reduced salt. It was more to my family's taste. We love it and will continue to make it.

I was impressed with the results. I am a vegetarian so I did not add the fish sauce. Thank you.

Thank you for sharing this recipe. I didn't salt the cabbage, but I boiled it prior to brining it. I also added Sirachi to the mix to make it more spicy and some sugar. After making it, my husband said that it was better than King's Korean Kimchi!