Napa Cabbage GeotJeolI (배추 겉절이) is a common and simple daily side dish in Korea. Instead of napa cabbage you can use lettuce, bok choy, or another leafy vegetable. In a few minutes, you can prepare a very delicious side dish by just mixing some ingredients with the cabbage. A secret for a good tasting dish is to use baby leaves (soft) that do not have much of a bitter or strong flavor. Baby leaves also have a nice soft texture. If you get a head of napa cabbage, use the thick outer leaves for napa cabbage soup, and use the soft inside leaves for this recipe. 🙂
Yield: 4 Servings
Short Korean Lesson
- SonGaRak (손가락) = Fingers
- BalGaRak (발가락) = Toes
Video Instructions
Main Ingredients
- 3 Cups Napa Cabbage (6 oz)
- 2 Tbsp Hot Pepper Powder
- 2 Tbsp Water
- 1 Tbsp Green Onion
- ½ Tbsp Soy Sauce
- ½ Tbsp Minced Garlic
- ½ Tbsp Vinegar
- ½ Tbsp Sugar
- ½ Tbsp Sesame Oil
- 1 tsp Sesame Seeds
- ¼ tsp Salt
Directions
Chop 3 cups of napa cabbage into bite-sized pieces. Use the soft center leaves of the head of cabbage, or baby napa cabbage, for this dish.
Combine the rest of the ingredients in a mixing bowl: 2 Tbsp hot pepper powder, 2 Tbsp water, 1 Tbsp finely chopped green onion, ½ Tbsp soy sauce, ½ Tbsp minced garlic, ½ Tbsp vinegar, ½ Tbsp sugar, ½ Tbsp sesame oil, 1 tsp sesame seeds, and ¼ tsp salt. Mix everything together.
Add the chopped napa cabbage in to the sauce.
Mix it gently.
It tastes best right after you make it. You can eat this for one or two more meals later, but it will not be as good as the first day. This kind of dish is one that you make just for one meal. 🙂 Try this fresh and healthy side dish someday. 🙂
I’ve been looking for this recipe. I eat this at our local Korean restaurant served as one of the side dishes. Instead of using Napa cabbage, the restaurant uses romaine lettuce with some thinly shredded carrots and green onions. It is so delicious. I can’t wait to try your versuib,
This was SO DELICIOUS!!! I just made it right now using baby cabbages since that is what I had. Oh my goodness, it was so good, quick and easy to make. I am so happy you shared this recipe, Aeri!! 😎
I want to make this, I hvae all the ingredents in the house except Sesame seeds XP Are thoes TOTALLY needed for this to take great??? ❓
hi Mersadie,
Sesame seeds are not critical ingredient for this dish, so you can skip it. 🙂 If you cook Korean food often, or are going to cook often in the future, I recommend you have sesame seeds on your hands for Korean cooking. It is not critical but it improve the flavor for Korean dish. 🙂
Annyeonghaseyo Aeri
I just found your websites and tried some of your recipe, I liked them.
I have questions for you. Hope you can help me.
What is the difference between geotjeoli and kimchi? Somehow geotjeoli more tasty.
Since I don’t make my own kimchi, what brand do you recommend for kimchi? The korean store nearby make their own kimchi and geotjeoli, should I just buy that one, instead of commercial one?
Thank you
hi Miranda,
I’m very happy to meet you. Welcome !! hehe… About your question.. kimchi is fermented napa cabbage (or other ingredient) with spicy sauce… gotjeoli is very similar to kimchi..but it is made more for eating like salad.. I mean.. eat it before it’s fermented.. like fresh kimchi. ^^ Each person has own taste, so I recommnand you get a small jar of kimchi for different brand each time.. maybe you can start from a commercial brand and then a store brand ^^ Good luck. thanks
I’ve been looking for this recipe on multiple sites, but finally found one here.
I didn’t try it on cabbage, but on english cucumber instead – it is super delicious.
hi Jeong,
Great job. I’m so happy you like this recipe. Thanks ^^
Can I please make the same recipe except with BOK CHOY INSTEAD? i dont want to have to buy all the pastes and what not….let me know!!!
hi Tara,
Yes, since you eat this dish without fermenting.. you can use other leafy vegetables you like.. bok choy sounds good. I like to use Romain lettuce also when I can not get napa cabbage. thanks
when you say vinegar, for this recipe and all recipes similar using vinegar, does that mean white vinegar or only apple cider vinegar?
Please let me know this too!
thank you
hi Tara,
Actually we don’t have apple cider vinegar in Korean cuisine. We have apple vinegar but I think the flavor is different from apple cider vinegar. Yes, you can use white vinegar for this recipe. 🙂 thanks