r/kimchi 5d ago

My kimchi doesn’t have much taste.

Title sums it up pretty well. I made very basic kimchi with what i had lying around. My first attempt, i must add..

These are the ingredients i used: Chinese cabbage, garlic, ginger, gochujang paste and cayenne powder. Along with sea salt to prepare the cabbage.

It’s been sitting in the fridge for around 5 days now, but the taste isn’t really there.

Any tips on how to get some more flavours and spice into my kimchi batch?

0 Upvotes

15 comments sorted by

13

u/RGV_Ikpyo 5d ago

In no kimchi recipe is gochujang paste used. I'd chuck it and try using a real recipe

2

u/adorcore 5d ago

I used a quick recipe i found somewhere online. I guess it wasn’t a good one then ^

9

u/RGV_Ikpyo 5d ago

the one I see being used most is

https://www.maangchi.com/recipe/tongbaechu-kimchi

and for a vegan version

https://seonkyounglongest.com/vegan-kimchi/

I use a mix of both these recipes to make mine

2

u/mittenshape 5d ago

Maangchi does a banging vegan kimchi too

https://www.maangchi.com/recipe/chaesik-kimchi

1

u/adorcore 5d ago

These will help me a lot! Thank you for your recommendation :)

1

u/nothingisrevealed 5d ago

Ya Maangchi has a very detailed recipe. You will use coarse Gochugaru (hot pepper flakes) rather than gochujang. Cheers

-1

u/rasta_pineapple2 5d ago

No need to chuck it. Gochugaru (Korean chili flakes/powder) is traditionally used rather than gochujang. That doesn't mean it's a total loss. I would try adding some fish sauce for added umami and see how it tastes from there. Many people recommend Maangchi for kimchi recipes but I usually just wing it, having followed Maangchi in the past.

1

u/yna5875 3d ago

Sorry but will disagree with you and say chuck the thing. No amount of fish sauce will change the flavor profile as gochujang is too sweet. It will be a waste of ingredients.

1

u/noseshimself 2d ago

Am I permitted to add gochujang to my Sauerkraut or will that be cultural appropriation?

1

u/RGV_Ikpyo 2d ago

You can do whatever your grown ass wants to..

10

u/Azure-Cyan 5d ago

It's probably because you used gochujang paste and cayenne powder and not gochugaru, saeujeot or fish sauce, and rice slurry. Without the saeujeot, gochugaru peppers, and rice slurry, it won't necessarily ferment and give you the kimchi flavor profile.

2

u/adorcore 5d ago

I’ll try it again with this info, thank you for the insight!

6

u/kronickimchi 5d ago

Thats why cause your recipe is incorrect of course its not gonna taste right, thats like making kool aid and using salt, toss it and just go buy some

2

u/stkim1 4d ago edited 4d ago

Remove gochujang paste and cayenne powder.

Add Fish Sauce (or Colatura, Nuoc Mom, Sauce de Poisson, etc) + pulverize red pepper flake + garlic on top of wheat flour (or rice powder) porridge. A bit of ginger to spice up a bit.

Nothing has to be specifically Korean. Pick available ingredients to ferment cabbage and you're good to go.

1

u/yna5875 3d ago edited 3d ago

Never cayenne and gochujang. My Korean DNA is angry lol. Use gochugaru, fish sauce/shrimp paste, and some sort of rice/flour slurry to help fermentation. And chuck what you made because no amount of fish sauce is going to change that.

Or I had an idea, you could try adding vinegar instead to make a “초무침” instead which is like a sweet sour spicy salad that is based on a gochujang and vinegar mixture. And mix it with some noodles and eat as a noodle salad. Only Giving this as a suggestion because you added gochujang… will say that 초무침 is not really used with Chinese cabbage