69 recipes. Page 3 of 3
As an Amazon Associate, we may earn from qualifying purchases.
Cut into 2 cm cubes, the radish stays crunchy beside seolleongtang or gomtang, the milky beef soups it usually accompanies, and turns sweeter as it ferments. After salting, only the released water is poured off and the cubes go unrinsed, keeping in the salt and sugar they absorbed.
Cut into chunky 2 cm cubes, the radish stays crunchy right to the center even after salting and a day of fermentation. Anchovy fish sauce builds the savory base as the kimchi ripens, and ginger tames the raw radish smell for a cleaner finish. With sweeter winter radish, the sugar can come down. After 24 hours at room temperature a light fizzy sourness appears, and from there the fridge takes over. In summer, cut the room-temperature rest to half a day so it does not turn too sour. In Korean restaurants it sits beside grilled pork belly and hot rice soups, cutting through their richness.
Denser and drier than Korean radish, kohlrabi cubes hold their crunch even as the kimchi ferments. Eaten right away it tastes light and fresh, almost like a salad; after three to four days in the fridge the fish sauce comes forward and it turns properly savory. It can take the place of kkakdugi, the cubed radish kimchi, or sit beside meat dishes. Twenty minutes of salting is enough once the surface tastes seasoned, with no need to wait for the cubes to bend.
Raw soybean leaves go straight into the brine, neither salted nor blanched, and their green, beany aroma comes through intact. Pear, garlic and ginger are blended and strained through cloth so that only the juice is used. Without that step, pulp ends up floating in the liquid and stuck between the leaves.
Fruit sweetness from ground pear and onion, the base of the chili paste, cushions the heat. The sharp, prickly garlic smell of the scapes survives fermentation and stays in the kimchi alongside their snap. Thirty minutes in coarse salt is just enough for the stalks to bend a little, which lets the thick paste wrap around them. A short two-hour start at room temperature comes before the fridge, and the flavor turns riper after about two days.
How long the stems simmer decides this kimchi: seven minutes in salted water, then half an hour in cold water, takes out the bitterness and the toughness, and undercooked stems keep both. Unlike the soy-pickled version, these butterbur stems are tossed in a red chili paste thickened with glutinous rice porridge. Gentle tossing matters, since squeezing hard breaks the crisp fibers.
Thick, fibrous radish green stems grip the seasoning and keep their chew long after the leaves soften. The stems get a ten-minute head start in the salt before the leaves join them, so both end up evenly seasoned. Cooled glutinous rice paste holds the chili mixture in place as the kimchi ripens, and sliced onion tempers the heat with sweetness. Longer cold fermentation softens the fibers and deepens the sour aroma, which makes older batches good for chopping into doenjang stew or soup.
Made with early-spring shepherd's purse, this kimchi is eaten as soon as the seasoning settles in the fridge, and sweet rice paste gives the chili and anchovy sauce dressing enough body to cling to the thin stems. Washing takes more care than anything else in the recipe: soil hides between the fine roots, and any left behind makes the whole batch taste muddy and bitter.
The cucumbers are stored whole, split lengthwise into quarters with the red chive filling poking out, and only cut into bite-size pieces at the table. Bite into one and the cucumber juice and the seasoning come out together.
Whole cucumbers sit in a hot salt brine and then age, refrigerated, for at least five days, turning into strongly salted pickles meant to be sliced thin and used a little at a time. Only 2 to 3 mm is trimmed from each end, since deeper cuts let brine rush in and soften the flesh. The slices go into side dishes or chilled Korean soups.
Salting firms the squid flesh enough to keep a pleasantly chewy bite after it is coated in the red seasoning. Starch syrup gives the gochugaru paste a gloss and a little sweetness that keeps the salt from standing alone. The squid should be frozen at -20°C or below for at least 24 hours and thawed in the fridge before cleaning, with any visible parasites removed. Hot rice is the usual partner.
Lettuce wilts within minutes of meeting salt, which caps the salting at 10 minutes, and the kimchi is mixed right before the meal, while the leaf edges still hold a little crunch and a gentle bitterness. Leaves left wet after salting dilute the seasoning until it tastes flat, and patting them dry, never wringing, prevents that. Fermented sand lance sauce (kkanari aekjeot) adds savory depth to the mild leaves, vinegar brightens the finish, and sesame seeds give small toasty bites. The leaves slump and release liquid as it sits, so it goes to the table at once. A spoonful of ssamjang, a soybean dipping paste, stirred in makes it earthier.
Big chunks of radish and plenty of cool, tangy brine make seokbakji a natural partner for rich bone broth soups like seolleongtang. Salted shrimp does more than season the chili paste; it lays down a fermented, savory base. A day at room temperature followed by two days in the fridge turns the water drawn from the radish into a refreshing, lightly sour brine. The salted radish is drained but not rinsed, so the salt it holds seasons the kimchi from inside.
A brief 12-minute salting wilts spinach leaves while the stems keep their snap, giving two textures in each bite. Sand lance fish sauce adds salty depth to the green, grassy flavor, and green plum syrup rounds off the salt. Thick stems are split in half so they season at the same pace as the leaves. Once it has chilled for at least six hours, it goes to the table cold with rice.
Sseumbagwi, a sharply bitter spring herb, soaks in cold water for 20 minutes before it ever meets the seasoning. Some bitterness is meant to remain: after a first ferment at room temperature and a stretch of refrigeration, savory and sour notes build over it, and the balance is best around day three. Sand lance fish sauce is milder than the anchovy sauce used for cabbage kimchi, so it leaves the herb's character intact, while sweet rice paste helps the dressing cling to thin stems.
Crown daisy keeps its bitter, herbal perfume even under a coat of gochugaru and sand lance fish sauce, and two hours at room temperature plus a day of cold storage bring that aroma to its clearest point. The salted leaves are drained in a sieve rather than squeezed, because the tender greens bruise and turn mushy under pressure.
Diced turnip ferments submerged in a gochugaru broth, landing between cubed radish kimchi and water kimchi: more liquid than the first, redder and spicier than the second. Turnips are scrubbed with the skin on and only bruised spots are cut away, keeping their sweetness and firm texture. Salting lasts 25 minutes, and the water it draws out is poured away so no bitterness carries over. If turnip greens are on hand, a few chopped in with the roots ferment alongside and improve the aroma. After a day at room temperature, small bubbles and a light sour smell signal that the jar should move to the fridge for two more days.
With taro stems, the work is in the prep rather than the pickling. Fresh stems are peeled wearing gloves, boiled, then soaked well in cold water before they go into a soy and vinegar brine with garlic and ginger. It is a fridge side dish meant to be eaten within three or four days of making it.
Fully ripe yellow ume are packed with coarse salt at 20 percent of their weight, aged for about a month in the plum vinegar that rises, then dried in direct sun, which leaves them intensely sour and salty with chewy flesh. Throughout aging every plum has to stay wet with brine. Drying happens only on rain-free days, and the fruit comes back into the refrigerator each night.
The broth stays clear because garlic and ginger are wrapped in cheesecloth and squeezed in cold water for their aroma alone, leaving no solids floating around. Young radish greens (yeolmu) are salted just until they slump slightly, so the stems keep some snap, and thin slices of radish let the broth pick up flavor quickly. Ginger is the one ingredient to hold back on: too much, or left steeping too long, turns the broth bitter. Filtered cold water gives the cleanest taste, since nothing is boiled.
Starting with sliced lotus root boiled in vinegar water helps remove bitterness while keeping the vegetable pale and crisp. The seasoning combines gochugaru, minced garlic, and anchovy fish sauce with the addition of fresh pear juice. This pear juice provides natural sugars and necessary moisture so the chili paste coats each slice evenly without becoming dry or clumping. Even after the fermentation process begins, the lotus root maintains its signature firm and crunchy texture. Sliced scallions are tossed in to add a fresh aromatic quality that balances the spicy garlic paste. One full day of refrigeration allows the flavors to settle into the flesh before serving. Because the seasoning gets trapped inside the characteristic holes of the root, the paste should remain thick rather than watery to ensure consistent flavor. When left to ferment for a few more days, the developing acidity helps cut through the richness of grilled meats or fried dishes.