Geotjeori
Geotjeori is kimchi eaten right away, without fermentation — a fresh napa cabbage salad in the same fiery seasoning as kimchi. In Korea it is made quickly to go with fresh rice, soup or grilled meat. It is fresh, crunchy and hot, without the sourness of mature kimchi. The key is salting the cabbage briefly: half an hour softens the leaves while keeping them crisp.
Your own work in that: 15 min.
- Salting the cabbage 30 min
- Seasoning 5 min
- Mixing 15 min
Step by step
0 / 8 doneTear the cabbage into pieces
Halve the cabbage lengthways and tear or cut the leaves into 4–5 cm pieces. Cut the tough white parts near the base thinner than the green leaves so they soften at the same rate.
Ingredients: 500 g napa cabbage · 2 tbsp coarse salt · 3 pcs spring onions · ½ pcs carrot
Salt the cabbage for half an hour
Sprinkle the cabbage with salt, toss and leave 30 minutes, turning once. Salt draws out water, the leaves soften and will then take up the seasoning. For kimchi salting lasts hours — here it is brief, since geotjeori should crunch.
Ingredients: 500 g napa cabbage · 2 tbsp coarse salt · 3 pcs spring onions · ½ pcs carrot
Half an hour — leaves soft, yet still crisp.Rinse and squeeze the cabbage
Rinse the cabbage twice in cold water to wash off excess salt and squeeze gently in your hands. Taste a leaf: it should be lightly salty. Too salty — rinse again.
Ingredients: 500 g napa cabbage · 2 tbsp coarse salt · 3 pcs spring onions · ½ pcs carrot
Make the seasoning
Mix gochugaru, fish sauce, crushed garlic, ginger and sugar into a thick red paste. Leave 5 minutes — the chilli flakes hydrate and the paste thickens, coating the leaves better.
Ingredients: 2 tbsp gochugaru chilli flakes · 1½ tbsp fish sauce · 3 cloves garlic · 1 tsp ginger · 2 tsp sugar · 1 tbsp sesame oil · 1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
The gochugaru hydrates — the paste thickens.Cut the spring onion and carrot
Cut the spring onions diagonally into 3 cm pieces and the carrot into thin matchsticks. Spring onion is essential; carrot adds colour and sweetness.
Ingredients: 500 g napa cabbage · 2 tbsp coarse salt · 3 pcs spring onions · ½ pcs carrot
Massage the seasoning into the leaves
Wearing gloves, massage the paste into the cabbage together with the spring onion and carrot, coating every leaf. The seasoning must get between the layers of the white parts — where a spoon cannot reach.
Ingredients: 2 tbsp gochugaru chilli flakes · 1½ tbsp fish sauce · 3 cloves garlic · 1 tsp ginger · 2 tsp sugar · 1 tbsp sesame oil · 1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
By hand, in gloves — every leaf in paste.Add sesame oil and seeds
Finally stir in the sesame oil and toasted sesame. This sets geotjeori apart from kimchi — sesame oil goes only into the eat-now version, since it would turn rancid during fermentation.
Ingredients: 2 tbsp gochugaru chilli flakes · 1½ tbsp fish sauce · 3 cloves garlic · 1 tsp ginger · 2 tsp sugar · 1 tbsp sesame oil · 1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
Serve at once with rice
Serve at once as banchan with rice, soup or Korean barbecue. Geotjeori is best the day it is made — with every hour it softens and begins to resemble young kimchi.
Ingredients: 500 g napa cabbage · 2 tbsp coarse salt · 3 pcs spring onions · ½ pcs carrot
Before you start
Gochugaru, not ordinary chilli
Gochugaru is Korean chilli flakes, sweetish, fruity and moderately hot, with a vivid red colour. Ordinary chilli flakes are much hotter and colour less — use half as much plus a tablespoon of sweet paprika for colour.
Vegan version
Replace the fish sauce with a spoon of soy sauce and a teaspoon of miso. The flavour is less deep, but geotjeori remains a great side for rice.
From other vegetables
The same seasoning makes geotjeori from lettuce, cucumber or radish. Lettuce is simply tossed with the seasoning without salting, cucumber is salted 10 minutes.
