Steps

1. Wash the napa cabbage and cucumber.
   🕒 01:05
2. Thoroughly pat the washed napa cabbage and cucumber dry with paper towels.
   🕒 01:50
3. Cut the napa cabbage into bite-sized pieces, cutting against the grain.
   🕒 02:08
4. Trim the ends off the cucumber and slice it diagonally.
   🕒 03:15
5. Place the cut napa cabbage (200g) and cucumber (200g) into a large bowl.
   🕒 04:12
6. Add sugar (1 tsp) and salt (2 pinches) to the bowl and mix thoroughly by massaging the vegetables.
   🕒 04:18
7. Let the massaged vegetables sit for about 5 minutes to release their moisture.
   🕒 04:57
8. Peel the garlic and ginger, and trim off the root ends. If the garlic has sprouts, remove them.
   🕒 05:12
9. Finely chop the garlic and ginger using a food chopper (or a knife).
   🕒 05:20
10. In a container with the chopped garlic and ginger, add water (200ml), "Lower Sodium Hondashi" (2 tsp), vinegar (4 tbsp), sugar (2 tsp), light soy sauce (1 tsp), and tear in the dried chili peppers (to taste).
    🕒 07:37
11. Lightly mix the marinade. This is the key: "Lower Sodium Hondashi" dissolves quickly in cold water and adds umami and aroma. It uses 1.5 times the amount of bonito flakes compared to regular hondashi, so it's satisfying even with reduced salt.
    🕒 08:21
12. Squeeze out the moisture from the vegetables that have been sitting for 5 minutes by firmly pressing them with paper towels.
    🕒 09:35
13. Place the squeezed vegetables into a plastic bag.
    🕒 10:33
14. Pour all of the prepared marinade into the plastic bag.
    🕒 10:36
15. Lightly close the bag and shake to coat the vegetables evenly with the marinade.
    🕒 10:59
16. Press out any air from the bag, seal it tightly, and marinate in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour. It will taste even better after 1 day. This is the key: By removing the air thoroughly, the vegetables will marinate evenly, allowing the flavors to penetrate deeply.
    🕒 11:11