Base: Kimchi Paste

What this is

This is the seasoning paste (yangnyeom) that turns brined napa cabbage into baechu kimchi. It is not a ferment on its own — it is built fresh, then folded into salted cabbage in the kimchi method, and the cabbage carries the lactic fermentation. The paste sets flavor and color; the cabbage’s residual salt (a working ~2% after rinsing) sets safety and texture. Five roles define the formula: heat/color (gochugaru), aromatics (garlic, ginger), a sweet element (to feed bacteria and round the heat), umami (fish sauce and/or salted shrimp), and an optional thickener (rice-flour porridge) that suspends the paste and distributes sugars evenly.

Characteristic	Value
What it is	Fresh seasoning paste for baechu kimchi
Salt role	Carried by the brined cabbage (~2% working), not the paste
Best for	Napa cabbage; also radish (kkakdugi), cucumber, scallion
Target finished kimchi pH	~4.2 trending to 4.0
Shelf	Use within 1-2 days; or freeze

Formula (ratios)

Per 1 kg of brined, drained napa cabbage:

Component	Role	Amount
Gochugaru (Korean chile flake)	Heat & color	40-60 g
Garlic, grated	Aromatic	25-30 g
Ginger, grated	Aromatic	8-12 g
Fish sauce	Umami / salt	30-40 g
Salted shrimp (saeu-jeot), minced	Umami	15-20 g
Sweet element (grated pear/apple or sugar)	Feeds ferment, rounds heat	30-50 g pear, or 8-12 g sugar
Rice-flour porridge (juk)	Thickener	100 g (from 10 g rice flour + 100 g water, simmered)
Korean radish, julienned	Body & juice	100-150 g
Scallion / garlic chives	Aromatic	40-60 g

Note

Gochugaru at the high end (60 g) gives a hotter, redder paste; at the low end (40 g) a milder one. Adjust heat with quantity, not by cutting the salt or umami that the ferment depends on.

Scaling table

Scale every component to the weight of brined cabbage. Values are mid-range.

Component	1 Jar (~0.5 kg)	2 Jars (~1 kg)	1 Crock (~2.5 kg)	6 Crock (~15 kg)
Gochugaru	25 g	50 g	125 g	750 g
Garlic, grated	14 g	28 g	70 g	420 g
Ginger, grated	5 g	10 g	25 g	150 g
Fish sauce	18 g	35 g	88 g	525 g
Salted shrimp	9 g	18 g	45 g	270 g
Sweet element (pear)	20 g	40 g	100 g	600 g
Rice-flour porridge	50 g	100 g	250 g	1500 g
Korean radish	65 g	125 g	313 g	1875 g
Scallion / chives	25 g	50 g	125 g	750 g

Calculated values

• Salt: the paste adds little independent salt; fish sauce and salted shrimp contribute some, but the dish’s effective salinity (~2% by weight) comes from the rinsed, brined cabbage. Do not treat the paste as the salt source — set salt at the cabbage-salting step in the kimchi method.
• Sugar load: keep the sweet element modest. Grated pear or 1% added sugar feeds the early ferment; more than that risks a slimy, over-fast batch (see sugar in fermentation).
• Target finished pH: kimchi made with this paste lands near 4.2 and drifts toward 4.0 — below the 4.6 botulism line. Confirm with a meter, not taste.

Variations

💧 Vegan

🌶️ Extra-hot

🫙 White (baek) kimchi

🫙 Radish (kkakdugi)

• Vegan: replace fish sauce and salted shrimp with light soy sauce, doenjang/miso, or a kombu-shiitake stock for umami; keep the sweet element to feed the ferment.
• Extra-hot: push gochugaru to 60 g/kg and add a little gochujang for depth.
• Baek (white) kimchi: omit the gochugaru entirely for a non-spicy, pale kimchi; the rest of the formula carries the flavor.
• Radish (kkakdugi): the same paste over cubed Korean radish instead of napa.

Caution

Salted shrimp and fish sauce are themselves preserved products; buy commercially produced versions and refrigerate. They do not exempt the finished kimchi from the pH rule — pH 4.6 is the absolute safety line and taste is never a test. Verify a long-stored batch with a calibrated pH meter. Reference: NCHFP, Fermented Foods.

See also

• Kimchi method and pounding & packing
• Science: spices & tannins, sugar in fermentation, salt percentage, acidity & pH
• Calculators: dry-salt, brine salinity, pH safety