Kim Chi has always been a fridge staple of our family since it pairs so nice with rice and INSTANT noodles! Yes! Kim Chi will always take those instant noodles of yours to a new level. The fermentation in the Kim Chi is also really good for stomach digestive health, even more reasons to eat it 🙂
However, we get into a bit of pickle when finding the right kim chi at the store (pun intended!) Kim chi at the store often has MSG and ingredients you just don’t really get the full picture from. I don’t eat MSG due to a sensitivity I have, but I am aware that the MSG version of kim chi always seemed so much more savory having used to eat copious amounts.
At the small price they charge for a large container of kim chi, it is safe to assume ingredients are meant to stretch out and quality of ingredients could have been compromised for profit. So here is my answer! Make your own! This delicious side dish is super simple to make, and if you make it at home, it’s pretty much guaranteed to taste even more delectable!
Let’s get started 🙂
First and foremost, make sure you have a nice glass container to place your fermenting goods in! Plastic works, but I’m always trying to reduce plastic in my life. Plastic will also have a harder time getting rid of the smell, so make sure you’re not too attached to your plastic container of choice for other purposes.
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Ingredients for Kim Chi!
There are very little ingredients so splurge and make sure you good quality ingredients! I would always check where items were made/manufactured and check the ingredients of my ingredients to make sure they’re not filled with preservatives. Sometimes a dollar difference can make a hugeeee difference of what you’re putting in your body!
- Fresh green onions (I bought a few bundles since I like the green color and the taste)
- Ginger
- Garlic (again, check where your garlic is coming from. Chinese garlic is known to be inflammatory and detrimental to your health)
- Salted little shrimps
- Fish sauce
- Gochugaru (korean red chili flakes) (most were found to be made/manufactured in China, I only found 1 brand made in Korea at H-Mart and bought this one)
- Korean cabbage (I bought 2)
- 1 radish
- kosher salt
Preparing your VEG:
- Slice your cabbage into bite size pieces, wash, and drain. I just did 1 inch slices.
- Cube your radishes, wash, and drain. I did small bite size pieces.
- Take a handful of your kosher salt and start massaging it into your cabbage. We’re not looking to salt the cabbage right now, but to start removing some of the liquid from the cabbage. I do this in small batches to make sure I can be more effective. I keep tossing until I see a good amount of liquid on the bottom of the container I’m using.
- Do this for all your cabbage and your radishes.
- Cover your radish and cabbage with some really cold water for 1-2 hours. This salt brine mixture will continue to draw out moisture from the radish and cabbage to try and do it’s homeostasis osmosis magic 🙂
- After 1-2 hours, rinse your cabbage and radishes twice to remove all the salt.
- Get your husband or boyfriend or stronger significant other to squeeze the cabbage dry in a colander.
Preparing your marinade/mixture:
- Finely chop your ginger and garlic.
- Clean your green onions and chop into 2 inch pieces. I like to halve the white ends.
- In a big mixing bowl, add as much gochugaru as your family can handle, spoonfuls of your salty shrimps, some fish sauce, green onions, and chopped ginger and garlic.
- Mix and fix to taste. I like mine super spicy, and a little bit salty. This is preferential to your family and their taste. I know ma (mommy in law) likes things more sweet, my family likes it more spicy, and hubby likes it salty…..so I make it the way I like it hahaha.
Assembly Steps:
- Once you’ve prepped everything, start massaging in batches some of your spice mixture into batches of the cabbage and radish together. I highly recommend using some gloves to do this…
- Once you have a nice even coat, place this in your container of preference and press down. I like to put some plastic wrap over the container before sealing. I would also suggest leaving some room in your container for the fermentation bubbles and liquid to have room.
- Store in a dark cool area and check occasionally for the next week until you feel it’s perfect to eat(1-2 weeks). Then store it in your fridge to slow down it’s fermentation process. Your work is done, your hubby can now clean up after you. 🙂