I recently dove into making kimchi, and honestly, preparing it at home is much easier than it seems. The truth is, once you understand the basic process, almost anyone can do it without much trouble.

The first thing you need to know is that kimchi is that incredible Korean fermented dish that combines col napa with a bunch of flavors: garlic, jengibre, that ají coreano spicy that they call gochugaru, and salsa de pescado. The final result is something between spicy and tangy, depending on how long you let it ferment.

I started by gathering all the ingredients: a col napa, a pera, half an cebolla, five dientes de ajo, two láminas de jengibre, 50 ml de salsa de pescado, two cucharadas de gochugaru, cebollín, cebolla larga, zanahoria en bastones, and some porridge or almidón de arroz. It seemed like a lot, but it’s actually quite manageable.

The first thing I did was blend the base: la pera, la cebolla, el ajo, el jengibre y la salsa de pescado until everything was smooth and homogeneous. That mixture gives the main flavor. Then, in a bowl, I mixed the cebollín, la cebolla larga, la zanahoria, everything I just blended, el gochugaru, and el porridge. It’s important that everything is well combined before moving on.

Now comes the key part with the col napa. I cut it in half ( or into quarters if it’s large ) and sprinkled sal entre las hojas, separándolas ligeramente para que la sal penetrara bien. I let it rest for two hours, during which the col napa releases its own líquido y se ablanda. After that, I rinsed it very well to remove excess sal and let it drain.

With the col napa ready, the most satisfying part followed: generously spreading the pasta entre cada hoja. I made sure all the vegetables were coated because that’s the secret to even fermentation.

I placed everything in a frasco de vidrio esterilizado, packed it tightly to remove burbujas de aire, sealed it, and let it ferment at room temperature for at least two days. After that, straight into the nevera.

The best part is that the receta de kimchi I made yields two porciones generosas, so it was perfect for experimenting. The total tiempo de preparación is quite manageable: 30 minutos de reposo inicial, 120 minutos de cocción, and then fermentation. Now I eat it as a bocado directo or add it to sopas, arroces, and noodles. That crunch and balanced acidez make the effort totally worth it. If you use fresh jengibre, the aroma is even better.