Why kimchi is a verb in Korean

I. The Jeolla tradition

I am from Gwangju, in the Jeolla region, and I am biased about kimchi. The kimchi of Jeolla province is the most complex regional kimchi tradition in Korea — in my opinion and in the opinion of most Korean food scholars who have written about the regional variations.

Jeolla kimchi uses more jeotgal — fermented seafood — than the kimchi of other regions. Fermented oysters, fermented shrimp, fermented yellow croaker. The seafood fermentation contributes an umami depth that kimchi made with less or no jeotgal does not have. Jeolla kimchi is also more generously seasoned. The gochugaru is present in larger quantities, the garlic is more aggressive, the ginger is more forward.

II. What kimchi is, technically

Napa cabbage kimchi — baechu kimchi — is made by salting the cabbage to draw out moisture, rinsing and draining, then mixing with a paste made from gochugaru, garlic, ginger, salted shrimp or fish sauce, jeotgal if using, and sometimes sugar. The paste is worked between the leaves and packed into containers.

The fermentation is lactic acid fermentation — the same process as yogurt and sauerkraut. Bacteria naturally present on the cabbage and in the paste (primarily Leuconostoc and Lactobacillus species) produce lactic acid that preserves the kimchi and develops its flavour. Fresh kimchi — geotjeori — is unfermented, made and eaten the same day. Both are correct. They are different foods.

III. The refrigerator

The kimchi refrigerator is a specific appliance that exists in approximately 80 percent of Korean households. It is not a regular refrigerator that happens to hold kimchi. It is an appliance designed to maintain the specific temperature and humidity conditions that allow kimchi to ferment slowly and consistently, replicating the conditions of the onggi crocks buried in the ground.

The onggi maintained a temperature of approximately 4°C even in winter, which is cool enough to slow the fermentation without stopping it. A regular refrigerator at 0 to 2°C stops the fermentation almost entirely. The kimchi refrigerator, set to 4°C with adjustable settings, allows the kimchi to continue developing over months.

IV. The UNESCO registration

In 2013, kimjang was added to UNESCO's list of Intangible Cultural Heritage. The citation emphasised the community aspects — the sharing of labour, the redistribution of food across households, the spirit of cooperation. I have mixed feelings about this that I will describe plainly.

The recognition is appropriate. Kimjang has maintained community bonds in Korean society for centuries and is now under pressure from urbanisation. But the UNESCO listing has created a kind of museum effect — the practice has been aestheticised in a way that sometimes feels more like preservation of something already lost than celebration of something living. The act of naming something Intangible Cultural Heritage implicitly acknowledges its fragility.

Recipe — Baechu Kimchi · Napa Cabbage Kimchi

Eun-young Kim · Gwangju · one head · 3 hours active · weeks to age

• 1 head
• 2 hours salt
• 2 days room ferment
• ∞ in the fridge

The Ingredients

• 1 medium napa cabbage (≈2 kg)
• 60 g coarse sea salt (for salting)
• 200 ml water
• 80 g gochugaru (Korean red pepper flakes)
• 6 garlic cloves, minced to paste
• 1 tsp fresh ginger, grated
• 2 tbsp fish sauce (or saeujeot — salted shrimp)
• 1 tsp sugar
• 4 scallions, in 3 cm pieces
• 100 g daikon radish, julienned (optional)

The method

1. Quarter the cabbage lengthwise. Toss with salt between each leaf. Let sit 2 hours, turning once, until wilted.
2. Rinse thoroughly three times. Drain and squeeze out excess water.
3. Mix all paste ingredients together until they form a wet, dense paste.
4. Working leaf by leaf, rub paste between each layer of each cabbage quarter. Use gloves — gochugaru stains.
5. Pack tightly into a clean jar. Press down firmly so the cabbage is submerged in its own liquid. Leave 2 to 3 cm of space at the top.
6. Leave at room temperature 1 to 2 days. Taste daily. When it has developed a slight sourness, move to the refrigerator. Eat fresh or aged — each state is correct.

About the contributor

Eun-young Kim

Eun-young Kim writes about kimchi, kimjang, and the Jeolla food tradition from Gwangju, South Korea. She does kimjang with her neighbors every November and is biased about Jeolla kimchi.

Editor’s notes — the longer view

A note on the kimchi refrigerator. If you are buying one outside of Korea, the major brands — Dimchae, Winia, LG — are now sold in North American and European markets. They are not cheap. A kimchi refrigerator is a workhorse that runs for a decade and pays for itself in the kimchi that stays correct for months instead of becoming sour vegetable mush in three weeks.

A note on jeotgal. Saeujeot — salted fermented shrimp — is the most accessible jeotgal for non-Korean kitchens and is sold in Korean grocery stores in small plastic tubs. Use a teaspoon at a time. If you cannot find saeujeot, fish sauce is the correct substitute. Anchovy paste is not.

A note on the gochugaru. Korean gochugaru is sun-dried, coarse-flake, and bright red. It is not paprika and it is not cayenne. The substitution is the most common kimchi mistake. Paprika tastes of bell pepper. Cayenne is heat without flavour. Gochugaru carries the slow-burn warmth and the fruit that the paste is built around. There is no shortcut.

A note on the smell. Your fridge will smell. This is not a problem to solve. It is the smell of food that is alive. The kimchi refrigerator exists in part to keep that smell out of the main refrigerator. If yours is a single-fridge kitchen, use a glass jar with a tight lid and accept that opening the jar is an event.

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