Kimchi: From Clay Pots to Nordic Plates

So, What Even Is Kimchi?

It’s fermented cabbage, mostly. But also radish, garlic, shrimp, onion, chili, chives, and chaos — depending on who made it.

Kimchi is Korea’s way of saying:
“We’re going to preserve this, and we’re going to make it taste incredible.”

For over a thousand years, people have been salting veg, burying it in clay pots, and letting bacteria do their thing. It wasn’t about trendiness — it was about getting through winter with something that wasn’t boring or dead.

There’s even a word for the big family-making event: Kimjang. Think of it as a national ferment-a-thon with spicy hands and shared survival.

What It’s Doing in Nordic Food

Because the logic checks out. Nordic food is also built on preserving what’s good before the snow says “nope.”

Fermented cabbage? Been there. Root veg with bite? Yep.
Add some fish sauce and chili, and suddenly kimchi fits the plate like it’s always belonged.

It brings acidity to balance fat. Heat to wake up cream. Funk to cut the cold.
We’re not fusing cuisines. We’re just letting them talk.

And when it lands under a roast pork or beside a smoked carrot or inside a sauce?
It makes sense.

Recipe: Classic Kimchi

Yield: ~3 kg
Fermentation Time: 2–8 days at ~21°C
Storage: 1 month refrigerated, 6 months frozen

Ingredients

• 2700 g cabbage (halved or cut into 5 × 5 cm chunks)

• 100 g radish, julienned

• 100 g carrots, julienned

• 8 spring onions, chopped

• 50 g Asian chives (buchu), chopped

• 60 g non-iodized salt

• 500 g water

• 20 g glutinous rice flour (sweet rice flour)

• 25 g brown sugar

• 100 g garlic, minced

• 50 g ginger, grated

• 50 g onion, minced

• 125 g fish sauce

• 60 g salted fermented shrimp (saeujeot)

• 100 g Korean red pepper flakes (gochugaru)

Equipment

• Fermentation jar, crock, or vac-bag (non-metal)

• Airlock (optional, but recommended)

• Clean hands and sanitized tools

Preparation

1. Prep the Cabbage
   Wash and cut the cabbage in half or into squares (about 5 × 5 cm). Rub it thoroughly with salt — getting between leaves if halved. Set aside to soften and release moisture.

2. Make the Marinade Base
   In a small pot, mix the water and glutinous rice flour. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until it starts to bubble (about 10 minutes). Add the brown sugar and cook 1 more minute. Remove from heat and let cool completely.

3. Mix the Paste
   Once cooled, combine the paste with garlic, ginger, onion, fish sauce, fermented shrimp, and gochugaru.

4. Build the Kimchi
   Add radish, carrots, spring onions, and Asian chives to the paste. Mix well. Then marinate the cabbage in this mixture thoroughly, coating every leaf or surface.

5. Pack & Ferment
   Roll up halved cabbage heads (if using whole) and pack tightly into your jar or vac-bag. Seal with an airlock if using a jar. Ferment at room temp (around 21°C) for 2–8 days. Taste daily. You're looking for tangy, funky, crisp — not mushy.

Finishing & Storage

Once fermented to your taste, portion into smaller jars or vac-bags.
Store in the fridge for up to 1 month.
Or freeze for up to 6 months (the texture softens slightly, but flavor holds).

Kimchi doesn’t ask for permission. It’s loud, sour, spicy, and alive — and that’s the point. You don’t tame it. You learn to live with it. In fact, once you’ve had a spoonful that lights up a stew, or cuts through the richness of a fatty sauce, you start to wonder how you ever cooked without it.

Whether you’re making it in a clay pot in Seoul or vacuum-packing it in a Danish kitchen, the energy is the same: patience, salt, and a little chaos.

Keep a jar in the fridge.
Let it change.
And let it change what you cook.