Kimchi recipes: cabbage kimchi, and kimchi chigae

I have loved kimchi from the first time I ate it, although to many it's an acquired taste. Like cornichons and other types of pickle, kimchi whets the appetite and refreshes the palate. Although it's traditionally aged in earthenware pots, kimchi can be kept in a glass jar with a tight-fitting lid to protect other ingredients in the fridge from the smell.

Cabbage kimchi (pictured)

My kimchi 'advisers' are my friend Son and her mother-in-law, a kind woman and passionate cook whom everyone calls Grandma. It was under their tutelage that I learned the technique of flavouring and wrapping the cabbage leaves. The first time I made kim- chi by myself I was nervous. I carefully measured all the ingredients, mixed everything together and then, after a week of 'ageing' it, realised it was far too spicy. That's when I found out that kimchi is forgiving. Son suggested I mix in additional white radish, which has a sweetness that would balance the chilli. My second attempt tasted much better and I'm sure that by the time I've made kimchi as many times as Grandma has, it will be perfect.

Change this recipe according to your tastes. Use less gochugaru (chilli flakes) if you like it less spicy and add other ingredients, such as fresh mustard leaf, julienned carrot, raw oysters or thinly sliced raw cutlass fish. Be sure to use large, fat heads of Napa cabbage - they're sweeter and have a crisper bite. For the same reason, you should also use fatter (in diameter) pieces of white radish.

Most of the ingredients are available at the Korean shops on Kimberley Street, in Tsim Sha Tsui. Be sure to wear plastic gloves when spreading the chilli paste over the cabbage leaves, or your hands will burn from the gochugaru.

2.5kg Napa cabbage

300 grams kosher or medium-flaked sea salt