Mom's Kimchi Recipe | Korean Food 김치 (2024)

Mom's Kimchi Recipe | Korean Food 김치 (1)Pin

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Want to make home made kimchi? Here’s an easy recipe to follow.

While my mom was in town this month, she taught me how to make her kimchi recipe. I’ve been feeling an urgency to learn the basics, because I never know when I’ll have the chance again. I can always go off of recipes online, but it can never match the same nostalgic taste of a Korean home cooked meal growing up.

P.S. I started a new recipe blog with my mom calledMom’s Korean Recipes.

Mom's Kimchi Recipe | Korean Food 김치 (2)Pin

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Last Updated: August 31, 2023

Content Menu

  • Kimchi Recipe Ingredients
  • Directions on How to Make Kimchi
  • Chef’s Notes
  • More Korean Recipes

Mom’s Authentic Kimchi Recipe

A friend of ours recently documented her grandmother’s life story on video, and it made me wish I had done that for my grandma before her Alzheimer’s set in. It’s been really hard to shake the fact that life is so temporary.

All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls off.”

I used to be impatient about life and be anxious about what’s coming next, but now I feel like everything is passing by so fast. I regret not sitting down with my grandmother to hear her stories. Not just stories of her being a grandmother, but ones as a mother, as a wife, and as a child. I often forget that she once was like me, too.

It also seems that with each passing generation that is raised in the States, we lose more of the stories, we lose more of our culture, and we lose our family recipes.

I’m what they call a 1.5 generation, but probably closer to second generation since I moved to the U.S. when I was two and a half. I hardly speak Korean anymore and don’t cook much Korean food. Making my mom’s kimchi was abucket listitem that I’ve been putting off for a long time, but this month we decided to make it happen!

Kimchi Ingredients

  • One napa cabbage
  • 2 tablespoon of salt
  • 1 tablespoon ofsweet rice flour
  • 1/2 cup ofKorean hot chili pepper flakes
  • 4 tablespoon fish sauce (my mom lovesthis onebest)
  • 2 tablespoon sugar
  • 3 green onions
  • 1/4 medium-sized onion
  • 3 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 1/2 tsp of ginger, minced

Pro Tip: Use gloves to keep your hands from getting stained.

See More: Korean Banchan Dried Squid Recipe

Mom's Kimchi Recipe | Korean Food 김치 (3)Pin

Directions for Making Kimchi

  1. Dissolve salt in 1 and 1/2 cups of water.
  2. Chop up napa cabbage and soak in salt water for 3-4 hours or until soft. (Can take up to 6 hrs.)
  3. To make the paste, add the sweet rice flour and one cup of water to a pot.
  4. Put over medium heat and continue to stir until thickened (about 5 mins).
  5. Transfer paste to a large bowl and add the korean chili pepper flakes, fish sauce, and sugar.
  6. Mix well and let the paste cool.
  7. Add green onions, onions, garlic, and ginger to the paste and mix.
  8. Once the cabbage is soft, remove from salt water and rinse thoroughly (we rinsed 3x).
  9. Massage paste into the cabbage and store in a jar.
  10. Serve immediately if you like fresh kimchi. If you like it more fermented, wait until it fits your tastes.

If you need to see a more detailed process through photos here they are:

Step 2:This is the chopped napa cabbage.

Mom's Kimchi Recipe | Korean Food 김치 (4)

Soak the napa cabbage until it’s soft and limp like the photo below.

Mom's Kimchi Recipe | Korean Food 김치 (5)

Step 4:This is what the rice flour paste looks after you stir it over heat.

Mom's Kimchi Recipe | Korean Food 김치 (6)

Step 7:All the ingredients mixed into the paste.

Mom's Kimchi Recipe | Korean Food 김치 (7)

Step 9:This is what it looks like to massage the paste into the kimchi.

Mom's Kimchi Recipe | Korean Food 김치 (8)Pin

Chef’s Notes

  • If you don’t like your kimchi really spicy, put less hot chili pepper flakes. I put double the amount my mom puts in (1 cup). She likes her food milder while nothing tastes too spicy for me.
  • Depending on the size of the napa cabbage, you might not need to use all the paste. If you have extra paste, you can make cucumber kimchi or try mixing it into other veggies.
  • Whenever you take out any kimchi, press down the remaining kimchi and submerge it in the liquid, or the kimchi will become very bitter and alter the flavor.

Do you like how I put them in mason jars? It’s my Korean heritage combined with twelve years of living in the South. ;)

Let me know if there was anything confusing about the recipe, and I can try to clarify. If you end up making it, let me know how you like it! Do you have any family favorite recipes that you’ve learned lately or want to learn?

Kimchi is definitely an acquired taste. One that Jacob has not acquired yet. haha

See More: Korean Chicken Soup Recipe

More Korean Recipes

  • How to Make Korean Cucumber Side
  • Korean Perilla Leaf Kimchi Recipe
  • How to Make Beef Bulgogi
  • Korean Spicy Rice Cake Recipe
  • How to Make Doenjang Stew

Have you tried kimchi before? What did you think? Have you tried making kimchi before? Would love to hear what you think if you try this kimchi recipe.

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Esther + Jacob

Esther and Jacob are the founders of Local Adventurer, one of the top 5 travel blogs in the US. They believe that adventure can be found near and far and hope to inspire others to explore locally. They explore a new city in depth every year and currently base themselves in Las Vegas.

Follow on Instagram (E + J), YouTube, TikTok, and Pinterest.

Tags: Asian Recipes, Banchan Recipes, Korean Food Recipes, Tried and True Recipes

Mom's Kimchi Recipe | Korean Food 김치 (2024)

FAQs

Do you eat kimchi hot or cold? ›

Enjoy plain kimchi cold or warmed up.

You can eat kimchi straight out of the fridge, or you can throw it in a small skillet and heat it up with 1 US tbsp (15 mL) of vegetable oil. It tastes great both ways! Some people prefer the cold, spicy taste, while others find the tangy texture best when heated up.

How do you eat kimchi in the UK? ›

Kimchi is commonly sliced and added to soups and hotpots or chopped to be stirred through rice. A whole leaf can be used as a wrap for meat, fish or shellfish. Most often it is sliced and enjoyed as a piquant side dish.

How to eat kimchi for gut health? ›

Here are just a few ways you might like to try kimchi:
  1. kimchi fried rice.
  2. kimchi dumplings (steamed or pan-fried)
  3. kimchi “jjigae” stew (with beef)
  4. spicy soft tofu stew.
  5. kimchi pancakes.
  6. kimchi with tofu (often eaten as a snack with a drink)
  7. kimchi with noodles (hot or cold)
  8. kimchi pasta.

How do you eat kimchi for the first time? ›

Classic or Cucumber Kimchi

Whether you like them sunny side up, scrambled or somewhere in between, the kimchi will be a happy addition to your classic fried egg and toast. Slice toasted bread and top with your favorite eggs and kimchi and enjoy!

Is it okay to eat kimchi everyday? ›

Cabbage and radish kimchi, a popular fermented vegetable dish, in particular were effective in reducing the risk of obesity and abdominal obesity in both men and women.

Can I eat kimchi straight from the jar? ›

Originally created to preserve vegetables over the winter, kimchi has been eaten in Korea for generations. Kimchi is a super versatile dish that can be eaten on its own - seriously, straight out of the jar - as a condiment, or worked into almost any recipe.

How much kimchi should I eat per day? ›

Eating up to three servings of kimchi each day is linked to a reduced rate of obesity among men, according to a new study. This study is observational so it's difficult to measure kimchi's direct effect on weight loss.

How long does kimchi last in the fridge? ›

If you have store-bought kimchi that's been opened, it will be good for 3-4 days at room temperature and up to 6 months when refrigerated. Signs of your kimchi going bad include mold growth, an alcoholic smell, and an extremely sour taste.

Does kimchi clean your bowels? ›

Kimchi can be an excellent alternative to taking laxatives. It has a high fibre content, which helps keep the digestive system in good condition. Many studies have shown that fibre can control constipation, diarrhoea, and other digestive problems.

Does kimchi clear your bowels? ›

High in fibre. Kimchi is made from vegetables, which all provide a high dose of dietary fibre, especially cabbage. To put it bluntly, this fermented food can “keep you regular” and help you poop!

Is kimchi bad for acid reflux? ›

Probiotic-rich foods like yoghurt, kefir, sauerkraut, or kimchi may help maintain a balanced gut microbiome, improve digestion [121,122], and benefit individuals with GERD. This can help improve overall digestive function and reduce the occurrence of acid reflux [123].

Can you eat kimchi before bed? ›

If you aren't sleeping well, be kinder to your gut. Eating prebiotics such as yogurt, sauerkraut or kimchi before bedtime could help overcome your insomnia, a new study has discovered. Compounds in prebiotics help restore deep sleep known as non-REM (rapid eye movement) and REM sleep, which reduces stress.

Can I eat just kimchi and rice? ›

As the national dish of South Korea, kimchi is a staple in kitchens around the world. This fermented cabbage dish can be served as a side dish, over a bed of rice, folded into scrambled eggs, whirred into tomato sauce, or even just eaten as is.

Can you eat too much kimchi in one sitting? ›

However, eating too much wasn't healthy: compared to those who ate less than one daily serving of total kimchi, participants who ate five or more servings weighed more, had a bigger waist size and were more likely to be overweight.

Is it good to heat up kimchi? ›

Kimchi is a versatile dish that people can add to many meals. People can eat it as a side dish, use it as an ingredient in other meals, or eat it on its own. Although individuals can cook kimchi, keep in mind that heating any fermented foods can start to kill off the healthy probiotics.

Is kimchi still healthy if heated? ›

Tamburello gets straight to the point on this question. “Yes, heating probiotic-rich foods kills off beneficial bacteria that help keep your gut healthy,” she begins (much to my dismay as a lover of Korean kimchi stew and deli fare like melty Reuben sandwiches with extra sauerkraut).

Does kimchi go bad if it gets warm? ›

Kimchi should be stored in the fridge as chilling is the only thing that keeps its level of fermentation (i.e. the activity of those happy little probiotics) slowed down. If you leave kimchi outside of the fridge, over time it will become over-fermented and won't taste so great anymore.

Does kimchi taste good warm? ›

The savory, spicy, creamy combo is uniquely satisfying. It's amazing what heat and a few minutes on a pan can do — this simple trick transforms fermented cabbage into a deeply flavorful and versatile condiment I can add, warm or cold, to pretty much anything I eat.

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