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Can I add more Gochugaru to my Kimchi later?

Home › Forums › Korean food discussion › Can I add more Gochugaru to my Kimchi later?

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    • November 24, 2018 at 11:29 am #79778
      Svenja
      Participant

      Heya everyone,
      I am newbie to the korean cooking here, and I am in the middle of my very first kimchi attempt!
      I’ve done everything exactly as in this recipe: https://www.maangchi.com/recipe/tongbaechu-kimchi

      I prepared the Kimchi two days ago and so far, it’s going great. It has started fermenting already and has developed a very recognizable smell.
      I however think that I might have used too little Gochugaru because I was scared of the Kimchi turning out way too spicy for me and my boyfriend’s taste. But I think the opposite is the case, when I pressed down the Kimchi to check for the bubbles, I tasted the “brine” and it tasted good, a bit spicy but quite mild.
      Is it possible to still add some more of the red pepper powder at a later stage, or would that ruin the fermenting process? Or maybe a few hours before actually eating the kimchi?

      I couldn’t really find an answer to this, so help is appreciated.

      Greetings
      Svenja

    • April 17, 2020 at 1:59 am #88302
      Yeshterday
      Participant

      I have the same question. I hope someone can answer.

    • April 21, 2020 at 11:09 am #88440
      EvilGrin
      Participant

      Make a gochugaru hot sauce. Its just salt, water and peppers. You can kick start it with some kimchi juice or the juice and pureed kimchi.

      You will need around a 4-5% salt solution but check your gochugaru for sodium. Many are very high in sodium. Ferment will take around a month before its ok and 3 months to get really good.

      When the pH is around 3.6 its safe to pasteurize it. The sauce will be pretty much shelf stable but keep it cold anyway.

      Ive made it before using cabbage, onion and garlic. Puree it all in a 3% salt brine. Mix that with Assi brand pepper flakes or fresh gochu. The Assi pepper flakes are high sodium. Ferment it in a jar with an air lock at room temp. After a week or so it should smell very sour. Put it in the fridge when it smells sour.

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