I’m privileged to have my Korean friend, Allie to show me how to make Kimchee. Kimchee is the staple side dish for Korean and Korean eats Kimchee almost in every meal.
Kimchee is a traditional dish of fermented chillie peppers and vegetables, usually based on cabbage. The word Kimchee originate from ‘chim-chae’ which means steeped/submerged vegetables.
Allie always have Kimchee in her fridge. When her Kimchee ran out of supply, she’ll make a big batch which last for 3 months.
Allie emphazised that the ingredients for making Kimchee must be bought from Korean groceries stores. Though the ingredients sound like ordinary ingredients which you can buy from many other groceries stores, Allie said they taste different.
Here are the ingredients for making Kimchee.
- cabbage
- radish
- garlic
- ginger
- fish sauce
- salted shrimp
- chillie peppers
- sea salt
- brown sugar
- a pair of gloves
Allie told me that the chilli peppers were from her mother-in-law. Her mother-in-law planted the peppers and dried and grinded them herself. They are all organic.
Allie usually bought a whole box of cabbages and several radishes for making Kimchee. The box contains 8 large cabbages.
Click on the link below for the instructions.
Instructions
 First, Allie cut the cabbage into halves or quarters depending on the size of the cabbage. She also cut away parts of the core but leave some to make sure that the cabbage is intact. |
 Allie then sprinkled sea salt in between the leaves. The cabbages will be left to sit in the sink for several hours to extract the excess water from the cabbages. |
 After 5 to 8 hours, Allie rinsed the cabbages twice to get rid of the salt and squeezed dry the cabbages. |
 The radishes have to be finely julienned or grated. |
 In a blender, Allie pureed the garlic and ginger with some fish sauce. |
 In a large container or bowl, Allie mixed the chillie peppers, salted shrimp, brown sugar and the garlic and ginger paste. |
 Here is where you need to wear the gloves. The gloves protect your hand from the chillie pepper while you mixed the grated radishes with all the spices thoroughly. |
 Allie then rubbed the above mixture into the cabbages. |
 Here is Allie working with the cabbages. |
This big box of Kimchee will last for 3 months for Allie and family. Allie, thank you for sharing with me the recipe of making Kimchee. Though I will not make it myself as we dont eat Kimchee as often as Korean, it’s an eye opening seeing you making it and I certainly appreciate it much more after learning the process of making it.
The Kimchee is so fresh and crunchy. My family loves it and I will serve it as a side dish and also use it to fry rice.
Yummy!
Did you bury it in a clay pot for weeks on end? I think that is what they do traditionally.
Wooooww.. it looks so delicious.. I will try it sometimes.. lolz.. wat a lovely blog here… visit my blog and tell me wat do u think about it InvernoKL keep up all the good works.. rocKZ!! :p take care, xian
Hi Chris: Now that you mentioned it, I remember now that Koreans store their kimchees in big clay jars. I don’t think Allie do that. Does it make it less authentic? 🙂
Hi Xian: You have a flair in writing. Good blog you have there. BTW, we grew up in Malaysia, did you know that?
I love Kimchee, but I was just wondering, how long will freshly made kimchee keep? and how’s the best way to store it?
Hi Lexi, My Korean friend, Allie told me that the Kimchee will stay fresh in the refrigerator for at least 2 months. After that you can use it to make soup, etc.
Allie keeps her Kimchee in a container with lid in the refrigerator.
Allie also told me that in Korea, they have refrigerator made specially for Kimchee which keeps the Kimchee fresh for a year.
Thanks Suanne!
so knowing this I will definitely make my own kimchee, I thought the store bought ones I’ve found had perservatives to make them last, but 2 months is great!!!!
Thank you so much!
Thank you for this information! I needed a refresher on how to do this! I’ve got my ingredients, and I can’t wait to make my Kimchee! I love it over steamed rice and also by itself.
rachel
Thanks for your information. After mixed all ingrediants together, when could we use kimchee?
Hey – would live to make this. Is there any way to get a recipe with exact measures and brand names or substitutions for the ingredients? Thanks!
I love making kimchee- almost as much as eating it:-) I eat it on rice, in soup, mixed with scrambled eggs, as onigiri filling, on baked potatoes… I even mix a bit of the “juice” in with my bloody caesars! I used a ton of garlic the first time and it tasted good, but totally stunk up the house (and I love garlic) every time I opened the lid. A friend of mine makes kimchee with big cubes of daikon radish (no cabbage) and it’s pretty great, too.
Some old pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pinksaturn/9428130