The Pickle 25 · No. 5 of 25

1. No.5Good Food Award winner, 2026 and 2023Photo: John's Super Foods

   Kimchi and kraut

   Kimchi Batch #3

   From John's Super Foods · Oyster Bay, New York · @johnssuperfoods

   Fermented●●○Hot$10 a jar

   A small Long Island fermenter whose Batch #3 kimchi has won a Good Food Award twice, in 2023 and again in 2026.

   Two Good Food Awards for one kimchi is a lot. It's bright, fizzy and properly hot. Eat it cold out of the jar or fry it with rice.

   Eat it withKimchi fried riceA fried eggPork belly or a grilled cheese

   Order from John's Super Foods ↗More from John's Super Foods ↗

   Chef's quick version

   Quick cabbage kimchi (mak kimchi)

   1 hour 30 min, then 1 to 3 days · makes About 2 quarts · Mak kimchi means cabbage cut up first, so it's faster than whole-leaf kimchi. Salt pulls the water out; the paste goes on; a day or two on the counter starts the sour.

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   You need

   • 1 napa cabbage (about 2 lb / 900 g), cut into 2-inch pieces
   • ¼ cup (70 g) kosher salt
   • 1 tbsp sweet rice flour (or all-purpose flour) cooked into a paste with ½ cup water
   • ¼ cup (25 g) gochugaru (Korean chili flakes), more for hotter
   • 6 garlic cloves, grated
   • 1 tbsp grated fresh ginger
   • 2 tbsp fish sauce (or soy sauce)
   • 1 tsp sugar
   • 4 scallions, cut into 1-inch pieces
   • ½ small daikon or 1 carrot, cut into matchsticks

   How to make it

   1. Toss the cabbage with the salt in a big bowl and leave for 1 hour, turning every 20 minutes, until the thick parts bend.
   2. Rinse the cabbage three times in cold water and drain well, pressing out water.
   3. Stir the cooled flour paste with the gochugaru, garlic, ginger, fish sauce and sugar.
   4. Wear gloves. Mix the paste through the cabbage with the scallions and daikon until every piece is red.
   5. Pack tightly into jars, pressing down so juice rises, leaving an inch of space at the top.
   6. Leave on the counter 1 to 3 days (press down once a day) until it tastes sour and fizzy, then refrigerate.

   Chef's own quick version, in our words. It isn't John's Super Foods's recipe: for the real thing, order the jar.

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John's Super Foods didn't pay to be here. Order goes straight to their shop. The quick version is Chef's own, in our words.