World Flavors Cookbook

Traditional Napa Kimchi

Korea's most important food — whole napa cabbages salted, stuffed with chili-garlic-fish sauce paste, and fermented for complex sour-spicy-umami perfection.

Cuisine: South Korea

Ingredients

• 2 large napa cabbages
• 1 cup coarse sea salt
• Paste: 1 cup gochugaru (Korean chili flakes), 3 tbsp fish sauce, 2 tbsp salted shrimp, 8 cloves garlic, 2 inches ginger, 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 bunch green onions, cut
• 1 daikon radish, julienned
• 1 carrot, julienned

Instructions

1. Quarter cabbages. Salt layers heavily. Soak in brine 6-8 hours, turning halfway.
2. Rinse cabbage 3 times. Squeeze out water.
3. Blend garlic, ginger, fish sauce, shrimp, and sugar. Mix with gochugaru.
4. Toss radish, carrot, and green onion with the paste.
5. Spread paste between every leaf of the cabbage. Pack tightly into jars.
6. Ferment at room temperature 2-5 days (until bubbling), then refrigerate.