- Prep Time: 1 hr.
- Total Time: 12 hrs. plus fermentation time 3-6 days
- Yields: about 1 ½ quart
Ingredients
- 2 pounds Napa cabbage, cut into roughly 2-inch pieces
- 6 scallions, chopped finely or slivered
- 6 minced cloves of garlic
- 1 ½ tbsp fresh ginger, peeled and minced
- 2 tbsps gochugaru (or other red chili powder but with caution)
- 1 or 2 tsps of sugar
Preparation
- Make brine with 3 tbsp of salt and 6 cups of water.
- Place chopped cabbage in a large bowl or nonreactive pot (or, if you’ve been industrious with shopping, a Korean onggi) and ladle brine over cabbage. Weigh down with something (plate, platter) to keep the cabbage submerged and let this sit out for 12 hours.
- Now remove cabbage, but reserve the brine. Toss cabbage with a tsp of salt and all else remaining. Pack this mixture into a 2-quart jar (or, alternatively, 2 1 quart jars: old, washed mayonnaise jars work) and pour brine over just to cover.
- Take a freezer or sandwich storage bag and push it into the mouth of the jar. Pour remaining brine into the bag and seal it; this keeps the cabbage submerged in the brine while allowing the bubbles caused by fermentation to escape. (If the jar is sealed, it could shatter from the pressure released during fermentation.)
- Allow the kimchi to ferment in a cool place, ideally around 68 degrees (a garage in cool weather works, or an inner closet during warmer weather), for about 3-6 days. It will get sourer as time passes.
- Remove the bag with brine and seal your jar tightly. Your kimchi should keep in the refrigerator for months.
