To be honest, I couldn’t stand kimchi the very first time I tried it. I thought it was way too sour to enjoy and I wasn’t really digging fermented stuff. A few years later, however, I found a super tasty version at a Korean BBQ place in Philly. Now with this recipe I’m taking it one step further. Making your own kimchi is great, it gives you the ability to adjust the sour and spice levels, plus you can pretty much add your favorite vegetables.
Some recipes use fish sauce, but that can be replaced by some soy sauce and salt. Once you’ve tried making your own kimchi, you’ll realize just how easy it is! I used a mix of ramps (my favorite spring vegetable, but use scallions if you can’t find ramps), napa cabbage and baby bok choy. And feel free to experiment with the greens you have, as long as it adds to about a pound of greens. Other vegetables like radishes, cucumber, carrots, kale, mustard greens or Swiss chard can also be used.
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Roughly chop your vegetables.
In a bowl, toss together cabbage, bok choy, ramps and remaining ingredients.
Evenly fill containers with mixture, then seal and keep at room temperature for 2-3 days, then store in fridge.
Kimchi with Ramps, Cabbage and Bok Choy
Clean and roughly chop the ramps, cabbage and bok choy. In a large bowl, combine all of the ingredients and mix together until well combined.
Evenly fill a half gallon or two quart jars with greens mixture and let sit at room temperature for 2-3 days, taste testing how sour you prefer the kimchi. While the greens sit, give the jars a shake or stir so the greens at the top will transfer to the bottom of the jar. Place jars in the fridge once the taste is to your liking and in about a week the kimchi is ready. You will know when the greens will smell a bit sour.
Total Time: 15 minutes, plus 2-3 days for fermentation
Yield: 4-6 servings
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I love these flavors! I’ve never tried making kimchi before but now your recipe makes it seem so easy. Thanks for sharing, Barb!
Thanks, Betty Ann 🙂 Yes, you should try making it sometime. It’s easier than you think!
Thanks for the recipe. It’s on day 1 of fermenting. I didn’t have sesame oil so I just threw in some sesame seeds…I hope that the oil wasn’t integral to the recipe. Can you use other oils?
Hi, thanks for your comment! Hmm, I have never substituted sesame seeds for sesame oil. It has such a distinct flavor so I’m not sure if the seeds would give a different effect for the kimchi. I think peanut oil would be the closest substitute because they both have nutty flavors. I also looked it up and read on food52.com for a ‘DIY’ sesame oil: toast some sesame seed and then add some vegetable oil and try to infuse it, and then once it cools completely, you could try to purée it to infuse the flavor even more.
Let me know how the kimchi turns out, I’m really curious! And if anyone’s reading and has ever used sesame seeds, please weigh in 🙂
So my kimchi has finished 3 days of fermenting. It tastes good just because it’s kimchi, but I think that I put too much ginger. I didn’t taste any sesame flavor either. It’s still very good though. I’ll just buy some sesame oil for next time but it’s been hard to find. Thanks again for the recipe! It’s so easy to make.
Hi, thanks so much for the update! I’m glad it still tastes good. If you have time, maybe try that method I wrote above for homemade sesame oil.