Kimchi
Kimchi is a Korean staple of salted, fermented vegetables -- most often napa cabbage and Korean radish -- seasoned with chile flake, garlic, ginger, and usually fish sauce or salted shrimp. This page covers how to buy, store, and cook with it.
How to buy
Buy from the refrigerated case rather than a shelf-stable jar if you want a live, actively fermenting product; look for visible brine with tiny bubbles, a deep red color, and no mold or off smell. Young kimchi (sometimes sold as geotjeori) is milder and crunchier, while well-aged, sourer kimchi is better suited to cooking than eating raw. Check the label if you need a vegan version, since many traditional recipes include fish sauce or salted shrimp.
How to store
Always keep kimchi refrigerated -- it will keep fermenting and souring for months even in the fridge. Store it in a sealed container with the brine covering the vegetables, and vent the lid occasionally if gas builds up. Once it turns very sour, it's still excellent for cooking even if it's past its prime for eating straight from the jar.
Culinary profile
- Flavor
- Funky, sour, and spicy all at once, with a garlicky savoriness from fish sauce or shrimp underneath. Young kimchi tastes bright, salty, and mildly spicy with a clean crunch; as it ages it turns progressively more sour and pungent, which is exactly what makes aged kimchi so good simmered into stews and fried rice.
- Texture
- Crisp, juicy cabbage leaves and crunchy radish pieces when fresh. The vegetables soften and turn more pliable the longer the kimchi ferments, and cooking softens them further while leaving some pleasant bite.
- Aroma
- Pungent and funky from lactic acid fermentation, with a sharp garlic-and-chile edge that intensifies noticeably as the kimchi ages.
How to prepare
- Fresh/young — Eaten straight from the jar as banchan alongside rice and other dishes.
- Stir-fried — Sautéed in oil to mellow the sourness and concentrate flavor for fried rice or side dishes.
- Stewed — Simmered at length with pork or tofu, where its acid and funk season the whole broth.
- Pan-fried in batter — Chopped and mixed into a savory pancake batter for kimchi jeon.
Classic dishes
American
- Kimchi burger — A Korean-American fusion burger topped with a kimchi-based slaw.
- Kimchi quesadilla — A fusion quesadilla filled with melted cheese and chopped kimchi.
- Kimchi grilled cheese — A sandwich where chopped kimchi cuts through melted cheese for tang and crunch.
- Kimchi fries — French fries topped with kimchi, cheese, and often bulgogi or a spicy mayo.
Korean
- Kimchi jjigae — A hearty stew of aged kimchi simmered with pork or tofu in a spicy, sour broth.
- Budae jjigae — An army-base stew combining kimchi with spam, sausage, and instant ramen noodles.
- Kimchi bokkeumbap — Fried rice studded with chopped kimchi, often finished with a fried egg on top.
- Kimchi jeon — A savory pancake made from chopped kimchi folded into batter and pan-fried crisp.
- Kimchi mandu — Dumplings filled with chopped kimchi, pork, and tofu.
- Kimchi soondubu jjigae — A soft tofu stew spiked with kimchi for sour depth.
- Kimchijjim — Pork belly braised slowly with aged kimchi until tender and deeply flavored.
- Kimchi ramyeon — Instant noodles boiled together with kimchi for extra tang and heat.
- Kimchi bokkeum — Kimchi simply stir-fried with sesame oil as a simple banchan side dish.
- Kimchi guk — A lighter kimchi soup, often with tofu, less intense than jjigae.
- Bibimbap — A rice bowl where kimchi is one of several banchan mixed in with vegetables and gochujang.
- Kimchi bokkeum udon — Udon noodles stir-fried with kimchi and often pork belly.
- Kimchi mandu-guk — A dumpling soup where kimchi dumplings season the broth.
Substitutions
- Sauerkraut — A reasonable stand-in for texture and sourness in sandwiches or stews, though it lacks kimchi's chile heat and garlicky funk.