When I was in Saint Louis for graduate training, I found a quick and easy recipe for spicy Korean cabbage kimchi online, and I decided to try it with a group of friends. I bought all the ingredients and started soaking the cabbages early in the morning. Then I invited everyone over, and we made the kimchi together by hand. Each of us went home with a mason jar or two.

Growing up in South Korea, where making kimchi is an all-day family affair, I was struck by how simple this version was. And the taste? Decent — not bad at all for a first timer like me.

Hosting a small cultural event like that was a joy, and I would love to do it again someday, when Michelle is old enough to join.

You will need

• 3 large heads of Korean (napa) cabbage
• 2 packs of green onions
• 3 large buckets to hold the cabbage
• 1 bag of mineral sea salt (for brining)

For the marinade

• 3 bowls of cooked white sticky rice
• ½ Korean pear
• ¾ white onion
• 30 garlic cloves
• 2 pieces of ginger (each about the size of a garlic clove)
• 6 red peppers, seeds removed
• 6 cups ground Korean red pepper (gochugaru)
• 6 teaspoons kosher salt
• 3 Korean daikon, cut into 4 cm pieces

Instructions

1. Wash the cabbages under running water and cut out any yellow leaves.
2. Cut each cabbage lengthwise into quarters.
3. Dissolve 1¼ cups of mineral sea salt in 12 cups of room-temperature water.
4. Soak two cabbage quarters at a time in the salt water for 5 minutes, then remove and set aside.
5. By hand, rub mineral sea salt between the leaves of each cabbage quarter — about 1⅔ cups total, divided among all the pieces.
6. Place all the cabbage quarters in the buckets and pour in the salt water from step 4, adding more water as needed to fully submerge them.
7. Let them rest at room temperature for 4 hours in summer, or 8 hours in winter.
8. To check whether the cabbage is ready: lift a piece — it should look soft and floppy.
9. Rinse the cabbage quarters under running water, then drain and squeeze them gently.
10. Leave to drain for at least 30 minutes.
11. Put all the marinade ingredients in a food processor and blend into a fine paste.
12. Pour the marinade into a large mixing bowl.
13. Cut the green onions into 4 cm lengths and stir them into the marinade.
14. Put on cooking gloves and spread the marinade between the leaves of each cabbage quarter.
15. Chop the coated cabbage into 1½-inch pieces on a cutting board and pack them into mason jars.
16. Critical step: press the kimchi down firmly by hand to remove air bubbles before closing the lids.

Storing and fermentation

Leave the jars at room temperature for one day in summer, or 2 to 4 days in winter, then move them to the fridge. The longer you leave them at room temperature, the faster they ferment — and the sourer the kimchi gets.