Kimchi – The New York Times

Today, we’re going to turn this into kimchi. You start with chopped Napa cabbage, which brines so much faster than the whole heads that you might see in other recipes. When it comes to kimchi, salt is the ingredient that’s going to draw out water from the cabbage. It’s also going to preserve the cabbage. So as this sits out and ferments, lactic acid bacteria is going to form through the fermentation. The kimchi will gain a wonderful, tangy sourness. And once you just puree everything together with garlic, with ginger, or the apple, it’s really a matter of just tossing together like a salad. And then you jar it and leave it at room temperature to ferment for a couple of days. And then you pop it in the fridge to continue fermenting. The real joy of kimchi, too, is that it’s a live product.