Kimchi is a staple of Korean life and many Koreans include it in their meals three times a day. You can eat it by itself, or use it in so many different Korean recipes. When Koreans make kimchi, they make an effort to make the best kimchi possible and include many regional ingredients.
Today I will show you how to make a traditional-style kimchi with oysters, and we’ll also make radish kimchi (“kkakdugi”) with the same kimchi paste, which saves us from having to make these two kinds of kimchi separately. This is how I make kimchi and kkaktugi, because I need both in my house, but you might be interested in my “easy kimchi” (mak kimchi) recipe if you don’t have a lot of time, or in my kakdugi recipe if you want to make only kakdugi, or make my traditional napa cabbage kimchi recipe by itself if that’s all you need. Also, if you don’t like oysters, you can leave them out.
Many people think you have to wait for kimchi to be fermented before eating, but personally I prefer to eat fresh kimchi, as soon as I make it. And I like to make stew (kimchi-jjigae) out of older kimchi.
Ingredients
- 2 large size napa cabbages (about 8 pounds: 3.6 kg) and 2 Korean radishes (about 4-5 pounds: 2 kg)
- 1½ cup of kosher salt
- ½ cup sweet rice flour, ¼ cup sugar, water
- 4 cups of Korean hot pepper flakes (gochugaru)
- 1 cup fish sauce,
- 1 medium sized onion, minced (about 1 cup)
- 1 cup of fresh garlic, minced
- 1 tbs minced ginger
- 7 stalks of green onions, chopped diagonally
- 2 cups worth Buchu (Asian chives), chopped,
- 2 cups of matchstick-cut radish
- fresh oysters (optional)
Directions
- Cut the cabbages in half, and then slit each half through the core, but not through the rest of the leaves.
- Soak each piece in cold water and sprinkle salt over the each leaf , and then set it aside for 2 hours.
*tip: the stems should get more salt than the leaves - Peel 2 kg of Korean radishes and cut them into 1 inch cubes. Do this by cutting them into several disks, and then cutting horizontally, and then vertically. Put them in a big bowl and sprinkle them with ¼ cup of kosher salt. Then set these aside, too.
- 2 hours later, turn the pieces of cabbage over so they get salted evenly. Turn the radishes as well.
- Another 2 hours later, you will see the cabbage look softer than before, and it should have shrunk.
*the total salting process will take 4 hours - Rinse the salted cabbage and radish with cold water 3 times.
Making Kimchi paste:
Make porridge
- Put ½ cup of sweet rice flour and 3 cups of water into a skillet and mix them up. Then cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly.
- When you see some bubbles, pour ¼ cup of sugar into the porridge and stir one more minute. Then cool it down.
- Place the cold porridge into a big bowl. Now you will add all your ingredients one by one.
- Add fish sauce, hot pepper flakes, crushed garlic, ginger, and onion
*tip: it’s much easier to use a food processor. - Add green onions, Asian chives, and radish.
- Add 2 cups of frozen oysters, but this is optional. (I found out lots of people can’t eat them.)
- Mix all ingredients well.
Are you ready to spread our paste on the leaves and make your kaktugi?
* I recommend you wear rubber gloves so that you don’t irritate your skin.
- Spread the kimchi paste onto each leaf of the cabbage, and make a good shape out of the leaves by slightly pressing with both hands.
- Put it into an air- tight sealed plastic container or glass jar.
- Mix your leftover paste with your radish cubes to make kkakdugi.
You can eat it fresh right after making or wait until it’s fermented. Put the Kimchi container at room temperature for 1 or 2 days and keep it in the refrigerator.
How do you know it’s fermented or not?
One or 2 days after, open the lid of the Kimchi container. You may see some bubbles with lots of liquids, or maybe sour smells. That means it’s already being fermented.
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Hello there Maangchi,
I love your website and videos. I found your website through a blogspot. You are indeed a great teacher!! Your website makes me feel like there are so many things that i can’t wait to try.
I have a question to ask regarding Kimchi, i made the first batch kimchi, it is quite spicy and sour, could it be the hot chilli pepper that i use and type fish sauce? How and what should i do to reduce the spiciness and sour taste? should i add more sugar? =)
Thank you so much!!
carine,
It’s not going to get spicier by day. Your hot pepper flakes must be mild. You can get hotter pepper flakes. It’s called maewoon gochugaru in Korean: 매운 고춧가루 that’s what you need.
https://www.maangchi.com/ingredients/hot-pepper-flakes
hi,I think the kimchi i made is not spicy….will it get spicier by day…??? or should i get a hotter pepper flakes??
Charly,
hoho, sounds like you are getting addicted to hot and spicy food! What is beer radish? Let me check it on the internet. yeah, I found this: http://www.jungseed.com/dp3.asp?c=142&sku=03360
I think it will be good as long as it looks like a radish. : )
Let me know how it turns out,
Thank you!
Hia!
A view days ago I stumbled onto your videos in youtube and I love them!
Latley I started to like spicy and sour food (pickled mustard) and so I decieded to try out your kimchi recipe…. but I have a question:
Can I use our normal called ‘beer-radish’ instead?
I’m from Germany, Bavaria and we have loads of radish but only this one…. It is not round and rather long…
Well, I’m very excited how my mimchi turns out^^
Thank you!
Ken,
I wouldn’t put dried oysters in kimchi.
time limit? of course! in a day you should add some radish to your salty kimchi.
Hi Maangchi,
I’ve been following the forum here. It has been suggested that to correct an over salty kimchi we can add in fresh cabbage or radish. Is there a time limit for us to add additional ingredients, say within the 2 days of fermentation? We may start to taste the kimchi only after 1 week (thinking everything was ok), then realised that it is too salty!
I have yet to include fresh oysters in the preparation. Is it possible to use dried oysters instead. If is possible, how do we handle the dried oysters.
Thank you.
jen,
Thank you very much! oh, I love Barcelona! I went there several years ago!
Yeah, as you know, kimchi making is piece of cake! : ) You can use so many other kinds of vegetables to make kimchi.
Hi Maangchi!! Congratulations for your work!! you are a really good teacher!!, I live in Barcelona, and the first time I ate korean food, was 2 years ago, in a very good restaurant. I was crazy about Kimchi… but this restaurant is too expensive, so I search in the web, and make like 4 different recipes of Kimchi, and that was not Kimchi :(
I found your blog last monday at midnight, and the next day I made Kimchi (and Kaktugi) fallowing your recipe…Awesome!!! It’s Kimchi!!!
Thank you very much, I’ll cook Bibimbap tomorrow!!!
(Sorry about my english ;) I’m from Venezuela)
Jennifer,
Check my oisobagi kimchi recipe. If it’s not what you are looking for, please leave more detailed description about the cucumber side dish here in discussion forum. https://www.maangchi.com/talk/forum/general-discussion
Hi Maangchi,
There’s a cucumber side dish that I always used to get at Korean restaurants when I lived in LA. My korean ex bf used to always call it cucumber kimchi. I just loved that dish though and was wondering if you had a simple recipe for it. Thanks!
Peter L
oh, no! forgot about your precious kimchi? I already feel sorry for your kimchi! haha,
Is it fermented? Yes, you should put it in the fridge.
Thank you!
Hi. I made a batch of kimchi and left it on top of my shelf. But the problem is that I forgot about it and left it fermenting for four days. I was wondering if I can still put it in the fridge and eat it. Thank you.
JimmyW,
Yeah, sharing food that you make with others is delightful! Especially when the food is popular to many people. Organic radish sounds wonderful! You can open your small jar radish kimchi business now. hehe,
Hi, Maangchi! I posted back in August. I wanted to write again to say that, thanks to you, I have mastered my recipe for daikon radish kimchi. I’s perfect! I usually make about 3# at a time, and my friends look forward to receiving a small jar. I special order the radish through a local organic market. Good job!
Dear Maangchi,
I am a Korean-American living in Athens, Greece and cook all the time.
I tried your kimchi – kaktugi recipe a couple weeks ago and have to say it is excellent!
Looking forward to trying your “dakkangjung”, but I have a question…can I boil the chicken first before adding the egg-flour mixture and frying? I do this when I make my bon chon chicken and only fry in olive oil.
Thank you for your wonderful site.
All the best
Catherine,
When your kimchi ferments, it will taste less salty, too. practice makes perfect! Thank you and have a good night!
I already mixed the paste with the cabbage.. but tomorrow I will go buy radish again and try to fix my mistake… the cabbage is way to salty but I still have paste left I will also buy other cabbage to have one less salty kimchi… ^^ thanks for the quick response you’re the best!!!
ahhhh I really need to practise more when I failed at the taste like this kimchi the result looks good and when I failed at the look the taste turn out delicious( that was for my 김밥 it turn out deliciously even my mom loves it but the look wasn’t there soo I didn’t feel happy enough to send you pictures of what I prepare.. but I did lots of your recipes thanks so much.. when the taste and presentation will be there I will send you all my korean cooking!
좋은 달 언니~~~
Catherine,
I’m sorry to hear that your kimchi turned out too salty. Do you mean your cabbage is too salty? If your kimchi paste is not very salty at least, you can fix it. If your cabbage is not mixed with kimchi paste yet, soak your salty cabbage in cold water for hours, then the salt from cabbage will come out to water which makes your cabbage less salty. Then drain it and mix it with kimchi paste.
If you already made kimchi and it’s too salty, add more radish to the kimchi. Just cut a few radishes into disks and insert them into the salty kimchi. That’s my way to dilute saltiness.
Onnie, an nyeong haseyo?
I just finish up my kimchi and kaktugi but it came out way toooooooo salty (my bad I thing because I change the salt I took big salt this time and I speard on the cabbage too much also on my daikons… T.T otokae…) The kimchi past is still good but is there anyway to un salt them?!? tonight I live it to rest and wait on your advice… kamsahamnida seonsaegnim!!! ^^
Rain,
Skip fish sauce then.
Hi I’m vegetarian and I want to make Kimchi but I don’t want to use the anchovy sauce, is there another replacement for it? Will soy sauce do?
Hi Maangchi,
I always want to learn how to make Korean food, but it had been a mystery to me. I’m so glad to find your website on the internet. I bought all ingredients require from a Korean Supermarket in Vancouver and made kimchi last Saturday for the very first time . It turns out so well. My family enjoys it. It has been a wonderful experience. Thank you for sharing your recipes.
Ken
I would not pour the liquid from earlier batch into the new batch! ooh, I can’t imagine it! : )
The juice from Kimchi could be used in many ways. I use it in my kimchi stew, kimchi soup, kimchi bokkeumbap, kimchi pancake..etc.
The top layer of your kimchi turned greyish? Then remove the top layer and turn it over to let your all kimchi get wet with kimchi juice. Then it will never go bad.
Hi Maangchi,
Two days ago I made my third batch of kimchi. I filled the porcelain contain to almost touching the rim. I placed the lid on and sealed it with a plastic paper and a thick rubber band to hold it in place as I did before. The following morning the fermented liquid oozed out and overflowed. I cleaned up the liquid. Last night when I opened the container, I found that the top layer turned a greyish white instead of red and it didn’t give the usual fermented smell. Is this spoilt since the top layer is not covered with the liquid? If not, how do I remedy it?
I would like to ask another question. Can the liquid from the earlier batch of kimchi be poured into the new batch? It is such a waste to throw it away.
Colin,
Don’t worry much about fermenting. I usually start eating right after making it. : )
It takes longer to ferment when kimchi is very salty, too.
Thanks for the quick replies, Maangchi!
I think I figured out the root of the problem. My airtight container was not very airtight. It is a little bit old, and I noticed one of the seals has bent a little bit, which was allowing air to get into the kimchi.
Colin,
hmm, I have no idea then.
I have the container on a shelf in my kitchen. It is usually around 68-69 degrees in there.
Colin,
Where is your kimchi container? It usually ferments in a few days at room temperature.
Hello, Maangchi.
I am really glad that I stumbled across one of your Youtube videos the other day. Your recipes look great, and I plan on making several of them.
Before I found your video and website, I tried making a batch of kimchi from a recipe listed on a different website. The recipe is very similar to yours, but it omits the flour and water mixture. The seasoning mixture is only slightly moist.
Anyhow, I stored my kimchi in an airtight container and let it ferment for 4 days. When I tasted it, it didn’t taste the least bit sour. I assume it still hasn’t fermented much? Are flour and water an integral part of the fermentation process, or does it cause kimchi to ferment more quickly?
Though regardless of how my current batch of kimchi turns out, I am eager to try out your recipe next. I only wish I found your website first. I’ve never had kimchi before, and I am eager to try a good batch of it.
Lastly, I really appreciate the effort you are putting into your website and videos. Thanks!
hanaa,
You need hot pepper flakes to make this kimchi.
If you can’t find hot pepper flakes, just skip it from the recipe. The kimchi without hot pepper flakes is called white kimchi (“baek kimchi” in Korean).
hi maangchi ^^
i would like to ask you something regarding about the Kimchi.
i tried to find the hot pepper flakes but i could’nt find it. is there any other ingredient that i can replace it with? thanks ^^
Kenny,
I would skip radish if I were you.
Hello. I made some kimchi today but about 12 hours later into the fermentation process I realize that I forgot to add radish into it. Is it ok for em to add radish into the kimchi now since its half way into the fermentation. Is the radish going to make a big difference in how the kimchi is going to taste? Please reply as soon as possible because I am worry that it wont taste good without the radish. Thank you!!!!!!!!!!