Quick-cut Napa Cabbage Kimchi (Mak-kimchi)

Mak-kimchi uses cut cabbage, so it is easy to season and serve. It brings the bright, savoury crunch of kimchi to an everyday Korean table, alongside rice, soup and other banchan.

This recipe uses coarse Korean gochugaru, anchovy fish sauce, salted shrimp and glutinous rice flour. Contains fish and crustacean shellfish.

Quick-cut Napa Cabbage Kimchi (Mak-kimchi)

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Prep Time 45 minutes mins

Servings: 20 side-dish portions

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

FOR THE CABBAGE & BRINE

• 1,500 g wombok cut into ~4 cm pieces
• 120 g coarse sea salt
• 1,500 ml cold water 6 AU cups

FOR THE BINDER

• 20 g glutinous rice flour
• 200 ml cold kelp or vegetable stock 4/5 AU cup
• 20 g sugar

FOR THE SEASONING

• 80 g onion
• 80 g nashi pear
• 40 g garlic
• 10 g ginger
• 60 g Korean anchovy fish sauce
• 30 g saeujeot minced
• 90 g coarse Korean gochugaru

TO FINISH

• 200 g daikon cut into matchsticks
• 60 g spring onions cut into 4 cm lengths

Method

 

1. Cut the wombok into 4 cm pieces, about 10 minutes, until the pieces are bite-sized.
2. Dissolve 120 g salt in 1,500 ml cold water, about 2 minutes, until no crystals remain.
3. Soak the cabbage in the brine for 2–2½ hours, until the thick stems bend without snapping.
4. Turn the cabbage every 30 minutes during the soak, until all pieces feel evenly softened.
5. Rinse the cabbage three times in cold water, about 5 minutes, until the surface salt is washed away.
6. Drain the cabbage for 25–30 minutes, until it stops dripping heavily.
7. Whisk the rice flour into cold stock, about 1 minute, until smooth.
8. Heat the mixture for about 2 minutes, stirring, until it thickens into a loose porridge.
9. Stir in the sugar for 1 minute, until dissolved.
10. Cool the binder completely, until it no longer feels warm to the touch.
11. Blend onion, pear, garlic, ginger, fish sauce and saeujeot for about 1 minute, until smooth.
12. Mix the cooled binder, aromatic purée and gochugaru, about 1 minute, until evenly red.
13. Rest the paste for 15 minutes, until the gochugaru deepens in colour.
14. Fold the daikon and spring onions into the paste, about 1 minute, until evenly coated.
15. Coat the drained cabbage with the paste, about 5 minutes, until seasoning reaches every piece.
16. Pack into clean jars for about 5 minutes, pressing the cabbage down and leaving about 3 cm headroom.
17. Ferment at 18–22°C for roughly 24–36 hours as a starting guide, until small bubbles appear and the aroma is pleasantly tangy.
18. Release built-up gas from a tight lid briefly when it feels pressurised during fermentation, or use an airlock.
19. Refrigerate when you like the early tang, keeping the jar at 4°C or colder as the flavour develops.

Notes

Timing: Allow 2–2½ hours for brining and about 25–30 minutes for draining, in addition to 45 minutes of hands-on preparation. The 24–36 hour room-temperature fermentation at 18–22°C is a starting guide; follow the bubbles and pleasantly tangy aroma rather than the clock alone.

Ingredients: Weigh the salt and dry ingredients for accuracy. Packham pear or apple can replace nashi. Vegetable stock can replace kelp stock. The fish sauce and saeujeot contain fish and crustacean shellfish; this version has no tested seafood-free substitution.

Storage: Move the kimchi to the fridge when it reaches the tang you like and keep it at 4°C or colder. Use clean utensils. The exact refrigerated storage duration for this recipe has not yet been tested.