first time homemade kimchi (bitter taste?)

i wouldnt recommend tempering with kimchi which is already fermented. if there is still a good amount of paste, it should be okay to mix some more pepper flakes in it.

just try and see for yourself. kimchi making is a live long learning process and every mistake makes more experience.

kimch was too grainy? what do you mean grainy?

how come some kimchi in restaurants taste a little sweeter ??

The use of paprika likely had something to do with it. The flavor of paprika is very different from the flavor of the Korean pepper flakes. Lower quality or stale paprika can often have a bitter taste as well. Check out some websites that sell Korean food/spices. The Korean pepper flakes usually don’t cost much and are worth buying.

Mying had also a bitter taste, i used all the ingredients maangchi said except for fish sauce, which i couldn’t find, and replaced it with soy sauce.

The taste is really good, but the aftertaste is really bitter :(

Will the bitterness go away when the kimchi ferments?

Can anyone please help? I got the same issue. I used european radish instead of asian one…my kimchi looks and smells just perfect, but the bitter taste is really weird 😕

Hello every one,
I know how frustrating it is to realize that the kimchi you made with your own hands (and your heart) doesn’t taste as good as you expected but don’t worry, it’s gonna be alright anyway :)

First thing to remember : the result depends on the ingredients and your kimchi (even if you follow the same recipe every time) will be different at every batch.
You have to taste the vegetables because it happens that a carrot, radish or any vegetable taste a bit bitter naturally (especially radishes). If so, do not hesitate to rince the vegetables under running water after you cut them (dry them with a clean towel after that). Even garlic can be bitter when it’s not very fresh, pepper flakes also if they’ve been exposed to air a long time, even salt…
If you taste all the ingredients, you can adjust the amount of sweetener you have to add in compensation.
Second thing : your kimchi is alive. The taste is gonna evolve with time and the process of fermentation. It becomes sour but also rich and round (sorry I don’t know the exact terms in english) and the bitterness of a young kimchi sometimes fades into the rich and deep flavor of an aged kimchi. Months after months, the taste becomes more and more complex !
Third thing : if the bitterness doesn’t mellows or disappears with time, ABSOLUTLY do not throw it away ! Cook it ! Fried , simmered, melt it with other ingredients.
And to finish : It happened to me once. As usually, I had let my kimchi fermenting at room temperature approximatively 2 days, refrigerated it 24 hours then tasted it… weird, carbonated, bitter… I let it sit approximatively 1 month in the fridge… still weird… I decided to try a second fermentation at room temperature and it really helped. It was still a bit bitter but I could eat it without the weird aftertaste.
Have fun !

I have never tried kimchi, but want to cook it on the weekend! Was really interesting reading it

I also made 4 kilos of kimchi the other day and it tasted bitter. I already stored most of the cabbages before tasting it and I didn’t want to alter the mixture. So I will taste it in a day or two. Good thing I have separated one cup of shredded leaves and decided to add brown sugar to the sauce. It removed the bitterness .

A few weeks ago I tried to make my first kimchi at home too. There are nothing hard to do. I used the next ingredients:
1 head Napa cabbage (aka Chinese or delicate cabbage)
1/4 cup sea salt
1/4 cup gochugaru (or substitute cayenne pepper flakes)
2 tbsp fish sauce (omit for vegan)
3 tbsp minced garlic, about 5 cloves
1 tsp grated ginger, about 1 inch
1 bunch scallions, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
1/2 yellow onion, chopped
1/2 Fuji or Gala apple, cut into matchsticks
1/2 Asia pear, cut into matchsticks

I must say that it simple, healthy, and cheap recipe, and I recommend trying to make it at home.