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.

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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

Can you eat kimchi every day? ›

Overall, eating up to three servings of kimchi daily was associated with an 11% lower odds for obesity, compared to folks who ate less than one serving daily, Shin's group found. Results varied somewhat based on gender: Women who ate two to three servings daily saw their odds for obesity fall by 8%, the study found.

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.
Mar 18, 2024

What's the difference between kimchi and sauerkraut? ›

Vegetables: You can make kimchi in many different ways, whereas sauerkraut has more defined limits. Baechu-kimchi is the closest to sauerkraut in that it has a simple cabbage base without any additional veggies. Sauerkraut is always cabbage, whereas kimchi can encompass a panoply of fermented vegetables.

How long does kimchi last in the fridge? ›

As the kimchi matures, it will take on earthy, tangy notes while the heat of the chiles mellows out. Your kimchi will continue to age if kept cool in the refrigerator and away from oxygen, remaining delicious for up to 12 months or even longer.

Does kimchi reduce belly fat? ›

Men who ate more than three serves a day of cabbage kimchi (baechu) were less likely to have obesity and abdominal obesity (excess fat deposits around their middle). And women who ate two to three serves a day of baechu were less likely to have obesity and abdominal obesity.

What is the side effect of eating too much kimchi? ›

Kimchi is high in sodium, with about 500 milligrams per cup. That's more than 20% of all the sodium that you're supposed to get in a day. Too much sodium can raise your risk of high blood pressure. If kimchi isn't prepared or stored properly, it can cause food poisoning, especially in people who are immune compromised.

Is kimchi good for inflammation? ›

4. May reduce inflammation. Probiotics and active compounds in kimchi and other fermented foods may help fight inflammation ( 39 , 40 ). For example, a mouse study revealed that HDMPPA, one of the principal compounds in kimchi, improved blood vessel health by suppressing inflammation ( 41 ).

Does store-bought kimchi have probiotics? ›

Most kimchi you'll see on the shelves at the grocery store undergoes pasteurization before it's packaged and therefore does not contain any traces of probiotics. To make sure you're getting your probiotics, double-check the food label to see if it contains live or added probiotics, including the specific strains.

What do you eat with kimchi? ›

As the national dish of South Korea, kimchi is a staple in kitchens around the world. This fermented cabbage 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.

What is the white stuff on my kimchi? ›

Kahm yeast is a kind of surface yeast that grow using oxygen. As these yeast do not have toxic genes, they are safe for consumption. They often appear on the surfaces of fermented food such as kimchi, soy sauce, soybean paste, etc.

Does Costco kimchi go bad? ›

Store-bought kimchi that remains unopened can be kept at room temperature for 1-3 months. 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.

Should I eat kimchi cold or hot? ›

Kimchi can be eaten basically however you want. You can eat it cold straight from the container. You can use it as an ingredient in soups, noodles, Korean pancakes, and fried rice. You can even chop it up small, sautee it in butter and add it to things like hotdogs, quesadillas, or grilled cheese.

When should you not eat kimchi? ›

Kimchi spoilage and over-fermentation

It will continue to ferment at a cool temperature. If kimchi over-ferments, it will have a very vinegary odor and taste. It is not pleasant to eat raw, so it is often used for soups and stews. If any fermentation gets soft and slimy, then it is a sign of spoilage.

Can I eat kimchi to lose weight? ›

Fresh and fermented kimchi are both low in calories and may boost weight loss ( 49 ). A 4-week study in 22 people with excess weight found that eating fresh or fermented kimchi helped reduce body weight, body mass index (BMI), and body fat. Additionally, the fermented variety decreased blood sugar levels ( 50 ).

How long is too long for kimchi? ›

During this process, it develops lactic acid bacteria, as well as other beneficial bacteria ( 1 ). Kept at room temperature, kimchi lasts 1 week after opening. In the refrigerator, it stays fresh much longer — about 3–6 months — and continues to ferment, which may lead to a sourer taste.

Is eating kimchi good for skin? ›

Great For Your Skin And Anti-Ageing

Kimchi is high in vitamin C, which is responsible for collagen production. This protein keeps the skin youthful, maintains its firmness, reduces wrinkles, and slows the ageing process.

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