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Vegetables from Korea

Haemul kimchi (seafood kimchi)해물김치

Haemul kimchi is cabbage or radish kimchi with seafood mixed in, such as squid, octopus or abalone. Lab versions with pre-treated seafood at 12 % of the brined cabbage followed the usual kimchi fermentation, but octopus and squid reached best ripeness a week later than plain cabbage kimchi, and all of them tasted less sour. The seafood adds free amino acids and taurine.

Fully documentedVegetables14 days – 21 days

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceAmounts are from a lab study, which added each seafood at 12 % of the brined cabbage weight. Household versions have no fixed amounts.
Brined cabbage[woo2012]
Pre-treated octopus, squid, abalone or webfoot octopus12 % (w/w) of the brined cabbageOne seafood per batch in the lab study[woo2012]

Total time across the recorded steps: 14 days – 21 days

Start
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Close-up: salt moving into a piece

What changes: Cabbage is salted until it softens

Step 1 of 4
Salt the cabbage
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactic acid bacteria
Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

At a glance

Haemul kimchi is cabbage or radish kimchi with seafood mixed in, such as squid, octopus or abalone. Lab versions with pre-treated seafood at 12 % of the brined cabbage followed the usual kimchi fermentation, but octopus and squid reached best ripeness a week later than plain cabbage kimchi, and all of them tasted less sour. The seafood adds free amino acids and taurine. Made in 4 steps over 14 days – 21 days. The longest step, ripen cold, takes 14–21 days (Woo M 2012) and runs at 5 °C (Woo M 2012). Lactobacillus spp., peaking at 8.31–8.85 log CFU/mL in seafood kimchi and Leuconostoc spp., peaking at 7.60–8.14 log CFU/mL do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step14–21 daysMeasured[woo2012]Ripen cold
Temperature5 °CReported[woo2012]Ripen cold
AciditypH 4.2–4.4Reported[woo2012]Ripen cold

What makes this one different

Haemul kimchi has seafood pieces mixed in. In lab trials it followed a normal kimchi fermentation but tasted less sour, and octopus and squid slowed ripening by a week.

Related ferments

Variants

  • Ojingeo tong-kimchi (Gangwon)Whole fresh squid from the East Sea made into kimchi.
  • Haemul seokbakji (Seoul and Gyeonggi)A Seoul and Gyeonggi kimchi known for putting many kinds of ingredients in at once (National Folk Museum).
  • Octopus kimchi with a starterStarted with Leuconostoc mesenteroides SK-1, it reached pH 4.56 after 21 days at 4 °C and held there, staying at good ripeness longer.

Safety

Kimchi can pick up pathogenic or spoilage bacteria if it is contaminated during preparation. South Korea's food-safety ministry sets limits for kimchi. Salmonella, Listeria monocytogenes and Vibrio parahaemolyticus must be absent from 25 g samples, and Bacillus cereus is capped at 10,000 CFU/g in fermented foods such as kimchi. This is general kimchi guidance; the sources for this page give no safety figures for it. Some versions use raw seafood, and CDC says most vibriosis comes from raw or undercooked shellfish, particularly oysters. We found no study of Vibrio in haemul kimchi, so its acid and salt cannot be assumed to make raw seafood safe.

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

The capital region was known for lavish kimchi such as haemul seokbakji, and the East Sea coast put fresh fish and squid straight into kimchi instead of jeot.

Starter
The sources we found do not say how its fermentation begins.
  1. [cdc-vibrio] US CDC, About Vibrio Infectiongov
  2. [woo2012] Woo M., Choi J.R., Kim M., Jang M.-S., Cho E.J. and Song Y.O. 2012, Physicochemical characteristics of seafood-added kimchi during fermentation and its sensory properties, Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition 41(12), 1771–1777 (abstract)paper
  3. [nam2013] Nam H.G., Jang M.-S., Seo K.-C., Nam K.-H. and Park H.-Y. 2013, Changes in the taste compounds of kimchi with seafood added during its fermentation, Food Science and Preservation 20(3), 404–418 (abstract)paper
  4. [jang2016] Jang M.-S., Jung K.-E., Yun J.-U. and Nam K.-H. 2016, Production and fermentation characteristics of seafood kimchi started with Leuconostoc mesenteroides SK-1 isolated from octopus baechu kimchi, Food Science and Preservation 23(7), 1050–1057 (abstract)paper
  5. [nfm-kimchi] National Folk Museum of Korea, Encyclopedia of Korean Folk Culture, Korean Food, Clothing and Housing (한국의식주생활사전), 김치 (regional kimchi); KOGL type 2, facts only; read 2026-10book
  6. [KoWiki] Korean Wikipedia, 김치 (sections 역사, 종류, 지역별 김치; one-line definitions follow the Standard Korean Language Dictionary), read 2026-10-16: Gangwon listwiki
  7. [shim2024] Shim Y., Lee J.Y., Jung J. 2024, Effects of kimchi-derived lactic acid bacteria on reducing biological hazards in kimchi, Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology 34(12):2586-2595 (introduction cites the Korean ministry's microbial limits for kimchi)paper
  8. [mfds-common] Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, Korean Food Code (식품공전), 2. Common standards, 3. general standards, foodborne pathogen limits by food type (general kimchi limits, not specific to this dish)spec