How to Make Authentic Seoul-Style Kimjang Kimchi (20kg Recipe)

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 Today we are tackling a big one: traditional Kimjang Kimchi. This is the large-batch kimchi-making event that Koreans do in late autumn to prepare for the winter.

This recipe from "Recipes for daughters" is for a Central-style (Seoul) Kimchi, which is known for being less heavy on fermented fish sauce and having a cleaner taste. This is a large 20kg (44 lb) recipe, so it's a serious project!

A crucial tip from the video: When you receive your pre-salted cabbage, do not rinse it with plain tap water, as this can make it mushy and bland. If you must rinse it, use a light saltwater solution.


πŸ₯¬ Ingredients (for 20kg Salted Cabbage)

[Broth & Porridge Base]

  • 4 Liters Water

  • 3 Dried Pollack (Hwangtae) heads

  • 1-2 large Green Onions (white part)

  • 1 large piece of Dashima (Kelp)

  • 1 large piece of Korean Radish (Mu)

  • 2 cups Glutinous Rice (sweet rice), soaked for 30+ mins

[Vegetables]

  • 3 Korean Radishes (Mu), julienned

  • 1 kg (2.2 lbs) Chives (Jjokpa)

  • 500g (1.1 lbs) Mustard Greens (Gat)

  • 2-3 large Green Onions (Dae-pa)

  • (Optional) Cheonggak (seaweed)

[Seasoning (The "Sok")]

  • Gochugaru (Korean red pepper powder) - Amount needed to coat radishes + mix in

  • 1 cup (or more) Myeolchi Aekjeot (Anchovy fish sauce)

  • 1 cup (or more) Sae-u-jeot (Salted fermented shrimp)

  • 1 cup (or more) Fresh raw shrimp

  • 2 cups (or more) Minced Garlic

  • 1 cup Minced Ginger

  • ~1/2 cup Sugar

  • ~2 Tbsp Cheonilyeom (Korean coarse sea salt), to taste

  • (Optional) 1 Tbsp MSG (to enhance flavor if your fermented sauces are "clean")

🍳 Instructions

Part 1: Broth & Glutinous Rice Porridge

  1. Make the Broth: In a large pot, add 4L of water, dried pollack heads, large green onions, dashima, and radish. Bring to a boil, then reduce to medium-low and simmer for 30 minutes.

  2. Strain: After 30 minutes, strain the broth, discarding all the solids. (Unlike in soup, it's okay to boil the dashima for the full 30 mins for kimchi).

  3. Make the Porridge: Add the 2 cups of soaked glutinous rice to the broth. Bring to a boil, then simmer, stirring occasionally, until the rice grains are very soft and falling apart (about 15-20 minutes). It should look like a very loose rice porridge.

  4. Cool: Set the porridge aside to cool down completely. This is very important.

Part 2: Preparing the Cabbage & Vegetables

  1. Drain Cabbage: Place the pre-salted cabbage (baechu) upside down on a rack to drain. This should take 1-2 hours. Do not drain it for too long, or it will become dry.

  2. Prep Radish: Julienne the 3 radishes. In a very large bowl, mix the julienned radish with a generous amount of Gochugaru (red pepper powder) until they are all stained red. Let this sit while you prep other vegetables; this helps the color set and draws out moisture.

  3. Prep Other Veggies:

    • Mustard Greens (Gat): Chop into small, 1-2 cm pieces.

    • Chives (Jjokpa): Finely chop the white bulbous parts and cut the green parts into slightly longer 2-3 cm pieces.

    • Green Onions (Dae-pa): Slice thinly.

Part 3: Making the Kimchi Paste ("Sok")

  1. Combine: To the large bowl of red-stained radish, add the cooled glutinous rice porridge, fish sauce, salted shrimp, fresh shrimp, minced garlic, minced ginger, and sugar.

  2. Add Vegetables: Add all the chopped mustard greens, chives, and green onions.

  3. Mix: Mix everything thoroughly with your hands (wear gloves!). This is your final kimchi paste, or "sok."

  4. Taste Test (Crucial!): This is the most important part. Take one of your drained cabbage leaves and wrap it around a small bit of the kimchi paste. Taste it.

    • Is it balanced? If the cabbage seems very salty, your paste should be slightly less salty. If the cabbage seems bland, your paste needs to be saltier.

    • Adjust: Add more coarse sea salt (Cheonilyeom) to the paste as needed. For Kimjang, it's better to be slightly salty than bland, as it will be stored for a long time. The video-maker added one spoon of salt.

Part 4: Stuffing the Cabbage

  1. Take a head of cabbage and, starting from the inner leaves, spread a thin layer of the kimchi paste between each leaf.

  2. Don't overstuff; just lightly paint the leaves. Add a slightly more generous amount near the white stem part.

  3. Once all leaves are coated, wrap the whole head with the outermost leaf to create a neat bundle.

  4. Place the bundle in your kimchi container, packing it down tightly.

Part 5: Fermentation & Storage

  1. Pack the kimchi containers, pressing down to remove air. Cover the top of the kimchi with a clean plastic sheet, pressing it against the kimchi to block air.

  2. Leave the containers in a cool (not warm) place, like a veranda or garage, for 24 hours to start the fermentation.

  3. After 24 hours, move the containers to your kimchi refrigerator (or a very cold, stable-temperature regular refrigerator).


This recipe is an adaptation based on the 'Seoul-Style Kimjang Kimchi' video by the YouTube channel "Recipes for daughters" (딸을 μœ„ν•œ λ ˆμ‹œν”Ό). This is a large-volume, advanced recipe. All photos in this post are my own.

You can watch the original video here: https://youtu.be/yCAmXF76lxs