Vegan kimchi
- Published: 5 Jul 22
- Updated: 25 Mar 24
Make vegan kimchi with Ching He Huang’s step-by-step recipe. Swap traditional fish sauce for red miso to make this funky, fermented cabbage dish vegan friendly.
Love those punchy flavours? Try our carrot and cabbage kimchi, next.
Born in Taiwan and raised in South Africa and the UK, Ching has become a world ambassador for Chinese cooking and received an MBE in 2020 for services to the culinary arts. Her food ethos is all about using fresh, ethically sourced ingredients to create modern dishes with respect for heritage. Her latest book, Asian Green, was published in 2021 by Kyle Books.
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Makes 1.5 litres (including the cabbage and juices) -
Hands-on time 15 min, plus 6-8 hours soaking and at least 3 days fermenting
Nutrition
- Calories
- 46kcals
- Fat
- 0.4g (0.1g saturated)
- Protein
- 1.7g
- Carbohydrates
- 8.1g (3.7g sugars)
- Fibre
- 1.7g
- Salt
- 0.6g
delicious. tips
Ching’s tips for success:
Protect your hands The best way to mix and massage the kimchi (step 2) is
by using your hands, but do wear gloves to protect your skin from the chilli.Leave space in the jar Kimchi is ‘alive’ with bacteria and needs space to breathe, so it’s important to leave at least 3-5cm between the kimchi, liquid and the top of the jar and not to pack in the kimchi too tightly. You want to keep as much of the flavourful juice in the jar as possible, too, so resist the urge to overfill it. With fermentation, the bacteria produce gases that can build up pressure in the jar and even explode if there isn’t space or the lid is too tight.
A fermentation weight is useful To weigh down the kimchi, you can use
a fermentation weight if you have one, placing it on top of the whole cabbage
leaves to keep the kimchi submerged. This will help it stay packed yet loose, so it ferments fully.Ferment longer for flavour The longer you ferment your kimchi, the more complex the taste. It will keep in the fridge for several months, as long as it’s submerged in the brine. After you take some kimchi out of the jar, make sure the rest is submerged in the brine or it will turn mouldy.
Make it vegan Traditional kimchi uses fish sauce, but my vegan version uses red miso paste to achieve that umami taste. You could use yellow miso paste instead, but I find red miso gives a deeper flavour (check it’s gluten free if you need it to be).
Daikon/mooli is a large white radish. You can buy it from greengrocers, Ocado or redrickshaw.com. Gochugaru is a staple spice in Korean cooking. Deseeded chillies are dried, then coarsely ground into a powder that has smoky, fruity notes, plus a kick of heat. It’s worth getting hold of the proper stuff for kimchi. Buy it from Southeast Asian food shops or online from sous-chef.co.uk and theasiancookshop.co.uk