Perfect Pairings & Recipes for
Kimchi

Discover the best flavour pairings for kimchi based on data analysis of thousands of recipes. Find perfect ingredient matches & delicious recipes.

Kimchi immediately conjures the embrace of cabbage and the bracing kiss of garlic, but beneath its umami surface lies a nuanced symphony of subtle flavour notes: vinegar, butyric acid, and even hints of sulfur, giving it remarkable depth. Understanding how these elements interplay is the secret to unlocking kimchi's pairing potential.

To map these harmonies, we analysed thousands of ingredients, breaking each one down across 150 flavour dimensions, identifying which notes complement and contrast. Our findings reveal, for instance, how iceberg lettuce's cucumber tones can carry kimchi, or how juniper berry's balsam notes create an unexpectedly harmonious bridge with the pungent vegetal notes.

An ingredient's flavour profile is determined by its core characteristics (e.g. vegetal, acidic, and spice) enhanced by layers of subtle aroma notes (outer bars). When pairing ingredients, aim for a mix of core traits to build balance, and select complementary aroma notes to create harmony.

The Secret Language of Flavour

To understand how flavour notes harmonise, we analysed more than 50,000 popular ingredient combinations. By exploring these pairings, we identified specific flavour notes that frequently occur together, indicating they share a harmonious relationship.

The Flavours That Harmonise With Brassica Notes

Our analysis shows that the flavour of cabbage is strongly associated with the flavour of balsam. This suggests we should look for ingredients with a balsam flavour, such as juniper berry, when pairing with the cabbagy aroma accents of kimchi.

The recipe below provides inspiration for pairing kimchi with juniper berry.

Harmonious Flavours Of Kimchi

Just as our analysis reveals that cabbage and oaky notes tend to pair together, we can identify the full profile of flavours that harmonise with each of the flavour accents present in kimchi. E.g. the garlicy notes of kimchi are often used with fatty and starchy notes.

The notes associated with the various aromas of kimchi can be seen highlighted in the pink bars below.

Matching Flavour Profiles

The flavour profile of iceberg lettuce offers many of the aroma notes complementary to kimchi, including cucumber and grassy aroma notes. Because the flavour profile of iceberg lettuce has many of the of the features that are complementary to kimchi, they are likely to pair very well together.

The chart above shows the unique profile of iceberg lettuce across 150 dimensions of flavour, while the recipes below offer inspiration for bringing these flavours together with kimchi.

Recipes That Pair Kimchi With Iceberg Lettuce

Linked Flavour Notes

Looking at the aroma accents that are most strongly associated with the various flavours of kimchi, we can identify other ingredients that are likely to pair well.

The left side of the chart above highlights the aroma notes of kimchi, along with the complementary aromas associated with each note. While the right side shows some of the ingredients that share many of the aroma accents complementary to kimchi.

What To Drink With Kimchi

The oaky notes in alentejo make it a perfect pairing with kimchi. Likewise, the cucumber flavours in cucumber juice create a match made in heaven. Explore a variety of ingredients below that beautifully complement the unique character of kimchi below.

Which Vegetables Go With Kimchi?

Choose vegetables that anchor its savoryness or anchor its sharp acidity. Iceberg lettuce and romaine lettuce offer vibrant, clean counterpoints, their verdant freshness lifting the palate. Lettuce add a gentle, oniony brightness, while courgette introduces a sophisticated, anise-tinged elegance.

Alternatively, embrace vegetables that harmonise with kimchi's salinity. The addition of cucumber, with its subtle capsicum notes, can complement the brine beautifully, while jalapeño lends a watery aroma.

How Flavonomics Works

We've pioneered a unique, data-driven approach to decode the intricate art of flavour pairing. Our goal is to move beyond intuition and uncover the science of why certain ingredients harmonise beautifully. This rigorous methodology allows us to provide you with insightful and reliable pairing recommendations.

Our analysis begins with over 50,000 carefully selected recipes from acclaimed chefs like Galton Blackiston, Marcello Tully, and Pierre Lambinon. This premium dataset ensures our model distils genuine culinary excellence and creativity.

Each ingredient from these recipes is deconstructed across 150 distinct flavour dimensions, creating a unique numerical "flavour fingerprint." This quantification allows us to apply advanced analytical methods to identify complex patterns between flavour notes.

We identify popular ingredient combinations that frequently appear in our recipe database. Regression analysis is then performed on these pairings to statistically validate and pinpoint truly harmonious flavours.

These insights drive our predictive model, which allows us to take any ingredient (e.g., Kimchi), analyse its detailed flavour profile, and accurately reveal its complementary flavours and perfect ingredient partners.