Nothing could be more ubiquitous than kimchi in Korean cuisine. This fiery pickled cabbage takes humble ingredients and turns them into a punchy appetiser that no meal is complete without.

Ingredients

Whole cabbage 5kg

Radish 1kg

Pickled shrimp (or octopus) 100g

Coarse salt 500g

Smashed garlic 1kg

Crushed ginger 15g

Pepper 1kg

Method

Cut the cabbages in half and soak them for 20-24 hours in water with 50g of salt. Rinse and add new salted water after 10 hours.

Soak the pepper in warm water with finely chopped pickled shrimp (or octopus).

To the pepper mix, add the garlic, ginger and rest of the salt.

Drain the cabbages, and dribble the pepper mixture over the head of each one, wrapping each cabbage in a large leaf to finish.

Put the cabbages in an airtight container for three days. Then your kimchi is ready to eat! It will keep for up to a month, and the flavour will get stronger as the month goes on.