Chinese cabbage kimchi at home. Chinese cabbage kimchi - a step-by-step recipe with a photo of cooking a Korean dish

Kimchi is an essential part of many Korean dishes. This is the common Korean name for pickled vegetables. But in practice, when Koreans refer to kimchi, they usually talk about pickled Beijing cabbage, since it is the most common vegetable used in making this dish. For other variations, it is common to list the name of the vegetable before the general name (for example, O-ee Kimchi means it's a pickled cucumber appetizer). Kimchi is also used as an ingredient in many other Korean dishes, including some quite complex recipes. The step-by-step recipe for Beijing cabbage kimchi is quite simple: it is produced by lacto-fermentation. This is the same process that creates sauerkraut and traditional pickles.

At the first stage, the cabbage is soaked in a salty brine, which kills harmful bacteria. In the second step, the remaining Lactobacillus bacteria convert the sugars into lactic acid, which preserves the vegetables and gives them that wonderful tangy taste.

What is the difference between kimchi

If you are trying this dish for the first time, you may be initially surprised by the strong smell and unusual taste. However, once you get used to kimchi, chances are you will enjoy it a lot. This is not bad, because this snack is also famous for its health benefits. It is rich in fiber, vitamins A and C, thiamines (B1), riboflavin (B2), calcium and iron, and contains many beneficial lactic acid bacteria. Some studies say that kimchi is great for improving digestion, lowering cholesterol, fighting cancer, rejuvenation, and boosting immunity. In some markets, you can easily find ready-made kimchi. But you can also make your own appetizer, according to your personal taste and preferred spiciness.

If you look for Chinese cabbage kimchi recipes, you can find all sorts of options. Some add a little sugar, others avoid sweeteners entirely. There are people who include carrots in the composition, but some consider this unacceptable.

It can be confusing, but each of these options works really well. This means that you and your family can make the kimchi of your choice. Rely on your own sense of smell and taste, and you will get a great snack. However, some cautions apply to any recipe. So, too much garlic can make kimchi bitter, and too much ginger can make it sticky. As for gochaguru or red pepper, adjust the content to your liking. Kimchi can be mild or spicy as you choose.

Classic Chinese cabbage kimchi is made with radishes and onions, and seasoned with aged red pepper, garlic, ginger, sugar and fish sauce, salted shrimp or kelp paste.

The quality of sea salt and gochaguru (Quran pepper flakes) is the key to making great kimchi.

How to cook it at home

Korean cabbage kimchi recipe requires the use of the following ingredients:

  • 1.5 kg of Beijing cabbage;
  • 1.5 liters of water;
  • 1 cup sea salt (for brine)
  • 1/2 cup coarse sea salt (for sprinkling)
  • 1 teaspoon sweet rice flour (or plain)
  • 3/4 cup water (for flour)
  • 1 teaspoon grated fresh garlic;
  • 1/2 teaspoon fresh (grated) ginger
  • 230 grams of Korean radish;
  • 3 bunches of green onions;
  • 1/2 cup gochaguru (Korean hot pepper flakes)
  • 1 teaspoon anchovy fish sauce;
  • 2 teaspoons shrimp fish sauce;
  • 1 teaspoon of sugar.

How to cook kimchi from Chinese cabbage?

Use rubber gloves to cook the cabbage and apply the seasoning first. Otherwise, your hands may suffer from salt and pepper.

There are three ways to salt Chinese cabbage for Korean kimchi:

  1. dry method. You need to pour coarse sea salt between the cabbage leaves and leave them for 4 hours. Then turn the leaves over and leave for another 4 hours (8 hours total). Usually, 1 cup of salt is used for one whole Chinese cabbage. After the specified time, the leaves should be washed and drained.
  2. wet method. Make a salt solution and completely submerge the cabbage in it for 12-16 hours (turn it over after 6-8 hours). Place something heavy on top to keep the vegetable under the salt water. The optimal concentration of saline is 15-20%. The ratio of water / coarse salt is 5/1.
  3. A combination of dry and wet methods. Make a saline solution (water/coarse salt 16/1) in a bowl large enough to hold half a head of cabbage. Dip it on all sides, making sure all parts of the cabbage are moist. Then take the cabbage out of the salt solution and place it in a large empty bowl or roasting pan. Then sprinkle about ¼ cup coarse salt (for each half) on top between the leaf layers. Leave for 4-6 hours. Turn the cabbage over and leave it for the same amount (8-12 hours in total).

The holding time may vary depending on the temperature, the amount of salt, and the thickness of the Chinese cabbage used. In summer, salting is faster, in winter this process lasts much longer. How do you know that the vegetable is ready, and you can continue to cook Chinese cabbage kimchi? When you bend a cabbage leaf with a stalk, it should not be brittle and crispy. After rinsing 2-3 times, the salinity should remain more than desired, as it decreases during the fermentation process.

However, if too much salt is added, the Chinese cabbage will lose its sweet taste. If there is too little of it, your kimchi will not be very tasty. In addition, insufficiently salted cabbage can later become bitter or start to rot.

fish sauce

You can use various proportions of Anchovy Fish Sauce and Salted Shrimp Sauce to make chinese kimchi depending on your preference. In the southern parts of Korea, more anchovy fish sauce is usually used. However, its excess gives kimchi a bitter taste. Other types of fish sauce are also used in different parts of Korea, but shrimp and anchovy sauces are the most common. If you have made more seasoning than you need, you can freeze the excess.

Is it necessary to use sea salt?

Remember also that coarse sea salt is an essential component of kimchi. Table salt won't give you the same taste and texture.

You can use kosher, but only large. If the salt particles are too small, this can speed up the process of leaching from the leaves. It is not recommended to use table (iodized) salt because iodine prevents fermentation, and the texture and color of kimchi may not be correct. The photo of Beijing cabbage kimchi presented in the article clearly shows the correct color of the finished product.

What to do after the salting process?

Rinse the Chinese cabbage 3 times in cold water. Cut the head of cabbage into pieces 5-6 cm in size, without separating the leaves from each other. Drain all the water by placing the cabbage upside down in a strainer for 4-5 hours. If this is not done, excess liquid can lead to unwanted odors. There must be some space between the bottom of the filter and the surface of the sink so that the water can escape.

Make floury solution

In a small saucepan, add sweet rice flour to cold water (1 teaspoon of flour to 3/4 cup of water) and stir until all lumps are dissolved. Heat over medium heat, bring to a boil and continue to cook until a creamy soup is formed. Remove the mass from the heat and let it cool for at least 40 minutes.

Make gochugaru paste

Add all the hot pepper flakes to the flour mixture and mix well. Leave on for approximately 20 minutes for a more vibrant color. Mince the garlic and ginger. The smaller the pieces, the more evenly they will be distributed over the kimchi. Wash and cut the green onion and radish into thin pieces. After that, you can season the chinese cabbage kimchi.

Mixing

When the cabbage is rid of excess liquid, mix the gochagur paste with anchovy fish and shrimp sauces, minced ginger, garlic, sugar, chopped green onions and radishes.

Wear disposable gloves to protect your hands. Place the cabbage on a large tray and rub the seasoning mixture between the leaves. Run your fingers over each layer, leaving the radish and green onion chunks in the white part of the sheet so they don't fall out.

fermentation

Place the prepared cabbage in a container with a good tight lid. Once it is full, compact the leaves with your hands. Fill the container to 80% or less. Otherwise, it may start to leak as kimchi produces liquid and gas during fermentation. You can use any glass jar or high-quality plastic container, but for best results, use special utensils that induce probiotic fermentation and keep the product in optimal condition.

Cover the top of the container with a plastic sheet (wrap with foil) and close the lid. If you're making a small amount of kale and intend to use it in a week or two, you don't need to use the plastic wrap.

How long does kimchi take to cook?

The fermentation time depends on the temperature and the amount of salt in the kimchi. Lower temperatures and less salt slow down the fermentation process. Experts say that slow fermentation at +5...+10 °C for 15-20 days allows you to get the most delicious kimchi from Beijing cabbage.

Cooking time also depends on your personal preferences. Some people like fresh, almost unfermented kale, others like it heavily fermented and sour. In any case, once the kimchi has reached the stage of doneness you like, put it in the refrigerator.

Keep in mind that Chinese cabbage will produce gas and liquid as it is actively fermented. Leave some space in the container or it will quickly overflow.

How to store cooked kimchi and for how long

Traditionally, kimchi was stored in a pottery called ong-gi. Ong-gi/Onggi is a breathable ceramic that keeps cabbage and other fermented foods in optimal condition. In the old days, Koreans made kimchi in the fall and then placed it in ong-gi and buried it in the ground to keep the product all winter.

Today, most Koreans use a plastic container to store kimchi and put it in the refrigerator.

The product can be stored for 6 months or longer in the refrigerator, but it may take on a sour taste. In this form, kimchi is ideal for cooking vegetable stews, rice with vegetables, etc. If you add fresh seafood to a salad, chinese cabbage kimchi is best consumed within a month.

Kimchi is one of the national dishes of Korean cuisine. In fact, Koreans call this word any pickled or salted vegetables seasoned with garlic and pepper. I managed to find about two hundred recipes for making kimchi on the Internet, but I offer my proven method for making kimchi from Beijing cabbage for consideration by cooks. I have cooked this kimchi recipe several times already, and if you follow my recipe, look at the photos taken step by step, you are guaranteed to cook a very tasty crispy and moderately spicy cabbage appetizer.

Products:

  • Chinese cabbage - 3 kg;
  • Lean oil - 30 ml;
  • Garlic - 100 gr;
  • Water - 6 liters;
  • Salt - 6 tablespoons;
  • A mixture of dried paprika, hot pepper and coriander - 100 gr.

To make tasty kimcha, try to choose large heads of Beijing cabbage, small cabbage often falls apart when pickled and the finished snack then looks unsightly.

The seasoning mix can be used either dried or fresh, according to the season. Just in summer or autumn, instead of dried paprika and hot pepper, we grind lettuce pepper and bitter red pepper into a meat grinder.

How to make kimchi from chinese cabbage

And so, for starters, wash Chinese cabbage under cold running water and cut in half along the head.

We put the cabbage in a deep saucepan (enamelled or stainless steel).

Next, we need to prepare the brine. It is very simple to do this, in ordinary, you can not even boiled, add salt to the water and stir until the crystals are completely dissolved.

Pour the cabbage with brine and put oppression on top. We leave Beijing cabbage in a warm room for salting for two days.

After a while, we drain the brine from the cabbage and then we need to prepare a spicy dressing for kimchi.

Pour dried paprika, hot pepper and coriander into a deep bowl, pour a glass of boiling water and leave for ten minutes to swell the seasonings.

During this time, we need to peel and chop the garlic on a blender.

Add vegetable oil to the kimchi dressing.

Then add garlic and mix well.

This is how we should get the filling.

Now, you need to generously grease each leaf of Beijing cabbage with a spicy mixture.

We put the Chinese cabbage smeared with seasoning in a bowl, trying to put the heads of cabbage closer to each other. Cover the cabbage with a lid and leave at room temperature for 48 hours.

For uniform salting twice a day, we need to turn over the Beijing cabbage and squeeze it a little with our hands so that the juice stands out and the cabbage is completely covered with it.

Put the finished kimchi snack in the refrigerator and store for no more than two weeks. It is best to put it in a jar with a tight-fitting lid.

Before serving, chop the Chinese cabbage kimchi into large pieces and drizzle a little with vegetable oil.

This is how we got a bright, beautiful and very tasty Korean snack.

I usually serve kimchi as a spicy and spicy addition to or. It is very tasty to add to various spicy soups.

How to cook kimchi? Kimchi or kimchi (in Korean 김치, pronounced “gimchi”; other names: chimchi or chimcha) is the basis of Korean cuisine, a traditional dish of fermented vegetables, most often Beijing cabbage and radish, with various spices: ground chili, garlic, ginger , green onions.

According to traditional technology, kimchi was stored in jars in cellars so that the snack could be consumed all winter, and in modern Korea there are special refrigerators for kimchi. In Korea, kimchi is eaten all year round, and this is not surprising: the dish is made from vegetables, due to which it has a low calorie content, but at the same time is rich in dietary fiber and vitamins.

One serving of kimchi satisfies half the daily requirement of vitamin C and carotene; the appetizer is rich in vitamins A, B1, B2, calcium and iron, as well as a large number of lactic acid bacteria, one of which - Lactobacillus kimchii - is unique and inherent only in kimchi.

You should definitely include such a healthy snack in your daily diet, so today we will talk about how to cook Korean cabbage kimchi, how to make the famous kimchi spicy sauce, and at the end of the article we will share a delicious recipe for traditional spicy Korean soup.

What is kimchi: varieties of dishes

There are more than 180 ways to prepare kimchi, differing in the composition of ingredients, seasonality and region of preparation, but the most popular variations are known all over the world:

Baechu kimchi (배추김치) - Chinese cabbage fermented with Korean radish or daikon, as well as with the addition of various seasonings and spices: gochugaru (gochukaru) hot red pepper flakes, salted shrimp or fish sauce.

Oi sobagi (오이소박이) is a spicy cucumber kimchi. A popular summer and spring dish, although you can.

Yangbaechu kimchi (양배추김치) - fermented. The marinade ingredients are often the same as the classic kimchi recipe, with the only difference being the use of white cabbage instead of chinese cabbage.

Gaji kimchi (가지김치) is sliced ​​eggplant in a spicy marinade. Like many similar snacks, they twist and.

Cheonggak kimchi (총각김치) and kkaktugi (깍두기) – the main ingredient of the snacks is sliced ​​radish. Radish kimchi is quite popular far beyond Korea.

In addition to traditional recipes, there are other equally interesting varieties of kimchi:

In Korea, kimchijjigae is traditionally made from more fermented, matured kimchi, which is fresh and doesn't have a strong flavor or aroma. Therefore, for making soup, you should not use freshly pickled Chinese cabbage, it is better to keep it in the refrigerator for at least a week.

In Japan, kimchi soup is also prepared. A Japanese recipe usually includes traditional Korean ingredients, as well as shiitake mushrooms and a chicken egg.

Ingredients for 2 servings

  • Chinese cabbage kimchi - 2 cups;
  • pork loin - 100-150 g;
  • ground chili pepper - 1-3 tsp (if kimchi is spicy, then optional);
  • garlic - 4-5 cloves;
  • grated ginger root - 0.5 tsp;
  • pickle from kimchi - half a glass;
  • water - 2 glasses;
  • tofu cheese - 180-200 g;
  • green onions - a few feathers;
  • salt and pepper to taste.

Recipe

  1. Pork, kimchi, tofu and green onion cut into pieces.
  2. In a saucepan or deep frying pan, simmer the kimchi and pork with chili, minced garlic and grated ginger over medium-high heat for about 10 minutes.
  3. Add cabbage brine and water, reduce heat to medium and cook for another 20 minutes. We add water as needed.
  4. Add the tofu and green onions to the pot and season with salt and pepper as desired. It is usually not necessary to salt the kimchi soup, since the cabbage itself and the brine from it already contain salt.
  5. Cook the soup until the tofu is ready for another 5 minutes. Remove from heat and serve hot.

To make kimchi soup without meat, you can exclude pork from the recipe and add 1 can of canned tuna or saury in oil in step 3 instead.

In truth, kimchi from white cabbage is closer to the Russian (Sakhalin) version of the preparation of a spicy snack than to the Korean one. The Korean-style chimcha recipe, a classic oriental dish, is being made. Chimcha in Russian for the winter, it is also Korean kimchi white cabbage, has a spicy taste and a simple cooking recipe, similar to the usual and.

How to cook cabbage kimchi

White cabbage kimchi recipes are simple and varied but are usually borrowed from Korean cuisine recipes. An acute need for the selection of simple recipes for harvesting late vegetables for the winter among housewives arises when the first juicy heads of fresh cabbage appear in stores. In the cabbage season, it is better to prepare winter cabbage for the winter and store the spicy preparation at home for a long time in the refrigerator, or immediately cook more kimchi for the winter and keep longer in the cellar, on the balcony, to delight family and loved ones with a tasty and juicy snack until summer.

You can quickly make kimchi in the summer from early summer cabbage. White cabbage kimchi recipes for the winter involve the use of late varieties of cabbage. In late autumn, after the mass harvest of vegetables, when housewives buy tight forks and formed cabbage heads for pickling and pickling, it's time to stock up on crispy cabbage for winter pickling of kimchi.

Advice from the Miracle Chef. Before using the recipe for quick kimchi from white cabbage, the leaves need to be finely chopped with a grater or chopped with a knife into thin noodles: such cutting speeds up the brining process, and finely chopped cabbage quickly comes to readiness. According to the chimcha recipe for the winter, heads of cabbage are chopped into large pieces and cut into square (5 × 5 cm) cubes so that the cabbage turns out crispy and retains its crunch longer.

White cabbage kimchi recipe for the winter

The method of cooking white cabbage is simple. Ingredients for making kimchi for the winter consist of simple ingredients, the most important of which is chili peppers. Hot chili pepper combined with garlic and salt resembles in composition. Such a Korean appetizer with hot peppers from Beijing or white cabbage is called.

Ingredients

  • white cabbage - 1 fork weighing about 2.5 kg;
  • water - 2 liters;
  • sea ​​salt - half a glass;
  • fresh garlic - 2-3 heads;
  • Chili pepper - one pod;
  • sugar - 1 tsp

Salting kimchi in Korean from white cabbage: step by step

  1. Before making kimchi for the winter, you need to prepare simple ingredients: a dense fork of white cabbage, water, salt, sugar, hot pepper and garlic for spiciness. We remove the upper leaves from the head of cabbage and cut the forks first into two parts, then both halves again in half, that is, into quarters.
  2. Pour the salt into the water and stir until the salt is completely dissolved.
  3. Immerse the cabbage quarters together with the stumps in salt brine (brine) so that all four parts are under water. For salting Korean-style kimchi for the winter in quarters, it is better to use dishes with high walls and a narrow bottom.
  4. We soak the cabbage in brine for 12-14 hours, it is more convenient to do this from evening to night.
  5. After soaking in salt, take out the cabbage quarters and wash them.
  6. We cut the leaves into large pieces, separating them from each other, or leave the squares (rectangles) unassembled, cutting the stalk from the head.
  7. Koreans love spicy food and make kimchi from any cabbage. To comply with the original technology for preparing Korean preparations for the winter at home, the next step in the recipe is to make homemade spicy seasoning.
  8. To do this, we clean the garlic, pass the cloves through a press, chop with a blender or three on a fine grater into gruel.
  9. We clean the bitter pepper from the seeds, add to the blender to the garlic.
  10. Add sugar, dilute the spicy mixture with a small amount of liquid taken from the remains of the brine.
  11. We put the prepared chopped cabbage in an enamel pan.
  12. Pour the hot seasoning into the cabbage and mix with your hands. You don’t need to knead the cabbage, as with, just mix it.
  13. We take a flat plate and cover the pickle, for oppression on top we put a jar with a capacity of 3 liters filled with water.
  14. We leave the cabbage for 2-3 days in the kitchen, after which we lay it out and remove the finished Korean kimchi for storage in the refrigerator.

The longer the snack is infused, the more aromatic, tastier and spicier it becomes.

Chimcha (chim-chim): white cabbage recipe for the winter

The recipe for chim chim for the winter is salted white cabbage, pickled in large pieces, it turns out very crispy, juicy, with an enhanced taste of vegetables, thanks to the addition of red bell pepper. The dish is popular among spicy lovers and admirers of national Korean cuisine recipes.

To salt chimcha for the winter (or, as the Koreans themselves call chim-cha, fire cabbage), small, dense heads of cabbage should be selected from varieties of white cabbage suitable for sauerkraut and pickling.

Ingredients

  • ordinary cabbage - 5 kg;
  • water - 6 liters;
  • Bulgarian red pepper (sweet) - 1 kg;
  • hot pepper - 400 g;
  • garlic - 400 g;
  • salt (without iodine) - 300 g.

Preparation: chim-chim from white cabbage

  1. Following the recipe, cut the heads of cabbage, peeled from the outer leaves, together with the stalk into 6-8 equal parts. The stalk will help hold the leaves together while brining.
  2. We place the cabbage parts in the pan, pressing them tightly against each other.
  3. Pour 6 liters of water into a separate clean saucepan, boil and add salt to the water. 4 tablespoons of salt from the total amount of ingredients are left for further preparation of the spicy mixture.
  4. Pour cabbage with boiling salty brine, put oppression and leave it in this form for 3 days. On the third day, the brine should become cloudy, the cabbage should turn a little sour.
  5. Grind garlic, sweet pepper, hot pepper in a blender and add the rest of the salt, mix.
  6. Drain the brine from the cabbage, rinse from salt in cold water.
  7. We spread and coat the cabbage leaves with a fiery mixture, press the pieces together to return the slices to their original shape. The spicy mixture with pepper is very hot, in order to avoid getting burns on the hands, greasing the leaves must be done with gloves.
  8. We shift the smeared slices into a clean dish, cover with a plate or an inverted lid and press it tightly with a load. Leave unopened for 3-4 days at room temperature. In the process of fermentation, brine will come out - the cabbage should be under its layer.
  9. After the time has passed, we remove the homemade preparation in a cool time for storage or put it in glass jars and store it in the refrigerator.

Kimchi in Russian

Belokochanka in Korea, China and immigrants from the Celestial Empire, the Land of Morning Calm, living on Sakhalin, are considered Russian, perhaps the name of the Korean kimchi dish in Russian came from here.

Cooking white cabbage in Korean, a recipe for kimchi in Russian, this is practically our sauerkraut, pickled for the winter at home in the Russian manner, but only very spicy, burning, with the addition of adjika.

Would need

  • white cabbage - half a fork (about 600 g);
  • homemade adjika (the hottest) - 2 tbsp;
  • water - 2 glasses;
  • table vinegar 6% - 1 tbsp;
  • sugar - 2 tablespoons;
  • salt to taste.

A simple cooking recipe

  1. We remove the upper dirty leaves.
  2. Shred our cabbage into thin strips with a sharp knife.
  3. We put chopped cabbage strips in a deep bowl, salt and crush it with our hands until it gives juice.
  4. Spread red with hot red pepper on top, mix cabbage with adjika.
  5. We dissolve sugar in boiling water and add vinegar, we get a marinade.
  6. Pour the marinade for kimchi into a bowl with cabbage and adjika. We mix the salad, when pressing with a hand on the cabbage, the marinade should cover it.
  7. We cover the white cabbage kimchi with a lid or a plate, leave it on the kitchen table overnight in a warm place.
  8. In the morning, we transfer the Korean spicy to clean glass jars and put it away for storage in a cool place.

We serve white cabbage kimchi in winter (if the family does not eat it before winter), as an independent salad, add to side dishes from,.

How to make cabbage kimchi quickly

For the preparation of real Korean cabbage, it is better to use cabbages with white leaves of white cabbage, they are juicier than green leaves, harder and more crunchy when cooked.

A simple white cabbage kimchi recipe allows you to make a salad at home quickly and easily, with a taste close to a traditional Korean dish, but in a faster and easier way.

It will take

  • white cabbage - 1 kg;
  • ground red hot pepper - 1 tbsp;
  • table vinegar 9% - 1 tbsp;
  • water - 2 glasses;
  • salt - 2 tablespoons;
  • sugar - 1 tbsp;
  • garlic - 3 cloves.

How to cook

  1. Remove the top rotten and dirty leaves from the fork.
  2. We take out a deep container (pot, bowl or bucket). We cut cabbage into it into rectangles ranging in size from 3 to 5 cm. Such cutting can be found among Koreans in every market.
  3. Add salt, sugar, hot pepper and vinegar to the chopped cabbage. Mix thoroughly with your hands, wearing gloves to avoid burns from hot pepper or interfere with cooking tongs.
  4. After mixing, add the finely chopped garlic.
  5. Pour boiling water into the dishes, mix and cover with a lid on top. We leave kimchi from ordinary cabbage for a day at room temperature.
  6. Ready daily cabbage is transferred to glass jars along with the marinade, closed with lids and stored in a cool place.

Any of the kimchi recipes for the winter and quick cooking can be used at any time of the year, cook according to these recipes, diversify the daily menu in the summer with a delicious and healthy Korean dish of jimcha. By incorporating chim chim cabbage into your diet, you get vitamins, fiber, and an easy-to-prepare, yet delicious, tangy-tasting snack.

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