배추김치Baechu-kimchi
Napa cabbage, quartered and packed leaf by leaf. The one people mean.
Year roundEverything about kimchi
A jar of kimchi is never the same food twice.
Guides teach you how to make it. We follow what happens after — how it changes week by week, which one belongs to which season, and who still makes it by hand.
In November, a whole street makes kimchi at once.
Kimjang is the communal salting and packing that carries a household through winter — hundreds of cabbages in two days, done by neighbours and split between them. It is less a recipe than a labour exchange, and it is why kimchi stayed a daily food rather than a delicacy.
2013
Listed by UNESCO as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity
Fermentation
Five stages, one jar
The same cabbage is a salad in week one and a braise in year two. Knowing where yours sits is most of the skill.
Week 2–4
Ripe — sour, savoury, deep
The whole arc
From crunch to funk
- Day 0–2겉절이raw, sweet, no sour
- Day 3–7익는 중first bubbles
- Week 2–4익은 김치balanced
- Month 2–6신김치sharp acid
- Year 1+묵은지mellow, funky
Where it starts
One head of baechu
Varieties
Not one thing
A survey in 2000 counted 336 kinds. Kimchi is a method, not an ingredient — what goes in is whatever the season gives.
깍두기Kkakdugi
Radish in cubes. Holds its crunch far longer than cabbage, and sweetens as it goes.
Winter
총각김치Chonggak-kimchi
Small ponytail radishes fermented whole, greens and all.
Autumn
동치미Dongchimi
Radish in a clear cold brine, no chilli at all. The liquid is the point.
Winter
백김치Baek-kimchi
White kimchi made without chilli powder. The older form, and the gentlest way in.
Year round
열무김치Yeolmu-kimchi
Young radish greens in a thin brine. Poured over cold noodles when it is too hot to cook.
Summer
오이소박이Oi-sobagi
Cucumber split into a cross and stuffed with chive. Made to be eaten within days.
Summer
파김치Pa-kimchi
Whole scallions, laid flat and folded. Sharp at first, mellow and glossy after a month.
Spring
갓김치Gat-kimchi
Mustard leaf — peppery and sharp. A Jeolla speciality that only improves with age.
Winter
보쌈김치Bossam-kimchi
A cabbage-leaf parcel packed with oyster, pear, chestnut and jujube. Banquet kimchi.
WinterBy region
The same cabbage, four hours apart
Pick a province. The redder it sits on the map, the harder the seasoning works.
Boundaries derived from Statistics Korea (KOSTAT) SGIS census district data, simplified for display.
Makers
The people who still measure by hand
Every household version is slightly wrong on purpose — more salt here, less sugar there, a grandmother's ratio nobody wrote down. We visit them and write it down.
JeollaGyeongsangGangwonJeju
Meet the makersJournal
Three pieces a week
Published in English, Spanish and French. Pick one and we send only that.
All pieces
The letter
Read it in your language
New pieces land three times a week. Change language any time.
About
Written by people who eat it daily
Kimchius has followed Korean fermentation since 2007. No sponsored recipes, no shortcuts, no jarred paste standing in for the real thing.
About the project