Chop cabbage into large chunks and sprinkle with the salt. Mix it through all the leaves. Add 6 cups (1.5 quart / 1.5 litres) of cold water and mix the cabbage again. Pop a heavy plate on top, to keep the cabbage under water.
1/4 cabbage, 3 tbsp salt, 6 cups water
Soak the salted cabbage in the salt water for 4 - 6 hours, turning over the cabbage pieces every 2 hours. Humidity will play a role here, so the higher the humidity in your environment the less time you'll need to soak and vice versa. In Australia, it's recommended to soak around 4 hours.
While the cabbage is soaking, it's time to mix the seasoning. In a small bowl, add the Korean chilli flakes, garlic, salted shrimp (or miso), fish sauce, sugar, pear juice (or apple), dashi powder dissolved in warm water and chopped spring onion.
2 tbsp Korean hot pepper flakes / gochugaru, 1 tbsp garlic, 1 tbsp salted shrimp, 1 tbsp fish sauce, 1 tbsp sugar, 1 tbsp pear juice, 1/4 tsp dashi powder, 1 bunch spring onion / green onion
After soaking the cabbage, rinse the cabbage two or three times under fresh water to remove the salt. We find a colander works well for this step. The cabbage should now have a flexible texture.
Transfer the rinsed cabbage to a large bowl and add the kimchi seasoning. (We recommend gloves for this next step.) Using your hands, work the seasoning through the cabbage, making sure everything is very well coated. You can have a taste here and see if your kimchi needs any more chilli or salt to your preference.
Next it's time to store the kimchi in a large jar. We recommend lining the top of the jar with cling wrap, then poking a hole to fill it, that way the the top of the jar will stay clean. Pop in all the kimchi, then press it down firmly so it's all compacted. This is important to get out air bubbles and help the fermentation process.
Leave on the bench for 24 hours to kick off the fermentation, then transfer to the fridge and eat whenever you like.