Roy Choi’s All-Purpose Kimchi Paste Recipe

Roy Choi is a celebrated chef widely known throughout the culinary industry as the godfather of the gourmet food truck movement. The 2008 launch of Kogi, his Korean-Mexican food truck in Los Angeles, California, blew up the boundaries between fancy restaurant cuisine and street food, putting Roy on the map as one of the most original chefs in the United States. However, Kogi’s wild success was only the start of Roy’s culinary revolution.

In the years since, he’s opened nearly a dozen acclaimed restaurants, including Kogi Taqueria in Los Angeles and Best Friend in Las Vegas, Nevada; coauthored L.A. Son, a bestselling memoir and cookbook; appeared on the “100 Most Influential People” list assembled by TIME magazine; and starred alongside filmmaker Jon Favreau on The Chef Show, a hit docuseries on the streaming platform Netflix.

Kimchi is a Korean side dish made from salted, seasoned, and fermented vegetables—most commonly Napa cabbage with radishes, green onions, and gochugaru, or red pepper flakes. While kimchi is best known as spicy fermented cabbage, you can make it with almost any vegetable or fruit, from kale and tomatoes to pineapple and persimmon.

There are a few steps involved in kimchi-making. First, prepare the fruits or vegetables, which often involves brining or salting. The second step is to rub the fruits or vegetables with a seasoning paste. Finally, pack the seasoned fruits or vegetables in a jar and let the fermentation process begin—first at room temperature for a few days, then in the refrigerator for as long as you’d like. (One to two weeks is a good starting point; be sure to sample and taste along the way).

The flavor of kimchi develops as it sits in the refrigerator, transforming from crisp and pungent after several days to more complex and sour after several months, much like sauerkraut. Young kimchi is ideal as a pickle or condiment, while older kimchi is great for making a stew or kimchi fried rice.

Kimchi paste is a spicy, funky, red mixture of chili flakes, garlic, ginger, and fish sauce that you slather onto fruit or vegetables to make kimchi. It’s easy to whip up kimchi paste in your blender, and you can make it in advance for an upcoming lunch or dinner spread; the longer you let the paste ferment in the fridge, the deeper the flavor.

Here’s how to make and use kimchi paste at home.

1. 1. It’s okay to skip the baby shrimp. If you’re unable to find fermented baby shrimp at an Asian market or online, other ingredients can lend the necessary flavor. The combination of fish sauce and oyster sauce will still provide the umami-rich brininess that’s the mark of great kimchi.
2. 2. Make the paste in advance. Making kimchi can be a labor-intensive process. To simplify the process, make a big batch of kimchi paste, then use it as needed. Kimchi paste will keep indefinitely in the fridge.
3. 3. Use the leftover paste to make kimchi fried rice. To add concentrated kimchi flavor to kimchi fried rice, use kimchi paste along with chopped kimchi and gochujang.