Hello everybody!
I am so excited to show you how to make vegetarian or vegan kimchi today. It’s from my new cookbook! How long have you been waiting for this recipe? Or maybe you made your own adaptation of my traditional kimchi recipe or my easy kimchi recipe? When people asked me how to make vegetarian kimchi in comments I always suggested to use soy sauce but I wasn’t totally satisfied with my own answer because soy sauce alone couldn’t replace the deep savoriness of fish sauce or salty fermented shrimp that I use in my kimchi.
So I developed this recipe for my cookbook, the secret is in the vegetarian stock I created. It works perfectly. It gives the kimchi a delicious savoriness. Even if you are not a vegetarian you should try this for a change, you will be surprised how delicious it is. Even though I’m not a vegetarian, I love to make vegetarian kimchi because I never miss much of the taste from my traditional kimchi made with fish sauce and fermented shrimp.
It’s also a small portion of kimchi! You need only 1 head of napa cabbage (3 pounds), and then you can modify this recipe to adapt to how much you want to make. Enjoy the recipe! Let me know how your kimchi turns out!
Ingredients
Makes about 4 pounds
- 3 pounds napa cabbage
- 9 tablespoons kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons chapssalgaru (glutinous rice flour, aka sweet rice flour)
- 1⅓ cup vegetable stock
- 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon sugar
- 9 garlic cloves
- 1 teaspoon peeled ginger
- 1 medium onion, cut into chunks
- 1 cup gochu-garu (Korean hot pepper flakes)
- 6 ounces Korean radish, cut into matchsticks (about 1 cup), or daikon
- 3 ounces buchu (Asian chives, aka garlic chives), chopped (optional)
- 6 green onions, sliced diagonally
- 2 ounces carrot matchsticks (about ¼ cup)
Directions
Salt the cabbage:
- Cut the cabbage lengthwise into quarters. Cut away the core of each quarter.
- Cut the leaves crosswise into 1-to-1½ inch bite size pieces. Transfer to a large bowl.
- Toss with 6 tablespoons of the salt and 1 cup water.
- Let stand for 2 hours, tossing the cabbage every 30 minutes to salt evenly.
Make the kimchi paste:
- Combine the glutinous rice flour and 1 cup of the vegetable stock in a small saucepan and place over medium high heat.
- Stir until the mixture begins to bubble, 2 to 3 minutes. Add 1 tablespoon of the sugar and stir until the mixture is slightly translucent, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool thoroughly.
- Put the cooled porridge, the remaining ⅓ cup vegetable stock, the remaining 3 tablespoons salt, the remaining 1 teaspoon sugar, garlic, ginger, and onion in a food processor and process to a puree.
- Transfer the puree to a medium bowl.
- Add the gochu-garu (hot pepper flakes) and mix it well. Set aside.
Wash the salted cabbage:
- Rinse the cabbage 3 to 4 times with cold running water to remove any dirt and excess salt. Drain well.
Mix it all together and make kimchi:
- Well dry a large bowl with kitchen cloth.
- Add the cabbage, radish matchsticks, green onion, chives (if used), and carrot. Add the kimchi paste and mix all together by hand (wear disposable gloves if you like).
- Transfer to an airtight container or glass jars. Press down the on the kimchi so it’s well packed and no air can get inside, then put the lid on the container.
Ferment the kimchi:
- You can serve the kimchi right away, sprinkled with sesame seeds. Or you can let the kimchi ferment. It takes about 2 weeks to ferment in the refrigerator; for faster fermenting, leave it at room temperature for 1 to 2 days, depending on the warmth of your kitchen, until the kimchi smells and tastes sour.
- Once the kimchi is fermented, store in the refrigerator until it runs out. After 2 weeks, the kimchi will have fermented nicely, and it will continue to ferment and become more sour as time goes one. It never goes bad and you can enjoy it at every stage.
- Whenever you take some kimchi out of the container, be sure to press down on the remaining kimchi with a spoon to prevent it from being exposed to air.
Maangchi's Amazon picks for this recipe
It's always best to buy Korean items at your local Korean grocery store, but I know that's not always possible so I chose these products on Amazon that are good quality. See more about how these items were chosen.
Hello! I’m super excited to try this recipe.
I have vegan fish sauce. How much of that should I use instead of the kosher salt and broth? Thank you!
Here’s a photo:
See full size image
Wow, it looks very delicious! The main jar is surrounded by 4 little jars. I love your display. : )
Hi Maangchi! I came upon your website and I just love your videos and recipes! I’m just learning how to make Korean food and I am so proud of the vegetarian kimchi I just finished making (along with the vegetarian broth) from following your videos. It’s absolutely delicious! Thank you for thinking of us vegetarians and being so creative in converting recipes into vegetarian. Since I’m not able to tolerate too much spice, I did take your advice in putting in less chili powder – I used 1/2 cup and it’s perfect for me and my family. Big hugs!
Hey Maangchi and anybody else who can can help me is there a substitute of vegetable stock. I really wanna make this after watching so many kdrama and also i liked your recipe its too easy its just that i can’t make vegetable stock .
Just use a little naturally brewed soy sauce instead. Not much.
Thank you for the recipe! It’s easy to follow and the kimchi is so tasty!! I’ve made it several times. My family loves it! :)
See full size image
Your kimchi looks so delicious! Congratulations!
It was kimchi day yesterday and I made this recipe following your directions. Your right, this vegetarian kimchi is so delicious using the homemade stock. Last time I made it, I cheated and used store bought stock. It was ok, but I’m blown away by how much better homemade is. Thank you so much. I also have extra stock in the freezer! Bonus☺️
See full size image
Your kimchi looks like my kimchi! : ) Great, clap, clap!
Hello, Maangchi noona!
What size container would be suitable for this recipe? a 2 quarts enough? or need bigger container? thanks!
Can I use this same recipe for vegan kkadugi kimchi?
Hi maangchi i just made vegetarian stock and this vegetarian kimchi
See full size image
Hi Maangchi! I’ve made this recipe 3 times now. First with 1/2c gochugaru, second with 3/4c gochugaru, and this time I have graduated to a full cup! So spicy and delicious. Thank you!!!
See full size image
It looks so tasty! : )
hi Madam…first time looking at your kinchi recipe. Try it out. The kimchi turns up quite salty prior to fermenting. Is there a way to control the saltiness of the kimchi. Can i cut down the use of salt? Thank you
Don’t worry much about salty kimchi because it’s supposed to be salty. Bland kimchi will easily go soggy or bad. When kimchi is fermented, it will taste better.
Hi Maangchi, I just bought a new kimchi container from a Korean store but it’s the kind with a normal snap lid and not the kind that pushes down the air. I realized after making my usual batch from your recipe that it’s too big. Is it bad to have this much space in the container? I can’t return it now that I’ve used it.. doh.
See full size image
I made this recently replacing the kosher salt with regular salt and it turned out too salty as well. This time when I made it, I reduced the salt and it tastes very good! I learned that you cannot replace kosher salt (which Maangchi uses) with regular salt because the latter is A LOT saltier. So you actually have to halve the salt she calls for if you are not using kosher salt. Not sure if this is where you erred too?
Hello Maangchi, thanks for the recipe, keep doing the awesome work you do! Here’s how my first time kimchi turned out, will do it again for sure. It tastes great!
See full size image
The kimchi looks juicy and fresh! Congratulations!
Thanks to you and following your steps I was able to make my first batch and it turned out excellent! All the flavor was was in the right place and it fermented well !! I will continue to explore and make many of your wonderful recipes!!Thank You!!! Lucy
See full size image
Congratulations!
Hi maangchi,
Thanks for your great tutorials.
Kind regards.
Sean
Hi everyone I want to make this recipe but I ran out of rice flour recently. Are there any substitutes for rice flour??
Hi Maangchi
I’m very excited to make this kimchi recipe. Are there any substitutes for glutinous rice flour? I am having trouble finding it.
Thanks!
I made this for the first time a month ago. Leaps and bounds beyond store-bought and even better than what I’ve had in Korean restaurants in LA. Thanks so much for this recipe! Will be making again very soon!
I will say it did come out a little more pasty than watery as I was expecting, which was perfectly fine except that it left me with almost no brine for cooking other things with it. Is that normal for the vegetarian recipe?
This was my first time making any kind of Korean food! I’m so excited to try this kimchi as it ferments. Thank you so much for teaching me, Maangchi!! I found you from YouTube :) much love
See full size image
It was a good choice because you can eat it as a side dish and also you can make many other dishes with your fermented kimchi! Good luck!
Thank you! Just made this last night. Had some fresh with dinner. Going to ferment in the counter for a few days then taste. The kimchi in the jar is so beautiful it makes me emotional every time I look at it!
See full size image
Hi Maangchi, I have been following you on YouTube and finally got around to cooking your amazing recipes… I am vegetarian. So it is the season for the Wombok Cabbage here in Australia… I made the vegetarian stock, especially so I could make this Kimchi. It is tasty! Thank you so much for explaining everything clearly. :) Next dish will be your Kimchi Pancake!! :D
See full size image
OMG! Your kimchi looks perfect!
Hi Ms. Maangchi,
I cannot wait to try out this vegetarian kimchi recipe of yours! However, is it possible to substitute ready-made Gochujang paste for the kimchi paste mentioned here? If so, do I modify that into the recipe in any way? Thanks!
You need gochu-garu (Korean hot pepper flakes)to make good kimchi.
Hi, I started following your recipes and I always wanted to make kimchi. I was able to make vegetarian kimchi, unfortunately the garlic smell is a lot so I wanted to ask if there is a way I can neutralize it.
See full size image
And thank you so much for sharing it
Hi Maangchi, I just bought a new kimchi container from a Korean store but it’s the kind with a normal snap lid and not the kind that pushes down the air. I realized after making my usual batch from your recipe that it’s too big. Is it bad to have this much space in the container? I can’t return it now that I’ve used it.. doh.
See full size image
Hello Maangchi
i just made this, it’s lovely! sadly my napa cabbage wasn’t very good quality so its mostly leaves :( but im sure it will be delicious.
I love the look of baechu kimchi, could i use this recipe too but prepare it like in your baechu kimchi recipe by mixing the paste with the carrots, radish, chives and green onions and rub it into the cabbage?
Hi Maangchi, love your recipe. Always the one that I turn to when I’m gonna cook korean food. Can I check with you coz my hub is a pure vegetarian which means no garlic no onion no ginger. Will this affect the taste? Anything that I can replace with?
Hi Maangchi, I wanted to thank you for making a vegetarian version of your wonderful Kimchi. I have been making it and the family are loving having our home made, fresh kimchi!
I did have a question though. You mentioned the cup mls that you use is 240ml, well I am wondering what mls table spoon you’re using for the recipe? Is it a 15ml or 20ml tbls (in the US and UK they use 15mls, but here in Australia we use 20mls)?
Thanks :)
My 1 cup is 240 ML, 1 tablespoon is 15 ML, 1 teaspoon is 5 ML, based on American measuring system.
Good luck with your Korean cooking!
Seems a little salty but hopefully it will mellow out after awhile. Great flavor though!
See full size image
I made this and it turned out way too salty :(
I think this was because i use Morton’s salt, which is apparently twice as salty as other types of salt. What type of salt do you use maangchi?
I thought three tablespoons sounded like a lot of salt so I only put in two and it still came out so salty it made me choke, and I usually like my food saltier than the average person!!! I am so confused and frustrated!!!!
You may want to take a look at this table:
https://www.mortonsalt.com/article/salt-conversion-chart/
If your kimchi is too salty you can actually put some new radish in it. The radish will sweat some liquid and it will absorb the salt. Maangchi answered some FAQ on her channel. You may want to ake a look. Good Luck!
Can I make doenjang in the same oongi I used to make kimchi?
It is pourous and breathable, so will my ganjang end up tasting spicy or sour from making kimchi in it previously?
I made veggie broth the day before and vegetarian kimchi yesterday. I couldn’t help but add minari also!
Also, I smashed the garlic and ginger in mortar and pestle instead of chopping it for maximum flavor and health https://nutritionfacts.org/questions/what-are-the-anti-cancer-effects-of-garlic/
Tasted great with potato dumpling soup. It was plain before, but kimchi as a side was perfect!
See full size image
Hey! I love all the ingredients in this recipe and how much it makes, but I am not a vegetarian so I would like to use fish sauce instead of vegetable stock. How much Fish sauce should I use? and do I need to add any water as well?
Hello, Thank you so much for this recipe. I cannot tollerate any kind of seafood, so shrimp or oyster sauce traditionally used means i cannot eat Kimchi, i have never tried it before, but have been wanting too so badly, now i can make my own so thank you thank you thank you!
Hello!
You said that kimchi will never go bad – what is the longest time you would recommend leaving in the fridge for? a few weeks/months?
This is actually a good recipe for people who have diabetes. The sugar in the recipe is minimal when you think about portion size. If you don’t want sugar, add an apple to the processor or an Asian pear. The sweetness really helps with flavor.
If you are pre diabetic or diabetic, Kim chi is not a problem and is good for you. Eating barbecued meats that are sweetened along with rice is a bad combination, as it spikes
an insulin response. The combination of foods plus high fat and high sugar is the problem.
Hi Maangchi! I love all your recipes and have made your easy kimchi before. Love love!! Anyway, my family is allergic to fish and shrimp so I’m making this for them. We have no vegetable stock so is it possible that I can use chicken stock instead?
Yes, you can use chicken or beef stock! Good luck!
hi there
May I know the actual size of 1 cup water ?
1cup = 200ml or xxx ml ?
It’s 237 ml.
On each of Maangchi’s recipe sites you find a conversion calculator to the right.
Just scroll down a bit from the top.
Actually my 1 cup is 240 ML.
I just made this tonight and it looks and smells so good already! It’s going to be hard waiting for it to fully ferment :) Thank you Maangchi for the wonderful recipe!
See full size image
Wow!
Hi, Maangchi!
Thank you for posting this recipe! I am an experienced vegetarian cook and was recently also experimenting with homemade vegan kimchi. After trying a few different things, I found the best substitute for the fish sauce and/or shrimp is actually “powdered kombu (kelp) dashi.” without msg. It is a Japanese, freeze-dried kelp powder, used for making instant broth. This adds the missing “fish” flavor and makes it really flavorful. It’s sold in many Japanese supermarkets, in a package of small envelopes. I use 1 envelope for about 2lbs of cabbage. I just add it dry, add the same time as the gochu-garu. It’s available online on Amazon, although of course the price is higher than buying at the store.
Also, I wanted to thank you because I recently found your website and YouTube channel. I love watching and learning how you cook, and I’m currently eating a lot of homemade Korean food, thanks to you! :D I also sent your videos to my Korean-food loving friends. So now you have 4 new readers.
Happy Cooking!
is there a version (for kimchi and Korean cooking) for “pre-diabetes/diabetes” that is vegan (therefore kosher) and emergency kimchi (because Israel dosnt always have Napa cabbage?
This is actually a good recipe for people who have diabetes. The sugar in the recipe is minimal when you think about portion size. If you don’t want sugar, add an apple to the processor or an Asian pear. The sweetness really helps with flavor.
If you are pre diabetic or diabetic, Kim chi is not a problem and is good for you. Eating barbecued meats that are sweetened along with rice is a bad combination, as it spikes
an insulin response. The combination of foods plus high fat and high sugar is the problem.
So, our family loves Korean food and they especially like kimchi. I like kimchi as well but have a hard time finding ones I enjoy because I don’t eat seafood and most have too much fish sauce. I was so excited to find this recipe, in went down to our local H-mart to pick up ingredients and made this this evening. It hasn’t had a chance to firm it yet but it already tastes yummy!
See full size image