Napa Cabbage and Scallion Kimchi

This easy Napa Cabbage and Scallion Kimchi (Mak Kimchi) with cut up cabbage, radish, carrots, scallions, and leeks is just as delicious.

Fall/autumn is the time to make kimchi with freshly harvested cabbage, radish, carrots, scallions, leeks, and chives. I did not exactly plan it but I recently made a lot of kimchi because I harvested a bunch of vegetables suitable for the purpose. For several days, I felt like a Korean housewife making kimchi for the winter…haha! 😀

Homegrown Scallions, Leeks, and Carrots

What do you do when you have an abundance of scallions (green onions), leeks, and carrots? You make kimchi, of course! It is a good way of using and preserving all that organic goodness. Also, homemade kimchi is the best. It is fresh and not as tangy as store bought ones which have been left to ferment for far too long. Those “old” kimchis are better for cooking dishes like…
1. Kimchi Jjigae (Kimchi Stew)
2. Kimchi Fried Rice
3. Steamed Cod with Kimchi

So far, I have made two batches of this Napa Cabbage and Scallion Kimchi (Mak Kimchi) and a small batch of Mustard Green Kimchi (Gat Kimchi) which I will share soon. I intend to make more as Paul and I can go through a lot of kimchi in a short time. I may experiment with other vegetables like pek chai/bok choy which I can buy at my local grocery store. While I love this cabbage kimchi, I have to admit that the Mustard Green Kimchi is my new favorite kimchi for the season.

Ingredients for Making This Napa Cabbage and Scallion Kimchi

I finally made a trip to the Asian market after a 6 months hiatus because of the lockdowns and uncertainties of the time. The store is 40 miles away from my home. You can imagine the amount of Asian groceries I purchased. I also bought lots of fresh vegetables which so happen included Korean radish and gai choy (mustard greens). They were just the kind of vegetables I bought frequently.

At that time, I had not harvested my scallions, leeks, and carrots as yet. I only did that 2 days after. Had I thought back then that I would make kimchi, I would have bought a jar of sauejeot (Korean salted shrimp) and a bag of gochugaru (Korean chili pepper flakes). Hence, my first batch of kimchi was not as bright red color as I would like because it was an older batch of pepper flakes that I used. I ended up ordering the pepper flakes online to make my second batch of kimchi.

Since I did not have any Korean salted shrimp on hand, I used dried shrimp as a substitute. Dried shrimp is not as salty especially after soaking, and so I had to compensate for that by adding more salt into the kimchi sauce. I think it worked out very nicely. The kimchi was savory and full of flavor.

Using The Blender to Make the Sauce

In the past, I minced all the sauce ingredients by hand. Recently, I saw someone using the blender online and decided to give it a try. It was great as it made the job so much easier and faster. Definitely the way to go!

Similar Products Used in Making This Napa Cabbage and Scallion Kimchi

This post contains affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy here.

100% Korean Origin Premium Red Chili Pepper Flakes Powder Gochugaru, 1Kg(2.2lb)
Oster 6-Cup Glass Jar 12-Speed Blender
64oz Clear Wide-mouth Glass Jar with White Metal Lid
Pyrex Prepware 1-Cup Measuring Cup
Cuisipro Stainless Steel Measuring Cup and Spoon Set
Disposable Food Prep Gloves – 500 Pieces

Print Pin Rate

Napa Cabbage and Scallion Kimchi

This easy Napa Cabbage and Scallion Kimchi (Mak Kimchi) with cut up cabbage, radish, carrots, scallions, and leeks is just as delicious.

Author : Linda Ooi

Course : Side Dish

Cuisine : Korean

Keyword : cabbage kimchi, napa cabbage kimchi

Prep Time 38 minutes

Cook Time 2 minutes

Soaking Time 2 hours

Total Time 2 hours 40 minutes

Servings: 20

Calories: 35kcal

Ingredients

 

1x2x3x

• 1 medium Napa cabbage (2½ lbs/1.12kg)
• ¼ cup coarse salt (60g)
• 2 tbsp glutinous rice flour (sweet rice flour)
• ¾ cup water (180ml)
• 1 lb Korean radish ( julienned) (450g)
• 2 medium carrots (julienned)
• 8 oz scallions / green onions (sliced and cut into 2-inch lengths) (225g)
• 8 oz Chinese chives (cut into 2-inch lengths) (225g)**

Sauce

• 3 tbsp dried shrimp or Korean salted shrimp
• 1 large onion (peeled and cut into chunks)
• 8 cloves garlic (peeled)
• 1 inch ginger (peeled) (25g)
• 3 tbsp fish sauce
• 1½ tbsp salt
• 1 tbsp sugar
• ¾ to 1 cup Korean red pepper flakes (75g – 100g)***

Instructions

 

• Quarter Napa cabbage lengthwise. Remove the core and cut crosswise into 1 inch pieces.
  
• Soak cabbage pieces in a large bowl with cold water. Sprinkle salt evenly over cabbage. Cover and leave 2 hours.
  
• Drain and rinse cabbage under running water twice. Leave to continue draining in colander for 30 minutes.
  
• In a small pot, combine glutinous rice flour with ¾ cup (180ml) water. Bring to a boil and keep stirring as the water heats up and the mixture thickens. When it reaches pancake batter consistency, turn off heat. Set aside to cool.
  

Sauce

• Rinse and soak dried shrimp in boiling water for 15 minutes. Drain.
  
• Blend together prepared dried shrimp, onion, garlic, and ginger into a paste. Pour blended ingredients into a large bowl.
  
• Add cooled glutinous/sweet rice flour paste, fish sauce, salt,
  
• sugar, and Korean red pepper flakes. Mix into a thick sauce.
  
• Add radish, carrots, scallions, and Chinese chives**. Mix until well coated with sauce.
  
• Add prepared Napa cabbage and continue mixing until all vegetables and sauce are well mixed.
• Transfer kimchi into air tight jars.
  
• Leave jars out at room temperature for 24 hours. Then transfer jars to the refrigerator and consume within a month.
  

Notes

** I used homegrown baby leeks instead.

*** I did use 1 cup (100g) of  Korean red pepper flakes.

Nutrition

Calories: 35kcal

Tried this recipe?Mention @MalaysianChineseKitchen or tag #MalaysianChineseKitchen