This homemade vegan kimchi is fun to make and packed with spicy flavor! The perfect side for all your favorite Korean dishes.
Word to the wise: be careful when ordering kimchi at a restaurant or buying it at the supermarket! Not all kimchi is vegan. In fact, conventional kimchi is often made with ingredients like fish sauce and shrimp paste, so it's not even vegetarian.
I always check the ingredients and/or ask, but unfortunately, sometimes vegan kimchi just isn't available.
That's why I started making my own. I LOVE kimchi, and I like to have some on hand when a craving hits. Plus, homemade kimchi tends to be tastier than a lot of what's available at the store.
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What is Kimchi?
Kimchi is a staple in Korean cuisine. It's made from fermented vegetables, with the primary ingredient being napa cabbage. Kimchi also includes a handful of aromatics as well as Korean red chili powder, which give it it's characteristic spicy flavor.
Kimchi can be served as a condiment, side dish, or incorporated into a recipe (see a few examples at the bottom of this post!). It's loaded with flavor and gut-friendly probiotics (i.e. good bacteria).
Ingredients You'll Need
- Salt.
- Napa cabbage. Napa is a Chinese variety of cabbage that's available at most supermarkets and Asian markets.
- Gochugaru. This variety of Korean red pepper flakes is essential, and it's the primary ingredient that will give flavor to our vegan kimchi. Look for it in an Asian market or online.
- Garlic.
- Ginger.
- Pear. Just about any variety of pear will work. You could even use an apple!
- Gochujang. This is a type of Korean red chili paste that you can get in an Asian market.
- Miso paste. Red or white miso paste can be used (the image above shows red). Most supermarkets carry it, but since you're making a trip to the Asian market anyway, you might as well pick it up there!
- Daikon radish. Daikon is a Japanese variety of radish that you can find in Asian markets.
- Scallions. Also known as green onion.
How It's Made
The following is a detailed photo tutorial on how to make this dish. Scroll all the way down if you'd like to skip right to the recipe!
- Prep and salt your cabbage first. Cut or tear the head into bite-sized pieces. l like to cut mine in quarters, then roughly chop each quarter.
- Dissolve ½ cup of salt in 3 quarts of water. The best way to do this is to heat one quart of water, dissolve the salt in that by stirring, then add 2 quarts of cold water. Check the temperature by hand. It's important that your water isn't hot when you add the cabbage.
- Place the water and cabbage into a large pot, such as a stock pot. Submerge the cabbage as best you can. I like to place a large dinner plate over the cabbage to push it down. You can add up to 1 additional quart of water if it's needed in order to submerge all of the cabbage.
- Let your cabbage soak in the salt water for 8 to 16 hours. I like to leave mine overnight.
- Once your kimchi has finished salting, drain it into a colander and rise it well to remove any excess salt.
- Let the cabbage sit in the colander for a while to drain. 30 minutes or so is sufficient if you're under time constraints, but I like to let mine sit for a couple of hours.
- Make the kimchi paste while your cabbage drains. Place the gochugaru, garlic, ginger, half of a pear (peeled and cored), gochujang and miso paste into a food processor or blender and blend the ingredients to a paste. You can add some water to help this along if needed, but try not to add too much.
Tip: A smaller blending device is the way to go when making your paste. I'm using a large Vitamix and had to do quite a bit of scraping and adding water. You could also grind the solid ingredients using a mortar and pestle, then stir them together with the other ingredients by hand.
- Place your napa cabbage and paste into a large bowl, and add thinly sliced daikon radish and chopped green onion. Stir everything up well. You can use your hands if needed, but wear gloves so you don't burn your skin.
Tip: Avoid using metal tools, as metal can interfere with the fermentation process, with the exception being stainless steel.
- Pack your kimchi into one or more containers. Push the kimchi down so the solids are beneath a layer of liquid. I like to use glass mason jars, but plastic can be used as long as it's BPA-free.
- Make sure to leave a bit of headspace, i.e. room at the top of your container. Your kimchi will start to creep up as bubbles form underneath it during fermentation.
- Use as many containers as you need to. I'm using a half gallon mason jar, and it was a tight squeeze. I probably could have packed some into an additional, smaller jar!
- Close your containers, but not too tightly! The kimchi will release gas as it ferments and you don't want too much pressure to build up.
- Burp your kimchi containers by opening and reclosing them at least once a day. Two or three times may be necessary in warmer conditions. Be diligent about this. I've taken several kimchi showers after not staying on top of things.
- Allow your vegan kimchi to ferment at room temperature for anywhere from 3 to 21 days. The exact amount of time needed will depend on the temperature in your kitchen. Fermentation will proceed quicker under warmer conditions. It'll also depend on how sour you like your kimchi.
- Once your kimchi has finished fermenting you can serve it, cook with it, or stick it in the fridge for later.
Shelf-Life & Storage
Store your homemade vegan kimchi in an airtight container in the refrigerator. It will keep for 3 to 6 months. Kimchi will continue to ferment in the fridge, just at a slower pace, so you may notice that it gets more sour and bubbly as it ages.
How to Serve Vegan Kimchi
You can serve your kimchi as a side dish with just about any Korean meal! Try vegan bulgogi or bibimbap! Or incorporate it into one of these recipes:
Like this recipe? If so, please stop back and leave me a review and rating below if you try it! Also be sure to follow me on Facebook, Pinterest or Instagram, or subscribe to my newsletter for more recipes like this one!
Vegan Kimchi
This homemade vegan kimchi is fun to make and packed with spicy flavor! The perfect side for all your favorite Korean dishes.
Ingredients
- ½ cup salt
- 1 medium (4 pound or 1.8 kg) head of napa cabbage
- ¼ cup gochugaru, plus more to taste (up to ½ cup)
- 6 garlic cloves
- 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
- ½ medium pear, peeled and cored
- 3 tablespoons gochujang
- 2 tablespoons white or red miso paste
- 1 medium (1 pound or 450 gram) daikon radish sliced into thin strips
- 6 scallions, cut into 1-inch pieces
Instructions
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Place 1 quart of water into a large stock pot and place it over high heat. Bring the water to a simmer, then remove the pot from heat.
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Stir the salt into the water until dissolved, then stir in an additional 2 quarts of cold water.
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Next, clean and chop your napa cabbage into 1-2 inch pieces, discarding the stems.
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Test the temperature of your salt water to ensure that it's no longer hot (warm is fine). If it is you can add a bit more cold water or wait a bit.
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Add the cabbage to the pot and push it down to submerge. You can add up to another quart of water if needed. (Note 1)
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Allow the cabbage to soak in the salt water for 8 to 16 hours.
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After the cabbage has soaked, drain it into a colander and rinse it well under cold water to remove any excess salt. Allow the cabbage to sit in the colander and drain for 30 minutes to 2 hours.
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While the cabbage drains, make the paste. Place the gochugaru, garlic, ginger, pear, gochujang, and miso paste into a food processor or blender and blend to a paste. You can add up to ½ cup of water to help this along, if needed. (Note 2)
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Place the cabbage, daikon and scallions into mixing bowl and add the paste. Stir well until the ingredients are combined. You can dig in with your hands, but be sure to wear gloves if you do.
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Pack the kimchi into fermentation containers, such as glass jars, leaving at least an inch of headspace at the top. Push the vegetables down as best you can to get them below the level of the liquid.
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Allow the kimchi to ferment at room temperature for 3 to 21 days, opening the containers to release built up gasses at least once per day, or more often in warmer conditions. (Notes 3 and 4).
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When your kimchi is as sour as you want it to be, transfer the containers to the fridge for storage.
Recipe Notes
- I like to place a plate over my cabbage and press it down in order to keep most of the cabbage submerged. If you choose not to use a plate you'll need to stir your cabbage a couple times as it soaks.
- A food processor works better than a blender here, and the smaller the device the better. You can also grind the garlic, ginger, and pear using a mortar and pestle, then stir in the remaining ingredients.
- Kimchi will ferment faster under warmer conditions.
- I like to cover the tops of my jars with a towel when opening, just in case any juice sprays, which does happen sometimes!
- Recipe makes about 2 quarts of kimchi.
This seems like a much more manageable way to make kimchi than other recipes I've seen. Thanks for sharing!
It really is surprisingly simple. I've actually gotten a couple other batches going since writing the post and each time I feel like I refine the process even more, and the result is so worth it! Hope you enjoy if you give it a try :)