Top 5 Kimchi Types Ranked — From Run BTS to Restaurant Jjigae

5) Pa-kimchi (scallion kimchi) — the fastest win. BTS's fast-paced Run BTS kitchen showed scallion and green onion kimchi as the 2-day ferment that teaches paste control before you commit a whole cabbage. Make /recipes/pa-kimchi-scallion-kimchi with 1.5 Tbsp salt, 1/4 cup gochugaru, fish sauce + saeujeot, and sticky rice porridge; ferment 36–48 hrs at 65°F. It pairs with kalbi where the onion bite cuts fat.

4) Gat-kimchi (mustard leaf kimchi) — peppery and earthy, the kimchi that makes plain rice feel intentional. Koreaboo's BTS cook survey notes mustard-leaf dishes as the kind of banchan that sticks in memory after a Bulgogi night. Prepare via /recipes/gat-kimchi-mustard-leaf: salt 40 min, coat with myeolchi aekjeot-heavy paste, stack leaves. Serve with samgyeopsal.

3) Baek-kimchi & Dongchimi (white/water kimchis) — no chili, all fridge science. These are the clear brines BTS's Baek Jong-won emphasized as Korean traditional food on Run BTS. Use /recipes/baek-kimchi-white-kimchi and /recipes/dongchimi-radish-water-kimchi. Filtered water, 22g salt per liter, and a weight to keep everything submerged. The brine becomes cold noodle broth or nangmyeon base.

2) Kkakdugi (cubed radish kimchi) — the crunch that survives stew. Every Korean restaurant keeps it for seolleongtang and jjigae. Sportskeeda's ranking puts kimchi as BTS's #1 obsession because it smothers burgers, noodles, and fried rice; kkakdugi is that obsession in cube form. Cook /recipes/kkakdugi-cubed-radish-kimchi, pack tight, and keep crunchy 3 weeks. Its brine seasons kimchi-bokkeumbap without vinegar.

1) Tongbaechu kimchi (napa cabbage) — the restaurant standard and BTS's own classroom dish. On June 15 2021, chef Baek Jong-won divided BTS into cabbage vs green onion teams and stressed kimchi as representative Korean food. Master /recipes/tongbaechu-kimchi-classic: 3–3.5% salt by weight, 8-hr brine, gochugaru medium-coarse + saeujeot, ferment 1–2 days to pH 4.2–4.4. When aged 3 weeks it becomes /recipes/kimchi-jjigae-restaurant-style — the J-Hope/Jimin favorite per Bitesized.ph and the BTS RECIPE BOOK's simple-dishes star.

How to use this list: make tongbaechu and kkakdugi together, eat pa and gat young within 10 days, keep baek/dongchimi for cold bowls. Your table now covers sour, salty, clear, and cube — the four textures BTS's own ferment lesson taught.