How hardworking microbes ferment cabbage into kimchi

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/08/13/ [login to see] /kimchi-fermentation-microbes-gut-health
"I love fermented foods. I love that you can leave something out on the counter, in the refrigerator — forget about it, even — and it just gets better.

But why do some foods improve with age, while others spoil? I wanted to know how it happens.

So early one morning, I met Chef Patrice Cunningham at Tastemakers, a shared commercial kitchen in northeast Washington, D.C. She owns a small business, making and selling a deliciously fresh, spicy, fermented Korean condiment – kimchi.

Cunningham welcomes me with a handshake and a hairnet, and leads me to a large, steel prep table covered with about a dozen crates of Napa cabbage. She and her three assistant chefs chopped each leafy head down into bite-sized pieces. It's the first step in transforming the raw and humble cabbage into bright-red, funky kimchi".