My own kimchi recipe...

[kimchiguy]

...a melding of three or four recipes found on the internet.

Ingredients:

For six to eight quarts:
5 to 6 pounds napa cabbage (3 or 4 medium to large heads)
2 lbs daikon radish
2 cups chopped yellow onion
3 to 4 medium-large carrots
10 to 20 cloves peeled garlic
4 cups chopped green onions
5 to 6 inches fresh ginger
1 cup salt, not iodized (kosher salt, sea salt, just plain salt...)
1 and ¼ cups gochugaru, Korean chili flakes (you can use more or less depending on your taste)
2 heaping tablespoons glutinous rice powder
1 cup water
½ cup sugar
1 cup fish sauce (natural, no MSG fish sauce with very few ingredients)
1 to 2 teaspoons dried, shredded shrimp (again, you can use more if you like but it's pretty strong)

For 3 to 4 quarts:
2 and ½ to 3 pounds napa cabbage (typically two heads unless they're larger heads)
1 lb daikon radish
1 cup chopped yellow onion
2 medium-large carrots
6 to 10 cloves peeled garlic
2 cups chopped green onions
3 inches fresh ginger
½ cup salt
¾ cup gochugaru
1 heaping tablespoon glutinous rice powder
½ cup water
¼ cup sugar
½ cup fish sauce
½ to 1 teaspoon dried, shredded shrimp

Process cabbage, carrots. Peel off outer leaves if they look bad, cut remaining cabbage head in quarters (or sixths if larger heads), lengthwise, remove cores, cut into roughly 1 and ½ to 2 inch squares (I just slice the quarters every inch and a half or 2 inches) and place in a very large bowl or a small tub. Peel and julienne the carrots (or you can grate them with the coarsest grater you have, or just chop them kind of small any way you can) and add to cabbage. Add salt and mix/massage the cabbage for at least three minutes so the salt can soften it and draw moisture out of it. Add enough chlorine-free water to cover and place something on it to press it down into the water, let sit for at least 1-1/2 hours but not much more than 2, during which time other prep can be done. At some point before mixing all ingredients together, rinse the cabbage (using non-chlorinated water) and drain it in a large colander for at least 10 to 15 minutes.

Prepare rice powder. Add glutinous rice powder to water in a saucepan, bring to a boil whisking continuously. When it looks like glue turn off the heat and remove pan from hot burner and continue whisking until it cools a bit. Set aside to cool.

Prepare vegetables. Put ginger, 1/3 of daikon (chopped), yellow onion, and garlic in food processor or blender and process into a thick paste. Cut remaining daikon into 3 inch lengths and quarter lengthwise, then slice thin. Chop green onions into one inch lengths.

Prepare chili paste. Whisk together the rice paste, gochugaru (Korean chili flakes), fish sauce, sugar, and shredded shrimp. Add to processed vegetables and mix well.

Finally, mix all ingredients together (after rinsing and draining the cabbage) in your big bowl or tub, wearing gloves. Pack into jars leaving at least 2 inches space at the top. Cover with any lid that will allow gas to escape without letting air in. Store at room temperature but out of direct sunlight until it's as sour as you want it to get (taste after 2 days), then refrigerate. I usually let it ferment at least five days. It will continue to ferment, though more slowly, in the fridge so you might want to leave your fermentation lid on it, or remember to burp it every few days for a while. If you're using a fermentation lid it's not really necessary but I like to cover the kimchi with something, usually some rigid plastic mesh (called plastic canvas) I buy at a fabric store, and put a glass weight on it. If you tend to check the kimchi often you might need a pump (they come with most fermentation lids) to pull out the air that gets in when you open the jar.

Notes: some research indicates the "plastic canvas" is probably not food safe, so I'm swapping it out now for a Gucuji product, a mesh used for dehydrating. Some recipes call for cutting the daikon into "matchsticks," but I like the texture of 1/8" thick wedges of radish in my kimchi. I now have a couple different, very good tools for julienning carrots, and I love using them. I've made a few batches of okay-but-not-satisfactory vegan kimchi and after making this recipe pretty exclusively for a while I'm ready to get back to working on a good vegan version.

[kimchiguy]

Meant to mention, after a couple friendly complaints that my kimchi wasn't spicy enough I'm now using more gochugaru, so you'll just have to experiment to see how much is enough for you. But I will say in my experience the amounts suggested make it plenty spicy enough for folks who aren't into super-spicy food.

[kimchiguy]

Some recipes call for peeling the ginger, some do not. I've kinda gotten into a routine of cutting off anything funky or too dry and then hastily peeling what's easy to peel.

[kimchiguy]

In my great and unmatched wisdom I have concocted a beautiful, perfect recipe for kimchi. I make the best kimchi; no one has ever made better kimchi than mine.