My neighbor Marie told me my kimchi was too wet, so I changed everything
She's been making kimchi for 40 years and took one look at my jars and said 'you're drowning the cabbage, honey.' Turns out I wasn't salting long enough or squeezing hard enough before packing the jars. Now I let the salted cabbage sit for a full 3 hours and really press out the moisture before adding the paste. The texture is way better and I don't get that watery layer on top anymore. Has anyone else had to adjust their salting time based on someone's random kitchen visit?