Napa Cabbage

Napa cabbage, Brassica rapa subsp. pekinensis (baechu, 배추), is a cabbage of the Chinese plain that reached Korea by way of China. The heading cabbage that now defines kimchi became general in Korean cooking only in the later Joseon period and the modern era, and the red, chilli-laden kimchi made from it followed the arrival of the Korean chilli, Capsicum annuum, from the late sixteenth century. Before that, kimchi was made from radish and other vegetables in brine. The cabbage is carried today by every Korean household through gimjang, the communal making of winter kimchi in late autumn, a custom that belongs to the home table and is held in the Korean memory as the work that secures the family through the cold months.

The vegetable is a tall, elongated head of pale yellow-green leaves with broad white ribs and crinkled, tender blades, quite unlike the round, tight European cabbage. Its ribs are thick and juicy, and its leaves take salt readily and soften without turning to pulp. For kimchi, the head is halved or quartered lengthwise through the stem, salted, rinsed and drained, and the seasoning paste of gochugaru, garlic, ginger, saeujeot and fish sauce is worked between every leaf. The outer green leaves are kept for soups and wrapping, the yellow heart is eaten raw with salt or paste, and the whole head may also be blanched for ssam, simmered in doenjang soup, or stir-fried.

Napa cabbage in kimchi is eaten with plain steamed rice, with grilled pork, in jjigae and in fried rice, and it is drunk beside makgeolli, soju and cold barley tea. The structural reason is contrast: the acidity, salt and chilli heat of the cabbage cut through fat and refresh the palate between mouthfuls of mild rice. Raw or lightly salted, its sweet crisp ribs balance the savour of doenjang and the richness of boiled pork in bossam.