How to Salt Napa Cabbage for Kimchi

Salting is the step that decides whether kimchi works. Get it wrong and no amount of good paste will fix it — under-salted cabbage goes soft and watery, over-salted cabbage never ferments properly and tastes of nothing but salt.

The purpose is to draw water out of the leaves so the cabbage stays crisp and the brine concentrates. It is not seasoning.

Time and method

Two approaches, both standard:

Dry salting — coarse sea salt rubbed between the leaves, concentrating on the thick white stems. 2 to 4 hours, turning once or twice.

Wet brining — submerged in salt water. Gentler and more even, 4 to 6 hours.

Use coarse sea salt, not table salt. Fine iodised salt dissolves too fast, salts unevenly, and can affect fermentation.

The bend test

Time is a guide; the test is what matters. Take a thick piece of white stem and bend it.

• Snaps — not ready, keep going
• Bends into a U without breaking — ready
• Flops limply — over-salted

Check from the thickest part of the stem, not a leaf tip, which softens long before the core does.

Rinse three times

This is the step people cut short. Rinse in fresh cold water, three times, agitating each time.

Under-rinsed cabbage is why kimchi comes out too salty to eat, and salt that high also suppresses the bacteria you need — which is one of the reasons kimchi fails to sour.

Drain properly before the paste

Wet cabbage dilutes the paste and the resulting kimchi is watery and pale. Drain in a colander for at least 30 minutes, cut side down, and squeeze gently.

Some water in the container afterwards is normal and good — that becomes the brine. Water sitting on the leaves when the paste goes on is not.