Description
A delicious recipe for Korean fermented napa cabbage, perfect for enhancing your meals with a tangy flavor.
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 head napa cabbage (approximately 1800 g per head)
- 1 cup kosher salt, or as needed for salting
- 250 ml water
- 35 g rice flour (regular or glutinous)
- ½ large apple, core removed, chopped (fuji, honeycrisp, gala, or Korean pear)
- ½ medium yellow onion, peeled and chopped
- 15 cloves garlic, trimmed
- 1 inch knob ginger, peeled and chopped
- 1 tablespoon mushroom powder
- ½ tablespoon kosher salt
- 1 cup gochugaru (Korean coarse red pepper flakes), divided
- 225 g Korean radish, peeled and julienned
- 115 g carrot, peeled and julienned
- 85 g Asian chives, cut into 2 cm pieces (green onion optional)
Instructions
- Remove any discolored or tough outer leaves from the napa cabbage and quarter it lengthwise.
- Wash each quarter under running water, ensuring all dirt is removed, then drain well.
- Generously sprinkle kosher salt between each cabbage leaf, concentrating extra salt at the stems.
- Place cabbage quarters into a large bowl, stacking them, cover, and press with a weight. Allow to salt for 90 to 120 minutes, rotating every 30 minutes.
- Sample a leaf to test for adequate seasoning and rinse each cabbage quarter with fresh water thoroughly.
- While cabbage salts, whisk together water and rice flour in a saucepan until lump-free, then cook until thickened and translucent.
- Transfer the paste to a large mixing bowl and allow to cool.
- In a blender, combine apple, onion, garlic, ginger, mushroom powder, and kosher salt, processing until smooth.
- Add half the gochugaru to the blender and process until smooth, then transfer to the bowl with cooled rice flour paste and stir in remaining gochugaru.
- Using gloves, mix in julienned Korean radish, carrot, and Asian chives until thoroughly coated.
- Take one quarter of salted and rinsed napa cabbage and spread the marinade between all leaves, then pack tightly into jars.
- Allow 1 to 2 cm headspace for fermentation, enjoy immediately or ferment for 1 week for a tangy flavor.
Notes
- For best results, taste the seasoning of the cabbage after salting to achieve your desired saltiness.
- If you prefer a milder flavor, shorten the fermentation time.
- Serve as a side dish or incorporate into various Korean recipes.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Category: Side Dish
- Method: Fermentation
- Cuisine: Korean
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/4 jar
- Calories: 80
- Sugar: 3 g
- Sodium: 1300 mg
- Fat: 1 g
- Saturated Fat: 0 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 0 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 16 g
- Fiber: 3 g
- Protein: 4 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg