Is it a valid substitute?
The ingredients are:
red peppers (78%),water,salt and preservative.

Here’s a photo of what I am talking about http://i40.tinypic.com/2ufarfo.jpg

Thank you!! :D

Question: How long do you soak the cabbage in water before salting? One recipe says 24 hours, another one says 10 to 15 minutes. Not knowing which way to go, I opted for soaking in 24 hours before salting.

Prior to making kimchi at home, I did make a batch over a dozen years ago using a recipe from a Korean cook book I have. The recipe was not only un-user friendly, the results were not horrible. It went into the garbage. Whenever I wanted kimchi I would just buy a jar from my local Korean grocer, whose wife makes it on-site. While her kimchi is good, I really missed my Omoni Annie’s kimchi. When I lived in Daegu I was spoiled by her cooking, and I wanted to replicate her kimchi recipe…without the fresh oysters she would put in. (I would just pick out the oysters when I ate it.)

After being a silent reader of maangchi.com for the past few weeks, I decided to try my hand at homemade kimchi again, inspired by photos of kimchi that other readers have posted. The first batch I made turned out okay, but I over salted the cabbage and put in too much gochugaru (maybe it was a spicy version? Not sure.) When I bottled that batch all I could see was a dark red paste covering all the vegetables in the jar, with a few pieces of cabbage visible. After a week of eating it, I could not eat it anymore. The taste just wasn’t there so I turned it into kimchijigae to salvage the leftover kimchi. Still not tasty, even after adding glass noodles for texture and more water to tone down the spiciness. After two days of trying to eat the stew, into the trash it went. I wanted my kimchi to look like how Maangchi made her kimchi in her video!

So two days ago I made a second batch of kimchi. This time I used gochugaru that was made out of sun-dried peppers, not heat dried. And made sure that the salted cabbage didn’t taste under/over salted. I’m not sure what kind of salt you use (sea salt? table salt?) so I used a fine grain Kosher salt, which is what I use when I cook. It leaves a clean salty taste in foods, unlike the chemical after taste of table salt

Nearly two days left out on the counter to ferment, both bottles leaked a tiny amount of liquid. And smelled of fermenting kimchi. (Heaven! For me anyways.) Slowly opened both jars and when I heard a hissing sound come out of the jars and looked for bubbles on the surface (there were bubbles alright), I knew this batch was going to turn out well. Tasted a little and aigo (oh my goodness in Korean?), for a moment I was transported back to Daegu and my Omoni. This batch tastes very much like my Omoni’s kimchi, even though it isn’t ready to eat yet. I was tempted eat some, but I’m going to let it sit in the refrigerator for another five days. I read somewhere that once kimchi has fermented, its best to let it sit in the fridge for at least a week before eating. How long do you let your kimchi sit before eating?

I’m so excited about eating my second batch of kimchi that I’m going to make another batch in a few days, so I can let this current batch sit in the fridge to sour properly to make kimchijigae, and have enough kimchi to eat in the meantime!

Thank you, merci, kamsamnida, domo arigato, Maangchi, for sharing your kimchi recipe. Your love for Korean food is infectious and I love watching you cook on your videos. If it weren’t for your recipe I would still be buying kimchi. Now I can make kimchi at home that my Omoni would approve and be proud of, all thanks to you!

I have a question – there are plenty of absolutely lovely and delicious spring greens in the shops now, so i was wondering if they are suitable for kimchi or some other dishes? Thank you!