Homemade kimchi
CostLow to Medium
Includes: Gochugaru and fish sauce up front, then mostly cabbage per batch Example: A bag of gochugaru around 5-10 that lasts months
What it is
Hands deep in a bowl of salted cabbage and red pepper paste, fingers stained orange, you understand quickly why kimchi is traditionally made in large batches with several people and a lot of conversation.
Homemade kimchi is the practice of fermenting vegetables, most often napa cabbage and radish, in a seasoned paste of chilli, garlic, ginger, and salted seafood or its vegan substitutes. The vegetables are salted first to draw out water, then coated in the paste and left to ferment. Lactic acid bacteria sour the mix while the spices and aromatics build the deep, layered flavour kimchi is known for.
The process has two clear stages. First the salting, where cabbage sits in brine for a couple of hours until the leaves bend without snapping. Then the seasoning, where you coat every leaf in gochugaru, the Korean chilli flakes that give kimchi its colour and warmth without overwhelming heat. The fish sauce or fermented shrimp adds the savoury depth, though seaweed stock works for a plant-based version.
Most people start with a single cabbage and are surprised by how the flavour shifts day to day. Fresh kimchi is crunchy and bright. Left a week at room temperature then moved to the fridge, it turns sour, soft, and complex, perfect for stews and fried rice. There is no single right point; you simply find the stage you like.
The honest trade-off is smell. Active kimchi is pungent, and a leaking jar will announce itself across a kitchen. Most people learn to burp the lid daily and keep it well sealed. A batch costs a few euro and lasts weeks, improving rather than fading.
How it works
The salt brine soak is the decision that shapes the whole batch. Cabbage that has not lost enough water stays crunchy-wet and dilutes the seasoning, so cut a napa cabbage into pieces, salt it heavily, and leave it one to two hours, turning halfway, until the thick stems bend without snapping.
Rinse the salt off thoroughly, three changes of water, then drain well. The paste is where kimchi gets its character. Blend garlic, ginger, fish sauce, and gochugaru, the Korean red pepper flakes that give kimchi its colour and gentle heat. Gochugaru is not interchangeable with other chilli powders; its coarse texture and mild fruitiness are specific, and ordinary cayenne will make the batch harsh and one-dimensional. A spoon of glutinous rice flour cooked into a thin porridge first helps the paste cling and feeds the fermentation.
Wear gloves and work the paste into every leaf and fold. Pack it tight into a jar, press down to remove air pockets, and leave a few centimetres of headspace.
Ferment at room temperature for one to five days depending on how sour you like it, pressing the vegetables back under the liquid daily, then refrigerate.
Benefits
What you need
Here's what to gather before you start. The essentials are marked.
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FAQs
Three things: gochugaru (Korean chilli flakes), fish sauce, and a jar with room to spare. Gochugaru is the one with no real substitute, since regular chilli powder is finer and hotter and changes the texture and flavour entirely. A 500g bag costs around €6-8 and lasts ages. Everything else (napa cabbage, garlic, ginger, spring onion) is standard.
You salt to draw out water and season the cabbage, then rinse most of it off. I salt the cut cabbage heavily, let it sit one to two hours turning occasionally until the thick parts bend without snapping, then rinse three times and drain well. Skipping the rinse leaves it far too salty. Skipping the salting stage leaves it watery and bland.
It's probably too cold, or too fresh to judge. Kimchi ferments at room temperature for one to five days depending on warmth, and a cold kitchen slows it right down. I leave it out until it tastes tangy and I see small bubbles, then move it to the fridge where it keeps fermenting slowly for weeks. Press it down daily so the vegetables stay under the liquid.
Yes, and it's a small swap. Replace the fish sauce and any salted shrimp with extra salt plus a splash of soy sauce or a spoon of miso for the savoury depth. Some people add a little dried kelp or shiitake stock for umami. It won't taste identical to the traditional version, but it's properly good in its own right.
The strong smell is normal and mostly stays in the jar if you seal it well. Active fermentation does produce gas and aroma, so I keep the jar in a bag or a sealed container in the fridge. Opening a well-fermented jar will always give you that pungent hit, which is exactly what you want. If it smells rotten rather than funky-sour, that's different and you'd discard it.
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