10 ways to use kimchi in the kitchen

Kimchi is not just a side dish, it is an ingredient. Here are ten easy ways to use kimchi in the kitchen, plus the one rule worth remembering.

The one rule

Heat kills the live cultures. If you want to keep them, add kimchi at the very end or eat it raw. Cooked kimchi is still delicious, so do cook with it, just think of it then as a hit of flavour rather than a source of live cultures.

Ten ideas

• Stirred into scrambled tofu in the last few seconds.

• Kimchi fried rice, the classic for a reason.

• Layered into a grilled sandwich with plant-based cheese.

• Folded through ramen or any noodle soup.

• Scattered on pizza, added after it comes out of the oven.

• Tucked into a veggie burger or a tempeh sandwich.

• Chopped into a slaw or a green salad.

• Kimchi pancakes, the Korean jeon, made with a simple flour and water batter.

• Stirred into vegan mayo for a quick spicy dip.

• Straight from the jar, cold, as a snack.

Do not waste the brine

The juice at the bottom of the jar is pure concentrated flavour. Splash it into dressings and marinades, or into a glass of spicy tomato juice. It is far too good to pour down the sink.

Once you start, kimchi stops being the jar you forget at the back of the fridge and becomes the thing you reach for first. Good news, too: ours keeps for up to two years in the fridge.