fixing too spicy kimchi

Hi, I know how you feel! I’m sorry to say that you shouldn’t add more vegetables because it’s already been fermented. If the kimchi was made yesterday, it would have worked.

But you still can eat it. Don’t throw it away. If the kimchi paste is too thick, you can rinse it off as you eat it – don’t rinse the whole box. Or, just fish out pieces of cabbage and eat those.

yay! awesome! Kimchi in a cheese quesadilla, umm~

I made kimchi that was unbearably hot ( it was a brownish powder chilli, the only one i could find at the time.) but i put the whole lot in the fridge and made a batch of white (chilli free kimchi). I did lightly rise the hot kimchi then i mixed the two together (i kept a small pot of the the white kimchi) after a few days the spicyness evened out over the rest of the kimchi. Mission accomplished.

For my next batch i’ve brought the right chilli flakes from a Korean shop.

I’m a hot head, and ordered not only the red pepper used for kimchi, but also ordered 90,000 H.U. (heat units) Cayenne Pepper. (made from Carolina Cayenne peppers F.Y.I) which are 4x hotter than other varieties of Cayenne peppers.

That being said, I’m being half serious when I suggest this: If you think something is too hot… go and find the hottest eating you can find. For example, Wingstop (restaurant) has Atomic Wings.

Guaranteed after eating an order of those, sweating it out for 20 minutes while you eat something so hot your mouth feels like it’s eating molten lava.. you’ll permanently be able to withstand much hotter foods. -That being said, I didn’t say you could tolerate eating Atomic Wings too often. Its not the hottest wings out there, but they’re still way up on the Scoville heat scale. Buffalo Wings or whatever the restaurante is called.. has something comparable too.

Happy eating.

I just got out of work. I have a story for ya..

One time (before I became a pepper head), I made chili that was too spicy. So I asked my aunt how to tame it a bit.. she suggested adding X amount of tomato juice to it.. so I did.

Lets just say it no longer tasted like chili.. it tasted like I dumped some hamburger in tomato juice then served it. There was no heat, no flavor, it tamed it all right. ROFL.

Bless her heart, she was a good lady, but passed away a few years ago.

Hi Maangchi, I would like my kimchi to be much less spicy and more of sour taste. How much less red pepper should I add ?

I use 1/3 to 1/4 of the amount of pepper flakes Maangchi uses in my kimchi. As far as sour goes, i find that that comes with aging in the refrigerator after fermenting. it should be more sour after a few weeks in the fridge.

When making yangbaechu kimchi i use about the same amount as she uses which is 1/3cup for 2lbs of green cabbage.

If you look at her recipes they call for about 2 cups per 6lbs of nappa or 2.5 cups per 10lbs of cut nappa.

How much you use will depend a great deal on the the pepper flakes you buy. The Assi brand i normally get works very well for these amounts because they are fairly mild. The Wang brand she uses is also pretty mild.

Try your kimchi again after 2 weeks in the fridge. I like mine older and more sour but i use mine a lot for stew. The older the better for stew.

Once you understand that Maangchi likes her food very spicy. You will learn to adjust her recipes. If you prefer milder kimchi, then add less hot pepper flakes to the recipe. Depending on how much less spicy you like your food. If you just want it a little less spicy, then use 1/4 less. If you want it a lot less spicy, then use 1/2 red pepper flakes than the recipe calls for.

There are about 100 types of kimchi, and each have various ingredients, and spicing. Maangchi gives you the basic, the rest is up to you. Don’t be afraid to make alterations, and make the kimchi your own.

Also, just like you can add Korean radish to remove too much salt from kimchi. You can also try adding it to kimchi that is too spicy. It might help to draw some of the spiciness from the kimchi. Fresh sliced Korean radish is recommended to add before fermenting. However, after the fermentation, you can add sliced pickled radish. The same one used for making gimbap. It works wonderfully. I live out in the country, so the nearest Hmart is about 40 miles from me. So, sometimes I have to improvise.

Get creative with your Korean cooking. Use the basics, but feel free to add in other vegetables. (e.g. carrots, Korean radish, daikon radish, banana peppers, etc. Also, depending on your tastes, you can use less or more of any of the spices that creates the sauce. (e.g. garlic, ginger, onions, etc.)

Have a lovely day!
(the photo is the kimchi I made 4 days ago.)

Hi Maangchi! I made your vegetarian kimchi and I love the flavor but after fermenting for a few months I opened it and the paste is still pastey, I wanted it to be more liquid or juicy— is there any fix to that at this point? I made three large jars of it and I am hoping i can add some liquid that will not take away from the flavor but will help make the paste more or a liquid juice like I’ve seen yours and other kimchi, Please help! Congratulations on your success well deserved!