Quick and Easy Kimchi Recipe

Kimchi is one of my favorite Lacto-Fermented dishes.

If you love flavor and spice, you can’t go wrong with my quick and easy kimchi recipe.

I consume kimchi on a regular basis not only because it is incredibly delicious but also because it is immensely beneficial for your gut biota.

Your gastrointestinal system is a bacteria-rich environment and adding to it with healthy Lacto-Fermented foods helps your tummy thrive.

Kelly Bilodeau from the Harvard Health Blog puts it eloquently:

“Fermented foods are preserved using an age-old process that not only boosts the food’s shelf life and nutritional value, but can give your body a dose of healthy probiotics, which are live microorganisms crucial to healthy digestion, says Dr. David S. Ludwig, a professor of nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health.”

This Kimchi recipe is authentic and will require you to head to your local Korean grocer to source the ingredients.

I went to an awesome store called H-Mart here in New York that had everything I needed.

This recipe is a traditional napa cabbage style kimchi also known as tongbaechu-kimchi.

As you develop your diet plan and fitness routine, this is a great healthy addition.

And did I mention, it barely has any calories in it?!

A perfect diet food.

Enjoy!

Ingredients:

Cabbage brine:

• 6 pounds napa cabbage, chopped
• ½ cup Kosher salt 

For making the rice flour slurry:

• 2 cups water
• 2 tablespoons sweet rice flour 
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar

Ingredients to add to the rice flour slurry:

• 24 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 teaspoons ginger, minced
• 1 medium onion, minced
• ½ cup fish sauce
• ¼ cup fermented salted shrimp (saeujeot) 
• 2 cups hot pepper flakes (gochugaru)

Vegetables to add to the slurry:

• 2 cups radish, matchsticks
• 1 cup carrot, matchsticks
• 7 to 8 green onions, chopped
• 1 cup chopped Asian chives 

Directions:

The cabbage:

1. Prep the cabbage by chopping it into chunks and place it in a LARGE mixing bowl.
2. Sprinkle the salt over the cabbage and massage it into the leaves.
3. Let sit for 2 hours. This is going to make the cabbage supple. 
4. After it sits for 2 hours, rinse in a strainer THOROUGHLY. 

The rice flour slurry:

1. Combine the water and the sweet rice flour in a pot. Cook over medium heat for about 10 minutes until it starts to bubble, making sure to stir constantly with a whisk. 
2. Add the sugar right at the end. Stir again.
3. Let it cool completely.

1. Once it is cooled, add in your garlic, ginger, onion, fish sauce, fermented salted shrimp, and hot pepper flakes. Mix it all up. 
2. Then add the radish, carrot, green onion, and Asian chives. Mix.

Bringing it all together:

1. Now just combine the cabbage with the rice flour slurry that you just made and mix it all up. WEAR GLOVES. You’ll thank me later. The first time I made this, I thought I could just wash it off my hands with cold water. Nope. My eyes were burning for hours after I touched my face even after washing.
2. Pack some jars with the Kimchi and let it sit at room temperature to ferment for 3 days and then put it into the fridge. You only want to keep it at room temp for 3 days so that it ferments a little. I’ve done longer and it gets too sour and strong.

That’s it! I love to make this recipe in bulk.

I often will double or triple the recipe so that I have kimchi for months to come.

This is a staple vegetable for me and I often eat it with rice as a perfect complement.

I highly recommend adding kimchi to your diet.

If you are looking for more ways to improve your health and body composition, check out the rest of my articles!

Enjoy!