How to make kimchi at home: A basic step-by-step recipe

Making kimchi at home is not complicated, but it requires time, patience and a few key ingredients. This recipe is the basic one we use in our Prague workshops. Anyone who can chop cabbage and isn't afraid of their hands smelling of garlic can manage it.

Ingredients (for approximately 1 kg of kimchi)

Basic ingredients

Chinese cabbage (napa cabbage)1 head (~1.2 kg)
Coarse sea salt (non-iodised)80-100 g
Korean gochugaru chilli pepper3-4 tablespoons
Garlic (cloves, pressed)6-8 cloves
Fresh ginger (grated)1 tablespoon (approx. 15 g)
Fish sauce2 tablespoons
Spring onion3-4 hundred crowns
Sugar (cane or white)1 teaspoon

Selected ingredients for a deeper flavour

Oyster sauce1 tablespoon
Křen - daikon, grated100 g
Sesame seeds1 tablespoon

Procedure: step by step

Salting cabbage (2-4 hours or overnight)

Cut the head of cabbage into quarters and chop into 3-4 cm pieces. Layer with salt, mix by hand and leave to stand for 2-4 hours at room temperature (or overnight in the fridge). The cabbage will release water and soften. Then rinse thoroughly under cold water (2-3 times) until excess salt is gone, and squeeze dry.

Preparation of kimchi paste

In a bowl, mix gochugaru, pressed garlic, grated ginger, fish sauce and sugar. The resulting paste should be thick, red and have an intense aroma. If it is too thick, add a tablespoon of water or fish sauce.

Mixing (with gloves!)

Put on rubber or latex gloves, gochugaru stains everything red and the heat will linger on your hands for hours. Add chopped spring onions (and daikon if using) to the cabbage, add the paste and mix thoroughly until every piece of cabbage is coated.

Filling into a container

Transfer the kimchi into a clean glass jar or ceramic container. Press it down firmly to eliminate air pockets, oxygen is an enemy during fermentation. Leave 3-5 cm of headspace from the rim, as kimchi expands while fermenting.

Fermentation at room temperature

Let the kimchi ferment at room temperature (18-22 °C) for 1-3 days. Each day, open the container and press the cabbage back into the brine with your thumb, known as "burping". Once bubbles start to form and the kimchi is pleasantly sour and slightly fizzy, move it to the fridge.

How to tell if kimchi is ready? Properly fermented kimchi is sour (pleasantly so, not unpleasantly), has bubbles or a fizzy character when squeezed, and smells of fermentation, similar to sauerkraut but with garlic and ginger. If it is mouldy or has an unpleasant odour, something has gone wrong: usually air has entered.

Tips for successful fermentation

→Temperature: Higher temperature (22-25 °C) = faster fermentation (1-2 days), lower (15-18 °C) = slower but more complex flavour (3-5 days)
→Vessel: A glass or ceramic container is ideal. Plastic containers work but absorb colour and odours.
→Salt: Always use the most refined salt: iodine inhibits fermentation bacteria.
→Gochugaru: Korean dried gochugaru is irreplaceable: Hungarian paprika or chilli flakes do not yield the same result.
→Storage: Kimchi will keep in the fridge for 3-6 months. The longer it stands, the more sour and complex it becomes. This is a feature, not a defect.

Vegan version of kimchi VEGAN

Traditional Korean kimchi contains fish sauce and sometimes oyster sauce, so it is not vegan. However, the vegan version is just as good:

✓Replace fish sauce soy sauce or tamari (same quantity)
✓Add dried seaweed (wakame, dulse) for umami depth
✓The oyster sauce can be omitted or substituted. mushroom extract (shiitake stock)

Come learn it live.

At the Kimchi & Prosecco workshop, you will make kimchi under the guidance of an experienced instructor and taste it immediately with prosecco. All ingredients are included in the price.

Reserve a place at the workshop

← Back to the blog