Kimchi is Korea’s national treasure in a jar: cabbage and other vegetables salted, spiced, and fermented into something tangy, funky, spicy, and alive. Kimchi Day falls on November 22, a date chosen to reflect the many ingredients that come together in a single dish.
More than a side dish
Kimchi is not one recipe but hundreds. The famous version is made with napa cabbage, but there are radish kimchis, cucumber kimchis, green onion kimchis, and countless regional and family variations. It appears at virtually every Korean meal as banchan, a side dish, and works its way into stews, fried rice, pancakes, and more.
The November 22 date is symbolic, nodding to the idea that eleven ingredients combine on the twenty-second to make one dish, a fitting tribute to how many elements go into a good batch. South Korea designated it an official day, and it has been recognized elsewhere, including by several US states.
The magic of fermentation
What makes kimchi special is fermentation. Salted vegetables and a spicy paste are left to ferment, and naturally present bacteria transform the mixture over days and weeks, souring it, deepening the flavor, and creating that signature tang and fizz. This is the same family of good bacteria found in yogurt and sauerkraut, and fermented foods like these have been valued for gut health for a very long time.
Fresh kimchi is crunchy and mild; aged kimchi turns sour and funky and is prized for cooking. Both are good; they are just different stages of the same living food.
Make a batch
Making kimchi is a satisfying weekend project. Salt napa cabbage until it wilts and releases water, rinse it, and coat it in a paste of gochugaru, which is Korean chili flakes, plus garlic, ginger, fish sauce, and often a little sugar and grated pear or radish. Pack it tightly into a jar, leave room at the top, and let it ferment at room temperature for a day or two before moving it to the fridge.
Taste as it goes and burp the jar to release gas. It will keep improving for weeks. A dedicated fermentation container makes it tidier, but a clean jar works fine.
Cook with it
Once you have kimchi, a world of dishes opens up. Older, sour kimchi is fantastic fried with rice, folded into savory pancakes, or simmered into kimchi jjigae, a hearty stew. Even store-bought kimchi, eaten straight from the jar alongside almost any meal, adds a bright, spicy, probiotic kick. Today is a great day to grab a jar, try it a few new ways, and appreciate one of the world’s great fermented foods.
How to celebrate
- 1Make a weekend batch
Kimchi is a satisfying project. Salt napa cabbage until it wilts, rinse it, and coat it in a paste of gochugaru, garlic, ginger, and fish sauce. Pack it tightly into a jar, leave headspace, and let it ferment at room temperature for a day or two.
- 2Taste it as it ferments
Fresh kimchi is crunchy and mild; as it sits, it grows sour, funky, and fizzy. Taste it every day and move it to the fridge when it reaches a tang you like. Burp the jar to release the gas that builds up.
- 3Cook with older kimchi
Sour, aged kimchi is a cooking powerhouse. Fry it into kimchi fried rice, fold it into savory pancakes, or simmer it into kimchi jjigae, a hearty stew. Do not toss kimchi that has gone tangy; that is when it is best for cooking.
- 4Buy a jar and branch out
No time to ferment? A jar of good store-bought kimchi is a great start. Eat it straight as a side with almost any meal, then try it in a grilled cheese, on a taco, or stirred into fried rice. It brightens up nearly everything.
- 5Appreciate the fermentation
Kimchi is a living food, full of the same kind of beneficial bacteria found in yogurt and sauerkraut. Fermented foods like these have been valued for gut health for generations. Today is a good day to add a little to your plate.