White kimchi, or baek-kimchi (백각치) in Korean, is the kimchi you make when you want all the tang and crunch of fermented cabbage without any heat at all. It's not made with Korean hot pepper flakes, which is exactly why it stays pale instead of turning red, and it's stuffed with ingredients that don't usually make it into a regular jar of kimchi: chestnuts, jujubes, pine nuts, a whole range of fresh vegetables. It's a mild kimchi, but never a bland one.
Losing the chili doesn't mean losing flavor. This version leans on precious ingredients instead, so it ends up full of fresh flavor and refreshing on top of that. It's also a vegetarian recipe as written, since it skips the fish sauce some kimchi recipes rely on.
If you enjoyed skipping the chili here, our Water Kimchi is another mild, refreshing option, or go back to a classic spicy Chonggak Kimchi.
White Kimchi (Baek Kimchi)
Napa cabbage kimchi made without gochugaru, stuffed with chestnuts, jujubes, and pine nuts. Mild, fizzy, sweet-sour once fermented.
Prep 30 min
Salting 1½–2 hrs
Ferment 1½–3 days
Cuisine Korean
Servings
12
Ingredients
Instructions
Cut the cabbage in half, then cut a slit through the core about 2 inches above the stem, so the leaves loosen but stay attached. Rinse the halves under running water until wet.
Put the halves in a large basin and sprinkle the kosher salt evenly between the leaves. Let sit for 1½ to 2 hours, turning every 20 minutes.
Rinse the cabbage under cold running water a couple of times to remove dirt or salt. Split each half into quarters, cut out the remaining core, then drain and set aside.
Combine the radish, carrot, jujubes, chives, chestnuts, and red bell pepper in a bowl for the filling. Set aside.
Blend the pear, garlic, onion, and ginger in a food processor until creamy for the seasoning mix.
Mix 4 cups of water with 2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons of salt, stirring until fully dissolved, to make the brine.
Put the blended seasoning mix into a cotton pouch or cheesecloth, submerge it in the brine, and press and squeeze it to release the flavor. Stir the brine, then remove the pouch.
Take a cabbage quarter, spread vegetable filling between each leaf, top with a few pine nuts and strands of silgochu, then fold the quarter over. Place in a glass jar or earthenware pot; repeat with remaining quarters and filling.
Pour the brine over the kimchi so it's fully submerged.
Cover and let sit at room temperature until it starts fermenting, about 1½ to 3 days depending on room temperature. Taste occasionally; when the brine turns sour, it's fermenting.
Move to the fridge to slow fermentation. Keeps about 1 month. Serve cold.
Notes & Variations
This recipe is vegetarian as written, since it doesn't use fish sauce.
For a more traditional variation, replace the 1 teaspoon of salt with 1 to 2 teaspoons of salted fermented shrimp.
A warmer room ferments the kimchi faster; keep tasting until the brine turns sour to your liking.
A thin white film on the brine surface is usually harmless kahm yeast, not mold — it's flat with no raised texture. Mold is fuzzy, discolored, or smells rotten; discard the batch if you see that instead.
Nutrition (approx., per serving): Calories: 59 kcal · Protein: 2.4g · Carbs: 9g · Fat: 2g · Sodium: 844mg · Fiber: 3g · Sugar: 5g Estimated from standard nutrition data per ingredient, not lab-tested. The source recipe doesn't provide nutrition data.
FAQ
Is white kimchi spicy?
No. It's made without gochugaru (Korean red pepper flakes), so white kimchi is not spicy at all.
Is white kimchi fermented?
Yes, the same fermentation process as red kimchi. It typically starts fermenting within 1½ to 3 days at room temperature.
Is white kimchi the same as sauerkraut?
No. Sauerkraut is made from cabbage and salt alone, without the aromatics, fruit, and vegetables that go into white kimchi's brine and filling.
Is white kimchi vegan?
This recipe is vegetarian since it skips fish sauce, but not all white kimchi recipes are — some call for salted fermented shrimp for depth.
Is white kimchi good for you?
Like other fermented vegetables, kimchi is generally associated with benefits tied to its fermentation process, since it contains live cultures produced during that process. As with any fermented or salted food, moderation is worth keeping in mind, particularly around sodium content.
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Jiwon Kim is a home cook from Seoul who studied Food Science and Nutrition. She shares approachable Korean recipes — rice, soup, banchan, and fermented staples — explained simply for cooks outside Korea.
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