Chef's Recipes

Momofuku's Napa cabbage kimchi

Australian Gourmet Traveller recipe for Napa cabbage kimchi by David Chang from New York restaurant Momofuku.

By David Chang
  • Serves 15
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Momofuku's Napa cabbage kimchi
“This is the kimchi we use most often in our cooking and in our restaurants.”

Ingredients

  • 1 small to medium head Napa cabbage, discoloured or loose outer leaves discarded
  • 2 tbsp kosher or coarse sea salt
  • ½ cup plus 2 tbsp sugar
  • 20 garlic cloves, minced
  • 20 slices peeled fresh ginger, minced
  • ½ cup kochukaru (Korean chilli powder)
  • ¼ cup fish sauce
  • ¼ cup usukuchi (light soy sauce)
  • 2 tsp jarred salted shrimp
  • ½ cup spring onions, coarsely chopped (greens and whites)
  • ½ cup julienned carrots

Method

Main
  • 1
    Cut the cabbage lengthwise in half, then cut the halves crosswise into 2.5cm-wide pieces. Toss the cabbage with the salt and 2 tbsp of the sugar in a bowl. Let sit overnight in the refrigerator.
  • 2
    Combine the garlic, ginger, kochukaru, fish sauce, soy sauce, shrimp and remaining ½ cup sugar in a large bowl. If it is very thick, add water 1/3 cup at a time until the brine is just thicker than a creamy salad dressing but no longer a sludge. Stir in the spring onions and carrots.
  • 3
    Drain the cabbage and add it to the brine. Cover and refrigerate. Though the kimchi will be tasty after 24 hours, it will be better in a week and at its prime in 2 weeks. It will still be good for another couple weeks after that, though it will grow incrementally stronger and funkier.

Notes

This recipe makes about 1-1.5 litres. Reprinted from
($65, hbk) by David Chang and Peter Meehan. Copyright © 2009. Published by Clarkson Potter, a division of Random House. Many of the ingredients used in these recipes are available from Asian supermarkets. Chang’s recipes have been reproduced with minor
style changes.
This recipe is from the June 2010 issue of
.

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  • undefined: David Chang