Vegan Bunny Elle

Once you try homemade kimchi, you’ll never look back! This is my go-to napa cabbage kimchi recipe, and it’s super flavorful, easy to do at home, and highly customizable.

There are actually many types of kimchi, but the most well-known and recognizable one is napa cabbage kimchi, or Baechu Kimchi, which happens to be my personal favorite. It has such bold, full-bodied flavors with amazing depth of umami, perfectly balanced with the sourness and spiciness.

You can enjoy napa cabbage kimchi at different stages of its fermentation. The type you’re most familiar with is probably the fermented stage, at this point, the fermentation would have produced incredible probiotics, the texture of the napa leaves would have softened even more, and the flavor would have become much more sour. But if you can’t wait, like me! We can also enjoy some when they’re freshly made.

If eating immediately after making, the napa cabbage leaves are not really fermented yet so at this stage it’s more like a light pickle or even a salad, but it’s super refreshing, crunchy, with all the amazing flavors and subtle sweetness from the fresh veggies.

Traditional Homemade Kimchi (Vegan No Fish)

Not quick nor easy, but you’ll never look back once you try homemade kimchi

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Ingredients Method Video

Ingredients

  

• 1 large napa cabbage
• 2 carrots I used purple carrot and regular carrot for color
• 1 Korean radish
• 3-4 scallion
• 1/2 cup Kosher salt more if needed
• For the chili paste-
• 2 tablespoon glutinous rice flour
• 1 cup water
• 1 1/2 – 2 cup gochugaru adjust to your preferred spicy level
• 1 cup vegan fish sauce or soy sauce
• 1 sweet onion
• 4-5 garlic cloves
• 1 inch ginger
• 1 Asian pear

Method

 

1. Make one small cut down the middle at the root of the napa cabbage, only about 2-3 inches long, do not cut the whole cabbage, then use your hands to tear the napa cabbage apart, this way we can keep most of the leaves intact;
2. Make another cut down the middle at the root of each of the cabbage halves, then tear apart again, now you have four quarters, thoroughly rinse and wash each quarter cabbage, pat dry;
3. Add a generous pinch of kosher salt at each layer of the napa cabbage, rub it in with your hands, add more salt to the thick white parts near the root than the green parts;
4. Once you finish salting all the cabbage quarters, transfer them to a large bowl, weigh them down with a heavy plate, turn the cabbage quarters over every half an hour, let them stand and soften for about two hours in total;
5. Mean while, make the chili paste, first make the rice porridge, mix the glutinous rice flour and water in a small sauce pot, whisk until the flour is completely dissolved;
6. Bring the rice porridge to a gentle boil, then let it simmer and thicken for 10 minutes, remove from heat and let it cool down completely;
7. In a kitchen processor, blend sweet onion, pear, garlic, and ginger till mostly smooth;
8. In a large bowl, add the cooled down rice porridge, gochugaru, and onion garlic mixture, stir to combine;
9. Cut the carrots and radish into thin match sticks, chop the scallions into 2 inch sections, transfer all the veggies into the chili paste mixture, stir to combine very well;
10. Once the napa cabbage is softened, you should be able to fold each quarter easily without breaking it, rinse out the salt thoroughly, then shake off as much water as you can;
11. Apply the chili paste to each layer of the napa cabbage, cover each layer and each quarter generously, and finally transfer to an air tight container, press down firmly to remove any air, close the lid tightly;
12. Let it ferment at room temperature for 1-2 days before transfering to the fridge to continue the slow aging;
13. Enjoy them fermented or fresh!

Video