How to make kimchi: classic napa cabbage kimchi recipe

Making kimchi at home is easier than it sounds: For classic napa cabbage kimchi, you salt the cabbage overnight, spread a spicy seasoning paste between the leaves the next day, and then let it ferment for one or two days. Most of the time, the lactic acid bacteria do the work, not you.

If you are in a hurry, take a look at our recipe for geotjeori-style kimchi. It is ready in about two hours, but it is eaten fresh and does not keep as long. This article is about the kind that Koreans make in large batches for the winter: 배추김치 (Baechu-Kimchi), kimchi made from napa cabbage.

What is kimchi, exactly?

In Korea, kimchi refers both to vegetables preserved by lactic acid fermentation and to the finished dish. Napa cabbage kimchi is the most common kind, and there are hundreds of others, such as 깍두기 (Kkakdugi) made from diced radish, or the unfermented 겉절이 (Geotjeori).

As with sauerkraut, lactic acid bacteria turn the sugar in the vegetables into acid. In kimchi, these are mainly bacteria of the genera Leuconostoc, Lactobacillus and Weissella. The acid preserves the kimchi and gives it its typical flavor.

Making kimchi together before winter is called 김장 (Kimjang). UNESCO recognized it as intangible cultural heritage of South Korea in 2013, and North Korea's kimchi-making tradition followed in 2015 as a separate entry.

Was kimchi always spicy?

No. According to the common account, chili peppers only reached Korea at the end of the 16th century. The first kimchi recipes with chili date from the 18th century, and it probably did not become standard in kimchi until the 19th. Before that, kimchi was seasoned with other kinds of pepper, and there was a mild, white kimchi (백김치, Baek-Kimchi) that is still made today. The dating is not entirely settled, though: The Korean food researcher Kwon Dae-young believes chili has a longer history in Korea, and the old cookbooks are read in different ways. How much chili Koreans eat, and why, is the subject of Why do Koreans eat such spicy food?

What ingredients do I need for kimchi?

These amounts are for one large napa cabbage of about 2.5 kg. Korean recipes vary widely in their quantities, especially for chili. We follow the amounts from Korean Bapsang and note in brackets where other recipes differ significantly.

For salting

• 1 large napa cabbage (about 2.5 kg)
• 240 ml coarse sea salt, half of it for the brine
• 1.2 l water

For the rice porridge

• 1 tbsp glutinous rice flour
• 120 ml water

For the seasoning paste

• 120 ml 고춧가루 (Gochugaru), Korean chili flakes (Maangchi uses three times as much; better start with less)
• 3 tbsp finely chopped garlic
• 1 tsp grated ginger
• 3 tbsp fish sauce (ideally Korean anchovy sauce)
• 4 tbsp 새우젓 (Saeujeot), small salted shrimp, finely chopped (optional)
• ¼ Asian pear, grated (optional, for a slight sweetness)

For the filling

• 450 g Korean radish or daikon, cut into thin matchsticks
• 3 to 4 scallions, cut into pieces

For vegan kimchi, leave out the shrimp and replace the fish sauce with Korean soup soy sauce (국간장, Gukganjang). You can find gochugaru, fish sauce and glutinous rice flour at an Asian grocery store. If you want to cook several Korean dishes, our Dosirak cooking box has 25 recipes including the ingredients.

How do I salt the napa cabbage properly?

1. Remove the outer, damaged leaves. Cut the cabbage in half lengthwise and divide the halves again to make quarters. Leave the core on so it holds the leaves together.
2. Dissolve 120 ml of salt in the water and briefly dip the cabbage quarters in it.
3. Sprinkle the rest of the salt between the leaves, especially on the thick white ribs. That is where the cabbage needs it most.
4. Put the quarters in a large bowl and pour the remaining brine over them. Let the cabbage salt for 6 to 8 hours, turning it every 2 to 3 hours so that all parts get salted evenly.
5. Then rinse the cabbage thoroughly in cold water three times and let it drain well.

Salting time is where recipes differ most: Maangchi salts dry and for only an hour and a half, Korean Bapsang in brine for 6 to 8 hours. Cabbage that is salted longer and more heavily turns softer and sour more quickly.

How do I make the seasoning paste?

1. Stir the glutinous rice flour into the water and bring it to a boil, stirring, until it forms a thin porridge. Let it cool.
2. Stir the gochugaru, garlic, ginger, fish sauce, shrimp and pear into the porridge.
3. Mix the radish and scallions into the paste.

The rice porridge helps the seasoning stick to the cabbage. According to a 2025 study, it also speeds up the growth of the lactic acid bacteria.

How do I fill the cabbage and let it ferment?

1. Put on gloves, because chili burns on the skin. Spread a little paste between the leaves one by one, more on the ribs than on the tips.
2. Pack the quarters tightly into a large jar or container. Press everything down firmly so that no air pockets remain, and leave a few centimeters free at the top.
3. Let the kimchi stand at room temperature for 1 to 2 days until bubbles form and it smells and tastes sour. To be safe, put the jar on a plate in case brine overflows.
4. Then the kimchi goes into the fridge, at 5 °C or colder. It keeps fermenting slowly there and is fully developed after about two weeks.

Fermentation produces carbon dioxide. With screw-top jars, you should therefore briefly loosen the lid every day for the first few days so the gas can escape. You can read more about jars, brine and temperature in our article How to ferment kimchi properly.

How can I tell whether my kimchi is okay?

Bubbles, cloudy brine and a sour smell show that fermentation is under way. A thin white film on the surface is usually kahm yeast: According to the nutrition experts of the Bodenseekreis district office in Germany, it is harmless to health but spoils the flavor, so remove it with a clean spoon. Unusual colors, a fuzzy coating or a rotten smell, on the other hand, are warning signs. If there is mold, the kimchi belongs in the trash.

To keep it from getting that far, the vegetables should always stay below the brine. The gas tends to push them up, and mold has an easy time in contact with air.

How long does homemade kimchi keep?

In the fridge, kimchi tastes best for a few weeks and stays edible for months. It keeps getting more sour. In Korea, very sour kimchi is popular for cooking, for example in kimchi stew (김치찌개).

Many Korean households have a separate kimchi refrigerator for storage, which cools colder and more evenly than a regular one. The first appliance of this kind came on the market in 1984.

One more note: Kimchi contains live lactic acid bacteria, but also quite a lot of salt, about 500 mg of sodium per 100 g according to the University of Georgia. It is meant to be eaten in small portions as a side dish.

Sources

• Korean Bapsang: Baechu Kimchi (Napa Cabbage Kimchi)
• Maangchi: Maangchi's Real Korean Cooking (2015), recipe excerpt at WNYC
• University of Georgia Extension: Homemade Kimchi: A Science-Based Guide to Safe Fermentation (2025)
• Bodenseekreis district office: Fermentieren, Handreichung und Rezepte (in German)
• Stiftung Warentest: Gemüse haltbar machen: Fermentation (in German)
• UNESCO: Kimjang, making and sharing kimchi in the Republic of Korea (2013) and Tradition of kimchi-making in the DPRK (2015)
• Jung et al.: Metagenomic analysis of kimchi, Applied and Environmental Microbiology 2011 (PMID 21317261)
• Park et al.: study on glutinous rice paste in kimchi fermentation, International Journal of Biological Macromolecules 2025 (PMID 40623571)
• Korea JoongAng Daily: A heated debate (2009), on the dating of chili
• Wikipedia: Kimchi, Kimchi refrigerator