Recipe · Kimchi and sides

Quick kimchi you can eat tonight

겉절이 geotjeori is kimchi that skips the wait: salt the cabbage for an hour, toss it in a gochugaru paste and eat it the same day. Crisp, bright and garlicky.

Makes about 1 quart
Hands-on 20 min
Total about 1½ hr
Heat medium

Ingredients

Cabbage

1 small napa cabbage, about 2 lb
¼ cup coarse sea salt

Paste

1/3 cup Taekyung gochugaru, flake
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp ginger, minced
2 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp toasted sesame oil
1 tsp toasted sesame seeds

Vegetables

4 scallions, cut into 1-inch pieces
½ small onion, sliced thin (optional)

Taekyung gochugaru, flake4.7 out of 5 stars, 15,029 ratings on Amazon

Buy Flake 1 lb on Amazon

Flake 1 lb: $12.95 on Amazon.com on Oct 30, 2026. All sizes, flake or fine

Method

Cut the cabbage
Halve the cabbage from the base up, cut out the core, then cut it into 2-inch pieces.
Salt it
Toss the pieces with the salt in a big bowl and leave them for 1 hour, turning them every 20 minutes. They're ready when a thick white piece bends without snapping.
Mix the paste
Stir the gochugaru, garlic, ginger, fish sauce and sugar together in a big bowl. Let it sit for 10 minutes, so the gochugaru softens and turns deep red.
Rinse and drain
Rinse the cabbage twice in cold water and drain it for 10 minutes. Taste a piece: it should taste seasoned, not salty.
Toss it all
Put on kitchen gloves. Add the cabbage, scallions and onion to the paste and toss until every piece is red. Toss in the sesame oil and seeds.
Eat it now, or wait a day
Eat it right away, like a salad, with rice or grilled meat. Or pack it in a jar, leave it out for a day, then keep it in the fridge and eat it within a week or two.