How to make Chinese cabbage kimchi: 11 step-by-step recipes with photos

Briefly about the dish

Kimchi can be either an independent dish, for example, a side dish for meat or fish, or serve as the main component. Kimchi is a generic name for pickled vegetables, but kimchi usually refers to Chinese cabbage pickled in a specific way.

An appetizer made from other vegetables contains in the title an indication of the vegetable from which it is prepared. Pickled vegetables for kimchi are prepared by the lactofermentation method, by analogy with the usual sauerkraut and pickles. Strong specific odor and unusual taste can be frightening at first. However, in the process of tasting and getting used to, you will appreciate the dish.

Moderate consumption of this snack is good for health, as the product is rich in fiber, vitamins A, C and B group, contains calcium, iron and beneficial lactic bacteria. Due to this, cholesterol levels are reduced, digestive processes are activated, immunity is increased and the development of cancer cells is prevented.

Video "Step-by-step Korean kimchi recipe"

This video will show you how to cook kimchi in Korean the right way.

Chinese cabbage kimchi recipes

Classic Korean recipe

The taste of this dish primarily depends on the quality of its ingredients, in particular sea salt and Korean pepper flakes.

Components:

• Chinese cabbage - 700 g;
• water - 750 ml;
• sea ​​salt for brine - ½ cup;
• sea ​​salt in large granules for sprinkling - ¼ glass;
• plain or rice flour - ½ tsp;
• crushed garlic - ¼ tsp;
• Korean radish - 115 g;
• green onions - 2 bunches;
• Korean hot pepper flakes (gochaguru) - ⅓ cup;
• anchovy fish sauce - ½ tsp;
• shrimp fish sauce - 1 tsp;
• sugar - ½ tsp.

You need to cook cabbage with gloves so that the skin does not suffer from spices.

How to cook:

1. Cut the Peking into 2 or 4 parts, moisten with water, squeeze out excess liquid.
2. Rub each leaf with salt so that the bulk falls on the base.
3. We put in a container and leave for half an hour.
4. We turn the pieces, moisten with juice and leave in a container. You need to turn it over every 30 minutes, until the cabbage is salted. Usually a few hours are enough.
5. While the cabbage is cooking, prepare the sauce: mix the rice flour with water and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. As soon as the mixture boils, add sugar and remove from heat. Let cool. The sauce should be mushy.
6. Thinly chop the radish.
7. Grind the garlic and onion in a blender.
8. Add fish sauces, pepper flakes, garlic with onions and radish to the rice sauce. Mix everything thoroughly.
9. We wash the cabbage, cut off the thick bases and coat with kashchitsa, leaving part of the mixture on each leaf.
10. We put it in a container, press it and leave it in a warm room for a couple of days. Then we place the kimchi in a refrigerator or cellar, where we store the preparation until use.

Korean style with vegetables

The variant with vegetables differs from the classic kimchi only in the set of ingredients - starch is used instead of rice flour, and sweet bell peppers, carrots and parsley are additionally added.

Parsley is ground with garlic and spices, while bell peppers and carrots, cut into strips, are combined with radish and used to interlayer of salted cabbage leaves.

Simple recipe

The ingredients for this option are commercially available and the cooking method is extremely simple.

We need 3 kg of cabbage, 3 heads of garlic, hot red pepper and 250 g of salt.

Salt the cabbage according to the classic scheme. Then we grind equal amounts of pepper and garlic through a press, rinse the cabbage and rub with the resulting garlic mixture. Fold the blank tightly into a glass container and marinate for several days.

Unique recipe from Sichuan province

In this recipe, two types of peppers are added - Bulgarian and green Chinese, as well as onions and several carrots. Cut peppers, cabbage and onions into large pieces, finely chop the onions. All components are filled with marinade and placed in a glass container in the refrigerator for a day.

To prepare the marinade, you will need 2.5 tbsp. l. sugar, 1 tbsp. l. vinegar, 1 tsp. salt, 1.5 tsp. celery seeds, 1 tsp. mustard and 0.5 tsp. turmeric. All components are poured into boiling water and boiled for several minutes.

With added sugar

Sugar will help to make the spicy cabbage more tender.

For cooking, you need 1 kg of cabbage, 1 tbsp. l. salt, ½ tbsp. l. sugar, 1 tbsp. l. chili pepper and 1 head of garlic.

Step by step recipe:

1. Cut the vegetable into strips of 1.5–2 cm. Add salt and sugar, stir and crush. Press down and leave for 12 hours.
2. Mix the pepper with a pinch of salt, add a little boiling water and chopped garlic, mix and leave for 10 hours.
3. Rinse the cabbage, add the pepper mixture and place in a container. After a few hours, stir and leave for a few more hours.
4. We put in a jar, close and put in a cold place.

With vinegar

Vinegar balances all the ingredients and gives harmony to the taste.

Components:

• 300 g cabbage;
• 1 tbsp. l. salt;
• 7 tbsp. l. Sahara;
• 4 tbsp. l. vinegar.

How to cook:

1. Cut the cabbage into thin slices, salt and leave for an hour.
2. Wrap in cheesecloth and squeeze out the salty liquid.
3. Mix vinegar and sugar, boil in the microwave. Drizzle over the cabbage.
4. Marinate for 2-3 days. Mix with chili peppers before serving.

With bell pepper and garlic

According to this recipe, cabbage turns out to be not only tasty, but also crispy.

Ingredients:

• 1 medium head of Chinese cabbage;
• 2 tbsp. l. salt;
• 1 bell pepper.

Cooking steps:

1. Pour salt in 1 liter of water, boil and leave to cool.
2. Cut the cabbage into thin strips and fill with brine.
3. After a day or two, we rinse the workpiece and dry it.
4. Add chopped bell pepper. From spices, add chili, garlic, cilantro seeds if desired. Grind until smooth and add to the cabbage.
5. We marinate for 2 more days.

With the addition of daikon radish

This version of kimchi differs from the classic one in that it adds 2 times more daikon radish, ginger root (grated) and chopped onions. All these ingredients, along with spices, green onions and garlic, are ground until smooth and combined with rice flour sauce. Then the resulting mixture is processed into the leaves of salted Peking cabbage.

With shrimps and green onions

Components:

• cabbage - 5 heads of cabbage;
• onions - 5 pcs.;
• green onions - 1 large bunch;
• two large radishes;
• ginger root;
• 100 g sugar;
• ground red pepper - 250 g;
• 400 g freshwater shrimp;
• garlic to taste.

Step-by-step instruction:

1. Salt the cabbage in the classic way.
2. Chop the garlic, onions and three ginger. Mix with spices.
3. Shred the radish and green onions.
4. We wash and dry the cabbage, rub it with a spicy garlic mixture and sandwich with vegetables.
5. We leave it in the room for a day, and then put it in a cold place.

With red fish and Chinese pears

This appetizer will satisfy the taste of gourmets and connoisseurs of unusual combinations.

Ingredients:

• 1 head of Chinese cabbage;
• 1 radish;
• 2-3 Chinese pears;
• 50 ml fish sauce;
• 200 g ready-made kimchi sauce;
• 3 cm of ginger root;
• 50 g salt;
• 10 g granulated sugar;
• 50 g of Korean adjika yannem;
• 100 g salted red fish.

How to cook:

1. Salt the cabbage according to the classic scheme.
2. Peel and cut the pear and radish into small thin slices. Chop the onion.
3. Mix fruits with vegetables and add yangnem and fish sauce.
4. Rinse and dry the cabbage.
5. Grate the ginger root and add salt, sugar, fish sauce and kimchi. Add finely chopped fish.
6. Spread the ginger sauce over the cabbage and layer with the fruit and vegetable mixture.
7. Place in a container and refrigerate for 2 days.

No fish sauce

This option is very easy to prepare, but also delicious.

We need a small head of cabbage, 30 g of salt, an onion, a few cloves of garlic (3-4), and ground chili.

Cut the cabbage into strips, sprinkle with salt and let stand for about 6 hours. Then add the onion (in half rings), crushed garlic and pepper. Mix, place in a container, press down with a press and leave for a couple of days.

Culinary recommendations

Koreans advise using only high quality sea salt and salt the ingredients in layers.

If you want a more delicate workpiece, be sure to remove the core and trim the rough bases.

In any case, even after great reviews, we advise you to cook a small amount of kimchi according to your favorite recipe.