Nayko’s Homemade Kimchi

Kimchi made me a Korean food lover !
By chance I saw Maangchi’s video about traditional napa cabbage kimchi and I instantly decided to make it even if I never had tasted kimchi before (I didn’t know much about Korean food in general)
It took me a whole afternoon to make the recipe the first time and it was fun actually.
After two days at room temperature (and anxiety due to the jars degassing and spitting out some juice !! :), I eagerly (but very carefully) opened the lids and admired my bubbling kimchi. I was proud and excited to taste this new food for the first time !
I must say that I was really disappointed at first as I realized that I didn’t dislike it but I didn’t like it either… and so, I felt disturbed to make so much room in the refrigerator for the two jars that were promised to stay there for a looooong time…
I gave it an other chance a few days after and this time it was so good !! The kimchi was the same and totally different on the same time ! All the fragrances were balanced and mixed in one flavour, garlic, chili, cabbage, fish sauce etc etc, all these in one wonderful and « round » flavour !
Since then, I know that I have to wait at least 1 week (2 or 3 days at room temperature plus 3 or 4 days in the fridge) before eating and enjoying a new batch of kimchi.
One week ago I made winter kimchi (13 pounds, with a lot of ginger and of seaujeot).
I took a photo and tasted it yesterday, I’m more than happy with this really fragrant one! It tastes delicious and with this amount I’m gonna be able to cook plenty of Korean dishes for months!

The recipe for tongbaechu-kimchi – Napa cabbage Kimchi is here!