Korean White Kimchi (Non-Spicy Napa Pear Fermented)

Quick answer

Total time: 70 min
Level: Medium
Servings: 4 servings
Ingredients: 8

About this dish

Baek kimchi is a Korean white kimchi made without gochugaru, producing a completely non-spicy, clear-broth fermented vegetable.

Napa cabbage is salted and wilted, rinsed, then layered with julienned radish, sliced garlic, and ginger tucked between the leaves. Pureed pear serves as a natural sugar source that feeds fermentation, while dried jujubes add a subtle background sweetness to the brine. Salted water is poured over the assembled cabbage, the container is sealed, and after one day at room temperature the kimchi moves to the refrigerator for a slow ferment. Without chili heat, the flavor centers on the clean lactic acidity that develops over time, balanced by the natural sweetness of pear and jujube and the warm bite of garlic and ginger dissolved into the brine. The fermentation is slower than standard kimchi, reaching optimal taste at two to three weeks. It is eaten with its brine, either on its own or as a palate-clearing side alongside fatty meat dishes. Before chili peppers were introduced to the Korean peninsula in the late sixteenth century, kimchi without gochugaru was the standard form, and baek kimchi is considered the closest modern equivalent to those pre-chili preparations.

Ingredients

servings

IngredientAmountUnit

napa cabbage1800 gg

coarse salt120 gg

Korean radish300 gg

Korean pear150 gg

garlic20 gg

ginger8 gg

scallions60 gg

water1800 mlml

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Instructions

Read the steps as a cooking flow: prep, heat, seasoning, doneness control, and finish.

6 steps

1

Season

Split 1800 g napa cabbage lengthwise while keeping the base attached, then divide 120 g coarse salt between the thick white stems.

Salt for 3 to 4 hours, turning once, until the stems bend softly without snapping.
2

Season

Rinse the salted cabbage three times in cold water to remove surface salt.

Drain cut side down for at least 30 minutes so excess water leaves the leaves and the final brine stays clear, clean, and not overly salty.
3

Season

Julienne 300 g Korean radish and 150 g peeled Korean pear into fine strips about 0.3 cm thick.

Mince 20 g garlic and 8 g ginger very finely so they season the brine without leaving large pieces or clouding it too much.
4

Prep

Place the radish, pear, garlic, ginger, and 60 g scallions cut into 4 cm lengths in a large bowl.

Toss lightly with your fingertips only until evenly distributed, because squeezing hard softens the radish and pear.
5

Step

Lift each cabbage leaf and spread a thin layer of filling near the stem end where the leaves are thickest.

Do not overfill, or the filling will push out during fermentation, then wrap with outer leaves and pack tightly in the container.
6

Finish

Dissolve a small amount of salt in 1800 ml cold water, pour enough to cover the cabbage, and press it down with a plate.

Leave at room temperature for half a day, then refrigerate for 2 to 3 weeks until the brine tastes clean, cool, and gently sour.

Practical Cooking Checks

The cues that matter most while cooking.

Key technique: Baek kimchi offers a non-spicy profile where napa cabbage ferments in a clear pear-infused broth.
Finish cue: Dissolve a small amount of salt in 1800 ml cold water, pour enough to cover the cabbage, and press it down with a plate.
Avoid this: Do not overfill, or the filling will push out during fermentation, then wrap with outer leaves and pack tightly in the container.
Storage and reheating: Salted water is poured over the assembled cabbage, the container is sealed, and after one day at room temperature the kimchi moves to the refrigerator for a slow ferment.