Bok Choy Kimchi ~ Vegan Style

So, it turns out that if you can’t find Napa cabbage to make vegan kimchi, you don’t have to give up altogether on kimchi. I know, I know, it seems like common knowledge, right? Yeah well, I’ve been eating kimchi for years but I’ve only been making since 2019 so…

It turns out that you do pretty much everything you do with traditional kimchi, except with bok choy you have to figure out what to do with those beautiful green leaves. The first time I did this, I added the green leaves to the white stems in the salt-water blend and it turned out all right, but I thought the leaves were a bit too soft. The second time around, I added the leaves to the other vegetables and they stayed crunchy longer.

The most time consuming part of homemade vegan kimchi is…rinsing and chopping up all the veggies. ALL the veggies!

A good rule of thumb for kimchi vegetables is to keep it crispy. Think carrots, celery, radishes (red or daikon or kohlrabi will do), cucumbers, other types of cabbage and even…peppers. Be sure to rinse them well or else you’ll end up with dirt in your kimchi.

See all that dirt clinging to your veggies? That’s a good thing…just not when it’s time to get your grub on. A quick rinse or a scrub if necessary, then dry them off and you’re good to go.

I just love the bright colors so I decided to share another photo with you…

When you’ve given your cabbage (at least) 30 minutes of being tossed on and off with the salt water and chopped your other veggies, it’s time to create the sauce. You can use the traditional kimchi recipe from above for the details. And then…it’s time to get messy!

Okay I lied, I didn’t get messy because I have a strong sense of self-preservation and I use both Korean chili fakes and chili paste, which means my vegan kimchi is spicy-spicy. Kimchi needs a VERY good toss with your hands so that the sauce coats all the veggies. Use gloves so you’re not stuck with that spice on your hands for a couple days. At least.

Toss kimchi like this

And if you’re in the mood for kimchi and you only have a few veggies on hand, consider super easy kimchi pickles! Skip the salt & water stage and move right to the sauce.

Eat these pickles quickly though because they don’t have a long shelf life. We made it to the 4th day before they were a little too soft to eat and after that they became very watery. Maybe there’s a way to get past that but I haven’t found it yet.