What is Kimchi
Kimchi is a mix of spicy sauerkraut and other ingredients. However, kimchi is also culturally significant.
What kimchi means to Korea is one of the most beautiful stories of food I’ve ever had the pleasure of learning. For Koreans, Kimchi symbolizes national pride, love, family, and hope for the future.
So what is kimchi made of? It depends on who is making it and where you are trying it! In Korea, families use local and seasonal ingredients in their kimchi recipes; that is why there are over 200 types of kimchi, each unique.
How to Make Kimchi
There are many ways to make kimchi with many different ingredients and methods.
The most well-known type of kimchi is Baechu Korean kimchi. You make it by soaking napa cabbage in a salty brine for 12 hours, then rinsing it and rubbing it with starchy paste.
Baechu kimchi includes salt fermented shrimp, fish sauce, gochugaru, sugar, ginger, garlic, radish, carrot, and scallions. Then it is packed into a fermentation crock and can be enjoyed after three days of fermentation at cool temperatures.
Some kimchi is ready to eat quickly because, in Korea, many people like it effervescent. Also, the salt fermented shrimp (Saeujeot) and fish sauce serve as vital salting agents, and Saeujeot introduces microbes to the kimchi fermentation process.
My Kimchi Inspired Spicy Sauerkraut Recipe
In this blog, you will learn how I make my original kimchi recipe, similar to how I make sauerkraut, but with added kimchi-inspired ingredients.
Thus, I call it kimchi-inspired spicy sauerkraut, or “kimchi sauerkraut”. I like that I have my original kimchi recipe, made with ingredients I can grow in my region and easily source. It’s a perfect addition to the over 200 unique kinds of kimchi worldwide.
Things You May Need:
Kimchi vs. Sauerkraut
While kimchi and sauerkraut are fermented cabbage, they originate from different regions. Kimchi is from Korea, and sauerkraut originates from China. I know you thought sauerkraut was German.
While it was popularized in Germany in the 1800s, and its name is German, plain fermented cabbage is originally from china.
Historians say that 2000 years ago, enslaved people building the Great Wall of China began fermenting shredded cabbage in rice wine to preserve it so they would have a food source during the non-growing season.
Both kimchi and sauerkraut are probiotic-rich, healthy fermented foods. Kimchi has a deeper umami flavor because it incorporates more ingredients, while sauerkraut is more light and fresh.
Kimchi may be slightly more nutritious due to more bioavailable vitamins and minerals from the variety of ingredients used to make it.
What Does Kimchi Taste Like?
Kimchi tastes delicious, and I describe it as sour, salty, spicy, and umami (earthy, savory flavors).
The flavor of kimchi varies, just as kimchi recipes do. Many variables impact kimchi flavor, like the amounts of salt used, length of fermentation, and vegetables used.
Spicy Sauerkraut flavor
This sauerkraut tastes very similar to kimchi, but milder. People often tell me they are afraid to try kimchi. Then, when they try my spicy sauerkraut with kimchi spices, they can’t get enough of it.
How Long Does Kimchi Last
Everyone always wonders, can kimchi go bad? I’ve never had kimchi go bad, but I think it is because Jon and I eat it so fast. Between the two of us, we eat a gallon in under two months.
Kimchi can be stored in the fridge for a year, and I suggest eating it within six months for full probiotic benefits.
Spicy Sauerkraut Kimchi Spice Blend
This recipe calls for my kimchi spice blend. I blend these spices in bulk and keep them in an airtight jar so I can easily use the kimchi spice whenever I want to start a new batch.
This is a dry spice blend, and I use organic bulk spices from Starwest Botanicals.
Here is how I make it:
- You will need 455 grams gochugaru chili flakes, 300 grams minced garlic, 100 grams ginger powder, and 75 grams kelp granules.
- Mix the ingredients in a large bowl until evenly combined.
- Store in an airtight container, such as a mason jar or weck jar.
Recipes to Try
- The Best Kimchi Bloody Mary Perfect For Hangovers
- Oven-Baked Marinated Chicken Wings with Kimchi and Miso Sauce
- Fresh Vegan Summer Rolls with Creamy Kimchi Sauce
Homemade Kimchi Inspired Spicy Sauerkraut
What does kimchi taste like? It’s spicy, umami, sour and absolutely delicious! Learn how to make kimchi sauerkraut, a spicy sauerkraut recipe with delicious kimchi flavor.
- Prep: 10 minutes
- Ferment: 21 days
Ingredients
- 500 grams green cabbage
- 20 grams unrefined sea salt
- 200 grams filtered water
- 15 grams kimchi spice blend*
- 75 grams carrots, julienned
- 30 grams green onions, chopped
Instructions
- Wash your fermentation equipment (jar, weight, and lid)
- Remove the outer leaves of your cabbage and lightly rinse with cool water. Using a knife, chop the cabbage to your desired thickness. Chop the carrots and onions.
- Place your kitchen scale on the counter. Turn it on and set it to weigh in grams.
- Measure out all of your ingredients using your kitchen scale.
- Mix all the ingredients, including the water, in a large bowl. Lightly massage the cabbage and break up any large pieces.
- Pack it all, including the water, into a clean jar with a rust-proof lid. (a 32-ounce jar works best)
- Place a fermentation weight in the jar, making sure to submerge the cabbage pieces and weight fully into the liquid. If you don’t have quite enough liquid, place your glass fermentation weight in the jar and submerge as much as possible. Over the next 12 hours, the cabbage should release more liquid and you can press the fermentation weight down below the brine.
- Secure the lid (you do not need to tighten it all the way. Just secure the lid but leave it ever so slightly loose so the gas doesn’t build up too much). You can keep the jar in a glass dish to catch any spills.
- Burping the jar: It should get bubbly in the first few days. If you have a tightly secured lid, you will need to burp the jar. You should also wash off the lid to keep it clean and re-adjust the fermentation weight whenever needed. Anytime the weight comes up out of the brine, with clean hands press hard on the weight to tamper everything back down into the liquid.*
- Ferment at room temperature for 21-28 days, then remove the fermentation weight and refrigerate.
- If you try this recipe and love it, please leave a five-star review below!
Notes
- My kimchi spice blend recipe is in the body of this blog post, right above this recipe card.
- You need a 32 ounce jar for this recipe.
- When things are bubbly: If it looks like you’ve lost brine and cannot re-submerge the contents by pressing down on the weight, top it off with raw apple cider vinegar. It slightly changes the flavor, but it doesn’t harm the sauerkraut’s microbes and prevents mold. You need to give it a good stir when it’s done fermenting to mix up the flavors.
- Taring/zeroing the scale with a container on it subtracts the container’s weight, allowing you to weigh only what is added to it. After taring/zeroing the scale, the scale should read 0.0 with the container on it.
- If you are sensitive to pepper, wear gloves when mixing.
- For softer kimchi, massage the cabbage vigorously in the mixing step.
If I make kimchi using a glutinous rice porridge method what impact does this have on the fermentation in terms of probiotic diversity? Does it skew the types of beneficial bacteria in any particular direction? I suppose i’m asking if using the porridge method is less beneficial to health in terms of probiotic bacteria. Great website by the way. Looking at signing up for your online courses. TIA
the more ingredients you add, the more variable the microbial community. I wouldn’t say that one is better for health than the other. They’re just different. How long this one is fermented vs how long baechu kimchi is usually fermented has more impact on the available health benefits.
Excited to give this recipe a whirl. Having served in Germany and South Korea, I have set a goal to attempt to recreate the flavors at home, now that I am retired. My sauerkraut recipe has evolved to where it is perfect every time, but I’ve hesitated to try making Baechu, as my crock adventures in Florida have not proven to have much success. This hybrid sounds intriguing and I just created my first batch. I will certainly follow up with comments and observations once taste testing begins. For now, thank you!
Love this! It is the best!
I’ve made this a few times and it never fails to be delicious and impress anyone I’ve given it to. It’s one of my go to ferment recipes (along with your apple sauerkraut one) whenever I get cabbage in my CSA box. I’ve shared your website with so many people and plan to take your classes at whatever point I haven’t overbooked myself with other learning endeavors lol. Thank you so much!!
Thank you for leaving a review! and thank you for spreading the word about my recipes! That’s so nice of you.
I loooove Kimchi and can’t wait to make this recipe. I do like the flavors of the traditional Kimchi. Would it be ok to add dried shrimp, anchovy or fish sauce to the mix?
Thanks!
We always have this “kimchi” in our fridge. My bf travels a lot to Korea and it’s still his favorite! We love that it is crunchy and I love that it’s no fail since I’ve had soooo many inconsistent results with other kimchi recipes in the past!!! Thank you so much for this recipe!
Is it concerning if it becomes cloudy too early – like day 3?
Nope, that means it’s going well! It’s supposed to get cloudy. That’s the microbes growing.
We love our kimchi, especially with a crunch! Napa gets a little soggy but this is perfect.
Finally getting around to making this soon! The gochugaru on the Starwest site says powder but in the photo it looks fairly flakey. Is that what you use or should I search elsewhere for actual flakes? Many thanks for this recipe. I used to buy from your shop and this was my favorite.
I think their “powder” is flakey. That’s what we used when we used to produce products! It pretty much dissolves in the brine.
Thank you!
Brilliant recipe. I added mooli and kelp strips. Two jars made, eaten in days. Next batch on the go. Thank you.
Great! Ready to make a second batch!
Thank you for leaving a review! I’m glad you love the sauerkraut!
I followed your recipe and I have a question, do you decant the excess brine once the kimchi reaches the level of sourness? I am getting a lot of liquid, will it be reabsorbed during the fermentation process? I just made this batch 2 days again,
Thank you for clarifying
No, I do not decant anything. The brine is necessary to keep everything submerged. Once it is done fermenting, just remove the weight and stick it in the fridge!
Thank you, so the excess brine is exaggerated by the weight and once I remove the weight, it will redistribute. Makes sense. I will report again.
I just noticed a layer of kahm yeast on my kimchi sauerkraut. I’ve never had this happen before. I just noticed it today on day 10 of fermentation. Would you recommend leaving it or skimming it off at this point? I would love any advice you have. Thanks!
You can just skim it off. It’s probably from any spices or cabbage pieces that float and aren’t kept submerged.
Absolutely delicious!
Thanks for trying my spicy sauerkraut recipe and leaving a review!
I have made this time and time again. Very easy and results have been great each time. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and passion!
I love that this is now a go-to recipe for you!
This is the best tutoring fermentation
Just the best kimchi EVER. Very clear instructions and easy to follow. A great recipe to start off your fermentation journey.
I just made this yesterday so I will have to report back on the ferment, BUT, I wanted to share another delicious use for the Kimchi-inspired dry mix!
Grind the dry spice blend, sea salt, a touch of white pepper and a pinch of sugar (for balance) with a mortar and pestle until you have a fine blend/powder. Ratios will depend on your spice preference and what kind of salt you have.
I had coarse sea salt, so my ratio was approximately: 1 generous teaspoon of dry spice mix; 1 1/3 tsp coarse sea salt, a few shakes of ground white pepper, and maybe a scant 1/4 tsp sugar. Grind.
Add to your popped corn, half a teaspoon at a time and tossing vigorously between additions so it gets well distributed. So addicting!
wow! love the idea of a popcorn seasoning! Thanks for leaving a review 🙂