🥬 Kimchi
Kimchi is fermented napa cabbage seasoned with gochugaru chili flakes, garlic, ginger, scallions and fish sauce. After a few days of fermentation it turns crunchy, sour and spicy, with a deep savoury flavour. In Korea it appears at almost every meal as a side dish, and it is also cooked into stews, fried rice and pancakes.
Diets
Allergens
Contains (in a typical recipe):
What it is made of
Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 napa cabbage (about 1.5 kg)
- 80 g coarse salt
- 40 g gochugaru
- 2 tbsp fish sauce
- 6 garlic cloves
- 20 g fresh ginger
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 4 scallions, sliced
Method
- Quarter the cabbage, rub salt between the leaves and leave for 2 hours, turning once.
- Rinse the cabbage three times and drain well.
- Blend the garlic, ginger, fish sauce and sugar, then mix with the gochugaru and scallions.
- Rub the paste between every leaf, wearing gloves.
- Pack tightly into a jar, leave at room temperature for 1–2 days, then refrigerate.
How to make it lighter
- Kimchi is very low in calories, so a generous spoonful adds flavour to plain rice or soup at little cost.
- Rinse or drain it lightly if you are watching salt.
- Use it in place of rich sauces to season plain grilled meat or vegetables.
History
Salted and fermented vegetables have been eaten in Korea for many centuries, but red chili, which arrived from the Americas around the 17th century, gave kimchi its familiar colour and heat. The autumn making of kimchi, kimjang, is recognised by UNESCO as intangible cultural heritage.
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Values are estimates per 100 g for a typical recipe; home and restaurant versions vary. Diets and allergens are worked out from the ingredients of a typical recipe — always check with whoever cooked the dish. Not medical advice. Nutrition data: Me Nutrition dish database v13. How we count →