NOTES: Followed amounts mostly so see if spicy and adjust.
READ ME: Typical is about 4 lb so double recipe. Requires 4 large jars and 2 big bowls. This was a decent about of liquid/sauce. Don't add more because can add more into jars if needed. When adding to jars, press down as much as possible.
CABBAGE
2 lbs napa or savoy cabbage
1 Tbsp sea salt
SAUCE
2 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp sugar (or 1/4 cup pineapple juice) - if using O’Food Gochujang Korean Chili Sauce can probably omit sugar as it has more sugar than this
1/4 cup warm water
CHILI SAUCE
3 Tbsp fresh ginger (peeled and chopped)
1 head garlic (1 head yields ~1/3 cup cloves)
1 small white onion (or sub 1/2 large per 1 small)
1/4 cup red chili flake
1/2 cup gochugaru paste/sauce
VEGETABLES
2 whole carrots (finely chopped or grated into matchsticks)
6 green onions (roughly chopped)
Rinse cabbage and cut into bite sized pieces.
Dissolve salt in 2 cups of water and add to cabbage and toss well to coat evenly. Allow to rest for 30 mins.
Mix/press down cabbage/salt mixture every 30 min over 2 hours.
Drain cabbage and rinse.
Blend sauce ingredients in a food processor (note small food processor was just barely enough for 1.5x/3 lbs cabbage).
Add carrots and green onion along with the sauce and stir to combine.
Sanitize jars with starsan and add mixture to jars.
Pack down so there isn't much headspace (some is okay). Try to make sure there is enough sauce/liquid to cover everything.
Ferment in fridge or at room temp for 1-3 days.
Each day, press down to press out air bubbles and ensure the kimchi is immersed in liquid.
OLD
Quarter your well-rinsed and dried cabbage removing the bottom core
Place your cabbage in a large mixing bowl and begin packing a generous amount of sea salt in between each of the leaves.
Lift each individual leaf and sprinkling with sea salt. Repeat until all leaves have been salted.
Press down and let rest for 30 minutes.
Add both sauce ingredients to a food processor and blend.
Wash your hands and turn each section of cabbage over so it’s facing the opposite direction. Then pack down with hands to compress. You’ll repeat this process 3 more times (for a total of 4 times), waiting 30 minutes in between, and washing hands before touching cabbage.
Add sauce to chopped carrots and green onion. Stir. Cover and set aside.
Sanitize glass container.
Rinse each section of cabbage with cold water then pat dry.
In big mixing bowl, coat each leaf with the sauce (use gloves)
Place the coated cabbage leaves in the container, packing down to ensure there is as little air as possible between leaves. Continue until all cabbage is packed in, then press down very firmly to remove air. Top with clean, sterilized lid, and set in a cool dark place (such as a cabinet, not the refrigerator) to ferment for 36 hours to 1 week (up to 21 days).
Each day it ferments, open up and press down with a clean utensil, such as a spoon, to press out air bubbles and ensure the kimchi is immersed in liquid. A good sign of proper fermentation is seeing little bubbles in the sauce when you press down.
Store in fridge.