Steps

1. Wash the 1/4 head of napa cabbage and firmly squeeze out excess water from the root.
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2. Remove the core and cut in half.
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3. Cut the napa cabbage by slicing along the fibers. 【Tip!】 Cutting the cross-section diagonally speeds up water release. It will shrink when pickled, so it's okay to cut it into larger pieces.
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4. Place the cut 1/4 head of napa cabbage (600-650g) into a plastic bag.
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5. Measure 12g of Seto no Honjio salt and add it to the bag. 【Tip!】 Coarse-grained salt can easily lead to measurement errors with measuring spoons, so weigh it accurately in grams.
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6. Shake the bag to coat the napa cabbage evenly with salt.
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7. Stack a tray or frying pan, place plastic bottles or a bag of rice on top, and weigh it down for about 30 minutes to extract water.
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8. After 30 minutes, remove the weight and firmly squeeze out the water from the napa cabbage while it's still in the bag.
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9. Cut 6g of kombu into small pieces with scissors.
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10. Add the 2 red chili peppers (remove seeds if any) along with the kombu to the bag of squeezed napa cabbage. 【Tip!】 Adding kombu and red chili peppers after squeezing out the water prevents their umami from escaping.
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11. Mix thoroughly to distribute the kombu and red chili peppers, then remove the air from the bag and tie it.
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12. Pickle as is for 2 hours, then it's ready.
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13. Eat as is, or it's also delicious with soy sauce to taste if desired.
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14. For even more flavor, it can also be enjoyed with MSG(Ajinomoto) (MSG) to taste and soy sauce to taste if desired.
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