The Capsule Pantry: Korean Kimchi (With 8 variations and 4 ways to use it)

Welcome to funky town

My Kimchi just before fermentation-fun-time

Welcome to The Capsule Pantry. Highly flexible, waste-reducing recipes delivered to your inbox every Wednesday, designed to be adapted to what’s in your fridge and pantry. The Capsule Pantry is paid-subscriber only. If you’d like full access, sign up for $5 a month or $50 a year and revolutionize the way you cook today.

I’ve put off writing about Kimchi — even though I adore it in all its funky fermented glory — because it never felt very Simple and Straightforward-friendly. There are some weird ingredients in here that you might only ever use for making Kimchi and the recipe isn’t hugely flexible.

But — and it’s a big but — if you try making this recipe and like the results, those odd ingredients (there are only two of them and they can be substituted) will disappear faster than you can say hoo boy that’s some damn fine Kimchi.

And I’ve got 4 tasty recipes for how to use it — and the internet will provide you with scores more.

For those not in the know, Kimchi is white cabbage fermented with Korean chilli flakes, ginger, garlic and onion. It’s kinda like sauerkraut’s loud, slightly obnoxious, fun and slightly unpredictable cousin.

The fermentation starts after a couple of days and you can keep the stuff for around 2-3 weeks depending on how strong you like the flavors. I warn you though, back when I wasn’t lugging my life around in a suitcase, a pot would never last more than a week, it was too moreish.

Here’s my tried and tested recipe courtesy of the excellent Lizzie Mabbott aka recipe author Hollow Legs.

The original recipe

Makes one large Kilner jar