Slimy Kimchi?? No.. we don’t want NO SLIMY KIMCHI!!
Helloooo~~~
Hope all of you had a good summer!
I did and then also kinda I didn’t.. well, that’s just life, isn’t it?
I had a great summer with family, with my mom visiting for the first part and then visiting Korea in August to celebrate my mother-in-law’s 80th Birthday. We also got to squeeze in a quick trip to Jeju Island (yes, posts about that coming soon!) with my daughter so that was really nice. But spending a lot of time with family (which I don’t regret at all) also implies that I got lazy and kinda behind in my blogging. So in that sense, as far as work goes, it was not the best summer. But… it was a really full and busy summer with lots of family time. 😍
Now, onto our main topic of SLIMY KIMCHI.
So, my friend Judith recently visited me with her mul kimchi 물김치 that she made with my recipe. By the way, she was so sweet when she came to my home with a bottle of her mul kimchi – she said, “I gave you every chance for us not to meet today so you wouldn’t have to deal with this….” HAHAHA.. Judith, you are just too nice! 😉
Throughout the years we were friends, this was the first time she mentioned anything about my recipe not turning out right for her. So naturally, I was quite surprised and a little bit anxious to find out why. Judith, I’m thankful that you were honest with me and gave me a chance to redeem myself!
Judith said she followed my mul kimchi recipe to the tee but it somehow came out slimy. It tasted fine but it had a pretty slimy feel to the kimchi liquid. What?? Strange…But then again, Kimchi is really fussy (I told Judith) and you never know why it doesn’t turn out exactly the way it did as before. If there’s one thing that you hear a lot from Korean moms who make Kimchi, it is – “hmm.. not sure why, but my kimchi didn’t turn out as well as last time.”
There are so many things that can go wrong in making Kimchi- radish can be bitter; cabbage can be too thin, too thick, too fibrous, or even bitter; bad salt (bitter, not flavorful); bad gochukaru (chili powder is too spicy, not flavorful, too old..); veggies are brined too long or too short.. I mean there can be thousand reasons why.
But, for now, let’s just try to answer the question –
Why does kimchi become slimy??
Your slimy Kimchi is due to unwanted microorganisms that is outgrowing other wanted ones.
Factors that may result in overgrowth of unwanted microorganisms and Kimchi being slimy:
- SALT – Not enough salt. Kimchi was much more saltier in the good ol’ days before we learned that salt is bad for your high blood pressure and other conditions.
- SUGAR – Too much sugar (esp. to salt ratio) seems to make Kimchi slimy. For this reason, some Koreans and Seolleongtang restaurants don’t like using regular sugar but artificial sweeteners like New Sugar (95% glucose + 5 %saccharine) instead. But I don’t like using these artificial products and I try to use natural ingredients as much as possible. BTW, I never had slimy kimchi so far using sugar. It seems to just depend on how much you use and how much salt there is to balance it (sugar) off.
- DAEPA (Korean LEEK) – Korean leeks can have a lot of mucous in them and some believe this can cause kimchi to become slimy so don’t use daepa/leek but use only spring green onions.
- RICE or FLOUR PASTE – Too much paste can make your kimchi slimy. Paste is NOT always necessary in Kimchi making. See my Kimjang Ingredients and Tips post for more.
- TEMPERATURE – Too warm a temperature. Kimchi is known to initially ferment best cooler temperatures, as low as 4°C (39°F) up to 17°C (62°F). Up to 22°C (72°F) is still OK but any temperatures above that, it is recommended that you add more salt to your kimchi and monitor your closely because it will ferment and change quickly. Interestingly, a Sauerkraut maker also recommends very similar temperatures – best to keep it below 72°F. Refer to my NO CRAZY KIMCHI post for more details on how to ripen Kimchi properly.
What is the slime in Kimchi?
According to fermentation experts, this is because there’s too much of one kind of bacteria. They are not harmful for you but certainly not a pleasant texture to eat and an unbalanced bacteria growth nonetheless. The sliminess can sometimes go away once Kimchi is fully fermented and the acidity goes up.
BTW, kkakdugi is one kimchi where a bit of sliminess is expected and it actually tastes fine that way.
How did Judith end up with a Slimy Water Kimchi?
Honestly, I am still not 100% sure why it came out slimy for Judith and not for me. But my suspicion is that it may have something to do with one or more of the following 3: salt, sugar and perhaps temperature.
Because when we tasted Judith’s Kimchi, somehow it tasted a little less salty than mine. Because we did not use the same exact salt, I wonder if hers was a little less salty. Who knows..Also, if I remember correctly, I think Judith said that she wondered if the room temperature was too warm in her place (I do remember the weather being quite warm around that time). And then one last thing she mentioned was that she couldn’t buy the Korean pear so bought an Asian pear from the market and used that.
I think all 3 might have contributed to the slime… it’s as if the stars aligned just perfectly for it to go the slimy way. Of course, Judith tried to make me feel better by saying that she was going through some bad kimchi karma(?) and that’s probably why. HAHAHA.
FYI, I tested this particular mul kimchi recipe 3 times and it never turned out slimy for me. In fact, I have never had slimy kimchi before.
But still, what could be the problem??
When I look back, the first 2 times I made the mul kimchi, I adjusted the salt and sugar amount by adding a bit more later. The 3rd time, I DID add all the salt and sugar in the beginning and it still turned out fine – so that’s why I thought my recipe was good to go. But I think we can adjust it a little more to reduce the possibility of it turning slimy as much as possible.
Oh, yeah.. so on that day, Judith and I went out and bought radishes and other ingredients to make 2 batches of mul kimchi with same recipe as below but one with the pear and one without. And then we let it ferment in our homes. Both of us still have our water kimchi and I can happily report that they have not turned out slimy and tastes refreshing and delicious!!
So I will update it on my recipe post, but just in case, here’s what I’m changing:
- Korean Cheonilyeom 3 Tbs + 1 tsp => 4 Tbs
- Sugar 2 Tbs => 1 Tbs
- And then, at time of serving, add about 1/2 tsp sugar (adjust to taste) per 1 cup of water kimchi
No SLIMY Kimchi TIP: To avoid slimy water kimchi, adjust sweetness by adding more sugar right before serving water kimchi.
How to adjust Water Kimchi to taste: Try adding a bit of bubbly like sprite or 7 up which adds zing + sweet flavor. If it’s too salty, add a bit of ice.
Thank you for being understanding, always!
XOXO, ❤️
JinJoo
I was desperate since my both self made Kimchi went disaster. Thus I googled and found your page. Thank you very much for the superb advice. Now I will try again without paste and no too warm room temperature! It was 23c..
I’m so glad you found my page!! Yes, hope it turns out better for you in your next try!
I didn’t make kimchi (hope to, some day.). I’m trying to rebuild my health after a brutal round of chemotherapy which has really messed up my digestive system. I’m told fermented foods are just the ticket…and indeed, Bubbies Fermented Saurkraut and fermented Kimchi from various local Korean restaurants seem to soothe my stomach area the most.
So, we got this pint container of Kimchi and two smaller containers and I’ve been eating the smaller ones. Finally opened the bigger pint container – which is a styrofoam container (ewww, I know, but wasn’t my choice.). In retrospect, after reading your article, I probably should have put it in a clean glass jar as soon as it arrived at my home.
Anyway, so the kimchi is only like just barely a week old but I hadn’t opened the larger container all this time (because I was switching off between the sauerkraut and the smaller containers of kimchi), and so the kimchi in this larger styro was just a little slimy texture – tastes great though (and I’m super sensitive to mold flavors etc, way more than my husband and son are.). I found your article here online and so I just added a few more dashes of Celtic Sea Salt (since I don’t have any Korean salt and don’t want to use iodized table salt/sodium chloride – I figure the fermentation benefits from the wider spectrum of mineral salts available in Celtic Sea Salt.)… and I just moved it into a clean glass pint canning. Just in case though, I’m gonna be going through this kim chi a bit faster. Besides, I want to keep the local Mom and Pop Korean restaurant open so I gotta go back and buy more of their fermented kimchi, right?? I thought you’d agree with me on that, haha – even if it means I don’t get around to making my own kimchi anytime very soon!!
Thanks for your article though – it was very reassuring. And I didn’t know you put sugar in your kimchi!? I’ll have to ask “Mom and Dad” next time we are at their restaurant what sweetener they use. Who knows? Maybe they buy it from the local Asian Market? I’ve no idea! But I don’t know if they use artificial sweeteners too, so that may be something for me to look at as well.
Hi! First, congratulations on getting through chemo, I have a sister who had really hard chemo and I was there for most of it so I kind of know…yes, you do put sugar in kimchi, just a little bit. People also put green plum extract(maesil cheong) or use fruits like persimmon, pear or apple to add sweetness. But local restaurants probably use sugar mostly. Just try to keep the kimchi at lower temperature (close to freezing) to keep it fresh longer. You should also try eating some natto or cheonggukjang, I hear they are also very beneficial to your gut and has anti-cancer properties. Wishing you a speedy and full recovery back to normal. Thank you so much for asking!
my kimchi sometimes gets that slimy texture after a week of storage in the fridge but technique is you have to mix the whole jar from top to bottom to get off the slime. also, i think you’re right it has something to do with the right amount of sugar and salt, including gochukaru. and, i have to add that best to use is the pepper flakes variety instead of the powdered gochukaru.
Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge and experience. Sounds very interesting – will have try mixing next time it gets slimy..