If you’re not a fan of super-spicy kimchi, this white kimchi is perfect for you! Low-carb, Paleo, vegan.
White kimchi is delicious and works as a side for any meal!
Occasionally, I like to eat really spicy foods, but I’m honestly somewhat of a lightweight. My eyes are very sensitive to wind, onions and eating spicy foods. I do love the taste, so sometimes I will eat it anyway, but I always end up with red, watery eyes, which are no fun.
For this reason, I tend to avoid making large batches of spicy foods, even though I do really enjoy them. This white kimchi is a very mild version of kimchi, with more flavor and pretty much no added spice.
It contains green onions, garlic and ginger, and well, those are all definitely my kind of flavor profile. I’ve recently gotten into fermenting, and this recipe is one that I know I will be coming back to over and over. It’s very much a winner in my book!
You can eat it as a side for pretty much any meal, or you could mix it in with rice or noodles. You can let it sit in the fridge for a month or more, and it should still be just fine. It’s also great when you don’t want to make a labor-intensive meal, you simply scoop it out of the container onto your plate, and it’s ready to eat!
White kimchi is simple to make, and lasts a very long time in the fridge.
So if you’ve never fermented anything before (you probably have accidently, though ;)), it’s really not difficult at all! Kimchi is a great one to start with, because it only takes a few days, unlike traditional sauerkraut, which takes weeks or even longer to ferment.
I really like this Mason Tops fermenting kit, but you really don’t need anything to get started, you’ll just have to commit to “burping” your jars once a day, so that the pressure doesn’t build up inside while they work their magic.
You’ll need the following ingredients for this recipe:
- Napa cabbage, aka Chinese cabbage
- Carrots
- Green onions
- Ginger
- Garlic
- Non-iodized salt
- Filtered, non-chlorinated water
Those last two points are important – you don’t want iodine in the salt you use, since it will impart a strong flavor on the ferment, and you don’t want chlorinated water, as it will kill the good bacteria you need to do the fermenting.
First, you’ll want to dice up the Napa cabbage. Sprinkle it with salt, mix, and place it in a large bowl. Cover it with something heavy, so that the juices begin to release. Let it sit for 1-2 hours.
Prep your remaining ingredients by mincing the garlic and ginger, peeling and julienning the carrot, and cutting the green onion into small rounds. Once the Napa cabbage is done, drain the liquid and rinse off the cabbage.
Mix the cabbage with the remaining ingredients and stir well to combine. Pack tightly into quart mason jars, leaving around 2 inches of space at the top of the jar. Pour brine on top of the kimchi, until 2 inches below top of the jar.
Place a fermentation weight, or a heavy object (rocks work well after they’ve been thoroughly cleaned) on top of the kimchi mixture, ensuring that all of the food stay below the water line, so they don’t spoil.
Secure a lid loosely on the jars. Place in a cool, dry place for 3-5 days. You’ll want to burp the jars every day, which means opening the lid just enough to allow excess gas to escape, but not opening the jar wide to see inside. This just requires lifting the lid a teeny bit for half a second.
Do not take the lid off until 3-5 days has passed (3 days if it’s 70 degrees or more, and 5 if it’s closer to 60 degrees). After the 3-5 days, take the lid off and taste test the kimchi. If it tastes done, put the lid back on and move it to the fridge, where you do not have to continue burping it (the fermentation lid can come off). It should store fine for a month or more.
What are the health benefits of kimchi?
Kimchi is a living food, so it is full of good probiotics. If you have been on a course of antibiotics recently, then your body can probably do with some beneficial bacteria in your gut, and kimchi is a great way to do that.
Kimchi is also known to boost the immune system and even reduce inflammation!
Do I need a special fermentation kit to ferment cabbage?
No, you do not! All you really need is a large jar (quart size or larger works best), with the two-piece lid it comes with, and the food you want to ferment. If you decide to go this route, you will need to burp the jars once a day until they finish fermenting.
This means that you open up the jar just a tiny bit for a second, to allow the gas to escape. You don’t want to allow air to enter the jar, so definitely don’t open the jar up wide to look at the contents. Save that for when it is finished fermenting.
If you give this white kimchi a try, please let me know what you think in the comments below. Also be sure to follow me on Facebook and Pinterest so you don’t miss a recipe!
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White Kimchi
Ingredients
- 1 medium Napa cabbage aka Chinese cabbage
- 3 medium carrots peeled and julienned
- 1 bunch green onions sliced on the diagonal
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon ginger minced
- 3 tablespoons non-iodized salt
- 1 to 1.5 cups filtered non-chlorinated water or enough to fill the container you are fermenting the kimchi in
Instructions
- Cut up Napa cabbage into 1 inch pieces. Pour into a large bowl and sprinkle it with 2 tablespoons of non-iodized salt. Allow to sit for 1-2 hours, covered with something heavy, to help release the juices.
- Prep the remaining ingredients by mincing the garlic and ginger, peeling and julienning the carrot, and slicing the green onion into small rounds. Once the Napa cabbage is done, drain the liquid and rinse off the cabbage.
- Mix the cabbage in with the other ingredients, and stir to combine. Pack tightly into quart mason jars, leaving 2 inches of head space at the top of the jar. Pour brine on top of the kimchi.
- Place a fermentation weight, or a heavy object (rocks work well after they've been thoroughly cleaned), on top of the mixture, ensuring that all the food particles remain below the water line.
- Secure a lid on the jars, but don't tighten it down really hard. Place in a cool, dry place for 3-5 days. Burp the jars once a day by lifting the lid just slightly for half a second. Do not open the jar wide to see the contents inside. Tighten lid back down.
- After 3-5 days (depending on the temperature where you keep it. 3 days if it's 70 degrees or above, and closer to 5 days if the temperature is closer to 60 degrees), take the lid off and taste test the kimchi. If it tastes fermented, put the lid on and move it to the fridge. If needed, ferment for another day or two. Store in the fridge for a month.
2 comments
I’ve made the White Kimchi recipe but was confused by the addition of ‘filtered non-chlorinated water’ since the recipe didn’t indicate how much to use. Please tell me how much water to use for the brine which appears to be made with 3Tbsp salt!!
Hi Sally, you will use as much water as needed to fill the container you are using. For me, it was 1 cup. I have noted this in the recipe card. Thank you for asking, and sorry for the confusion!