Kimchi

Kimchi Recipes

163 recipes. Page 1 of 7

Kimchi and Korean pickle recipes

Achara-zuke Pickles

Thin slices of cucumber, eggplant, lotus root and carrot share the bowl with chewy wood ear mushroom, shiso and ginger, and each bite lands somewhere different on the crunch scale. Each vegetable is prepped on its own terms: the hard lotus root and carrot get a short blanch, while the softer cucumber and eggplant are rubbed with salt instead. The sweet vinegar with sliced red chili is boiled once and then cooled all the way down. Poured on while still warm, it costs the cucumber and lotus root their snap. Squeezing the salted cucumber and eggplant hard after rinsing keeps the dressing from going watery. Half an hour in the fridge is enough before serving it cold with its liquid.

Prep 25min Cook 10min 4 servings

Kimchi Easy

Korean Zucchini Pickles (Soy Vinegar Brine Jangajji)

Thick half-moons of Korean zucchini stay crisp in soy brine, with cheongyang chili building heat at the back of each bite. The brine goes in at a hard boil, which sets the outside of each slice while the center keeps its snap, and it is worth trimming out a large, watery seed core first. Whole garlic cloves lose their raw bite in the jar and turn mellow and sweet. It is edible after 24 hours and tastes more even around day three. This is a refrigerator pickle, not a shelf-stable preserve.

Prep 1460min Cook 12min 4 servings

Kimchi Easy

Korean Soy Pickled Asparagus

Twenty seconds in boiling water, then straight into ice water: that short blanch fixes the bright green and keeps a clean snap in every spear. Bending each stalk until it breaks on its own finds the point where the woody base ends, so nothing stringy ends up in the jar. Pickled in soy, brown rice vinegar and sugar, asparagus keeps a grassy, almost herbal note that radish or cabbage pickles never have. Thin lemon slices tucked between the spears add a citrus edge, though too much white pith turns the brine bitter. The aroma and acidity peak somewhere between days 2 and 5, and the sharpness works well beside rich grilled meat.

Prep 20min Cook 12min 4 servings

Kimchi Easy

Korean Fresh Cabbage Kimchi

Napa cabbage salted for just 20 minutes and tossed straight into a gochugaru dressing gives kimchi with no sourness at all: the red pepper heat and the savory anchovy fish sauce come through cleanly. The short salting bends the thick ribs slightly while keeping them much crisper than fermented kimchi. Sesame oil and sesame seeds are added at the very end, so a nutty aroma sits over the chili. Geotjeori, as this fresh style is called in Korea, is served alongside grilled pork belly or doenjang-jjigae (fermented soybean paste stew), and it fills in when the jar of aged kimchi runs empty. It is best right after mixing, and leftovers keep a day or two chilled.

⚡ 20-Minute Recipes

Prep 20min 0 6 servings

Kimchi Medium

Korean Napa Cabbage Kimchi

Salting decides the texture of this napa cabbage kimchi: under-salted leaves weep liquid and turn mushy during fermentation, while over-salted ones bury the seasoning. Blooming the gochugaru in sweet rice paste before the fish sauce goes in gives a heavy paste that clings to each leaf instead of sliding off. Spread it thinly between the layers, since too much filling makes the kimchi salty and soft. Fresh-tasting at first, it grows deeper and tangier after about a week, and well-soured kimchi is the one to use for kimchi-jjigae or stir-fried kimchi.

Prep 50min 0 4 servings

Kimchi Medium

Korean White Kimchi (Non-Spicy Napa Pear Fermented)

With no gochugaru at all, this white kimchi is mild, and its clear brine is eaten along with the cabbage. Pear, radish, garlic and ginger carry the flavor instead, and the pear adds sweetness while softening the fermented smell. The filling is tossed lightly with fingertips, because rough handling bruises the radish and pear strips, and everything is drained well to keep the brine from clouding. After half a day at room temperature it ferments slowly in the fridge for 2 to 3 weeks, until the liquid tastes clean, cool and gently sour, a good foil for fatty meat.

Prep 50min Cook 20min 4 servings

Kimchi Easy

Korean Coastal Herb Pickle

Coastal hog fennel keeps its sharp, slightly bitter fragrance even under soy brine, which makes this pickle stand out among milder side dishes. A blanch of exactly 15 seconds sets the aroma, and a cold rinse right after holds the crunch. A longer blanch strips the scent first. Squeeze the herb hard before it goes into the jar, or its water thins the brine. After 2 to 3 days of chilling, the bitterness and the soy seasoning even out, and small portions go alongside rice.

Prep 18min Cook 10min 4 servings

Kimchi Medium

Korean Coastal Hogfennel Kimchi

The bitter, herbal aroma of bangpungnamul (coastal hog fennel) cuts through the chili paste and makes this kimchi taste nothing like the napa cabbage kind. That aroma depends on a blanch of only 20 seconds, and any longer leaves the stems limp. Kneading would dull the scent too, and the greens are only lifted and turned through the paste. A spoonful of soup soy sauce adds depth without extra saltiness. After 2 hours at room temperature it goes into the fridge and is served cold from the next day.

Prep 35min Cook 8min 2 servings

Kimchi Medium

Korean Bangwool Yangbaechu Kimchi (Brussels Sprout Kimchi)

Halved Brussels sprouts hold their structure through salting, and each bite gives a firm crunch and a little sweetness. Score the stem ends no deeper than 5 mm or the leaves fall apart, and give strongly bitter sprouts an extra 5 minutes in the brine.

Prep 30min 0 4 servings

Kimchi Easy

Korean Soy Pickled Beet (Vinegar Soy Brine Jangajji)

A day after the beet and onion go into the soy and vinegar brine, the liquid itself has turned deep purple and the salty and sour notes have settled in. It is a fridge pickle, so use a clean utensil each time you take some out.

At least 1 day 1 min 2 servings

Kimchi Medium

Beet Kimchi

Beets cut into 2 cm cubes get dressed like kkakdugi, the cubed radish kimchi, but this batch is eaten fresh rather than fermented. Whatever is not served right away goes into a lidded container and straight into the fridge at 4°C or below rather than sitting out at room temperature. A kimchi meant for long fermentation needs its own tested ratios and instructions, not this one. The salted cubes are drained well first, because any water they carry thins the paste.

Prep 50min Cook 10min 4 servings

Kimchi Easy

Korean Beet Radish Pickle

Cubes of white radish take on the beet's color and, after about a day, turn an even pink all the way through. More beet means a deeper color and a sweeter pickle.

Prep 18min Cook 10min 4 servings

Kimchi Medium

Beet Water Kimchi

Even a small amount of beet stains the broth red. The radish portion is kept the larger one, since a jar where beet outweighs radish turns muddy and dark. Both are cut into the same thin, flat pieces so a spoonful picks up some of each. The liquid drawn out during salting is added to the jar rather than poured away. Pear juice brings sweetness, sliced garlic and ginger bring aroma, and a cooled rice-flour porridge gives the broth body. A good stir after adding the salt water keeps that porridge from settling on the bottom. It sits out for a day before moving to the fridge.

At least 1 day 30 min 4 servings

Kimchi Easy

Korean Mushroom Jangajji (Shiitake Oyster Soy Pickle)

Chewy shiitake caps and meaty strips of king oyster mushroom hold their chew through days in a garlicky soy, vinegar and sugar brine with dried chili. Cutting both to a similar thickness lets them season at the same pace. One minute of blanching is enough. Any longer and the mushrooms turn soft and watery. Squeezing them firmly afterward matters more than the blanch itself, since leftover water dilutes the brine.

At least 1 day 1 min 4 servings

Kimchi Medium

Korean Beoseot Kimchi (Mushroom Kimchi)

This kimchi is eaten the day it is made rather than aged: oyster and shiitake mushrooms get a one-minute blanch and a dressing of gochugaru and anchovy fish sauce. Tearing the oyster mushrooms along the grain into thick strips keeps them from collapsing, and the thick shiitake caps stay chewy throughout. Mushrooms that are not squeezed hard thin the paste and soften further in storage. Even chilled, it is best within 2 days.

Prep 20min Cook 8min 2 servings

Kimchi Easy

Bettara-zuke (Daikon Pickled in Amazake)

A white coat of amazake clings to thick daikon spears, which bend slightly yet still snap when bitten. Unlike fully dried takuan, this Tokyo pickle keeps the radish moist, with amazake supplying a gentle sweetness. It traces back to lightly pickled daikon sold at Edo-period Ebisu observances, and bettara stalls still appear at the autumn market of Takarada Ebisu Shrine in Nihonbashi.

Prep 30min 0 12 servings

Kimchi Medium

Korean Amaranth Greens Pickles

Tender amaranth leaves soak up a soy and vinegar brine quickly. The vinegar takes away their raw grassy taste, and sliced cheongyang chili and garlic leave a sharp finish. Washed greens need to air-dry completely on a rack, because leftover water clouds the brine.

Prep 30min Cook 15min 4 servings

Kimchi Hard

Korean Stuffed Bossam Kimchi

Bo-kimchi wraps a filling of julienned radish, Korean pear, chestnuts, and blanched octopus in brined napa cabbage leaves, then ferments the bundles. After brining, check that the thick cabbage stems bend without snapping, and drain the rinsed leaves well, because wet leaves leave a watery pool inside each parcel. Overlap two large leaves so the filling is enclosed without gaps, and pack the bundles seam side down so they stay closed while they ferment. Blanch the octopus only briefly, since longer cooking makes it tough.

At least 3 days 17 hr 4 servings

Kimchi Easy

Korean Pickled Broccoli (Blanched Soy Vinegar Brine)

Crisp stems and tender florets sit side by side in this soy pickle, a contrast that depends on keeping the blanch to 40 seconds and moving the broccoli straight into ice water. Unlike many hot-brine pickles, this one waits until the brine is completely cool, because warm liquid softens the florets. Red bell pepper and onion add sweetness and a flash of red against the green. The crunch is best in the first two days, while the seasoning reaches all the way through after 3 to 4 days. It packs easily into a lunch box and keeps for up to 2 weeks in the fridge.

🍱 Lunchbox

Prep 18min Cook 7min 2 servings

Kimchi Easy

Korean Chive Kimchi (Spicy Garlic Chive Quick Kimchi)

Garlic chives are tossed straight into a paste of gochugaru, anchovy fish sauce, garlic and sugar with no salting and no fermentation, making this one of the fastest kimchi styles. The fish sauce supplies the briny depth that aged kimchi would build over days, and the chives' garlicky bite pushes the red pepper heat forward. Letting the chili flakes absorb the fish sauce for a couple of minutes before adding the chives avoids dry, patchy spots. Cutting the chives to 5 cm lets the paste reach inside the hollow stems and out to the leaf tips. Because pressing or kneading wilts them fast, the chives are lifted gently from below and left alone once the stems are coated red but still springy. It can be served right away, and after a night in the refrigerator the seasoning spreads evenly and the flavor mellows slightly, which suits grilled pork or noodles.

Prep 15min 0 4 servings

Kimchi Hard

Cabbage and Trout Layered Pickle

Blanched cabbage is layered with cooked salted trout, carrot, ginger and chili, and each layer gets a splash of amazake and vinegar. In inland Tsugaru, Aomori, fresh seafood was once hard to come by, and through about four months of heavy snow, pickled vegetables and long-keeping salted trout carried households through winter. Families ate the grilled flesh and put the remaining edible parts into pickles or shirani soup. The batch fills an 18L container and stays at 4°C or below from start to finish, so refrigerator space is the first thing to sort out.

Prep 70min Cook 35min 30 servings

Kimchi Easy

Korean Cauliflower Jangajji (Pickled Cauliflower)

Dense cauliflower takes up brine slowly and stays firm long after softer vegetables like cucumber would give way. Florets a little bigger than one bite, each with some stem left on, hold up best, while small pieces soften fast. Apple vinegar and sugar give a clean sweet-sour top note, with soy sauce underneath. Bay leaves and a dried chili spread through the jar add aroma, and flipping the jar once on the first day seasons the upper florets as evenly as the lower ones. It cuts nicely through fried or grilled food.

At least 2 days 6 min 4 servings

Kimchi Easy

Korean Celery Jangajji (Blanched Soy Lemon Pickle)

Celery's raw sharpness puts some people off, but a soy pickle softens it into a cool, herbal crunch. Pulling the tough strings off the stalks and blanching for thirty seconds takes away the grassy edge while keeping the scent. Skin-on lemon slices and whole garlic cloves sit between the pieces, adding citrus and a mild bite. It is ready cold from the second day and tastes fuller after four to five days.

Prep 15min Cook 8min 4 servings

Kimchi Easy

Korean Chamnamul Jangajji (Pimpinella Pickles)

Hot brine would drive off chamnamul's fresh, herbal fragrance, so the soy and apple-vinegar mixture cools for about 5 minutes and goes on lukewarm. Apple vinegar has a rounder acidity than plain vinegar and lets the greens stay grassy, while a squeeze of lemon added after boiling sharpens the finish. The stems are packed loosely and kept fully under the brine in the fridge so aroma and seasoning spread evenly. Stirred into rice or tucked into a lettuce wrap with pork belly, the greens cut through the fat. It is ready after a day, and the scent lasts about five days.

Prep 15min Cook 8min 2 servings