Korean Pickled Bok Choy (Soy Vinegar Chili Brine)
Quick answer
Cheonggyeongchae jangajji is a Korean pickled bok choy made by halving the heads and submerging them in a boiled brine of soy sauce, vinegar, and sugar with Cheongyang ch...
What makes this special
- Bok choy heads in cheonggyeongchae jangajji hold crisp stems and soft leaves in a chili soy brine.
- Bok choy naturally holds crisp stems and soft leaves in one piece after pickling
- Cheongyang chili adds clean heat at the end; ginger adds mild aromatic depth
Key ingredients
Core cooking flow
- 1 Cut 500 g of bok choy in half lengthwise from the base.
- 2 Slice 2 Cheongyang chilies diagonally into 3 mm thick pieces.
- 3 Layer the prepared bok choy neatly in a sterilized glass container, distribu...
Cheonggyeongchae jangajji is a Korean pickled bok choy made by halving the heads and submerging them in a boiled brine of soy sauce, vinegar, and sugar with Cheongyang chili, garlic, and ginger. The thick white stems retain their crunch after pickling while the tender green leaves absorb the brine softly, creating two contrasting textures within a single piece. Cheongyang chili leaves a clean, lingering heat at the finish, and ginger contributes a warm undertone to the pickling liquid. Draining the bok choy thoroughly before pickling keeps the brine clear, and after two days of refrigeration the seasoning penetrates evenly throughout for a well-balanced banchan. Pouring the brine over the bok choy only after it has cooled prevents the leaves from softening too much. The spent brine can be reboiled and reused to pickle tofu or daikon, extending its value beyond the first batch.
Instructions
Read the steps as a cooking flow: prep, heat, seasoning, doneness control, and finish.
- 1Prep
Cut 500 g of bok choy in half lengthwise from the base.
Wash several times in cold water and drain completely in a colander to prevent the brine from becoming cloudy.
- 2Prep
Slice 2 Cheongyang chilies diagonally into 3 mm thick pieces.
Keep the seeds attached to ensure a clean and lingering spicy flavor throughout the pickled bok choy brine.
- 3Prep
Layer the prepared bok choy neatly in a sterilized glass container, distributing the sliced chilies between the layers so that the heat can penetrate all parts of the stems.
- 4Season
In a pot, combine 150 ml soy sauce, 100 ml vinegar, 150 ml water, 60 g sugar, 1 tsp minced garlic, and 5 g sliced ginger, then boil until the sugar dissolves.
- 5Season
Once the sugar has dissolved and the spicy aroma rises, turn off the heat and cool for 2 minutes.
Remove the ginger slices to leave only a subtle, refined scent.
- 6Season
Pour the warm brine over the bok choy until fully submerged.
Seal the container tightly and refrigerate for 2 days until the seasoning penetrates evenly and the texture matures.
After the steps
Pick a recipe that fits this dish.
Continue with shared ingredients, meal pairings, or a similar method.
Recipes That Go Well With This
More Kimchi →Based on shared ingredients and meal pairing
Korean Soy-Pickled Eggplant
Gaji jangajji is a Korean-style pickled eggplant that starts by blanching the eggplant in boiling water for just over a minute to soften only the outer surface, leaving the inside intact. The briefly cooked eggplant is submerged in a pickling brine of soy sauce, vinegar, and sugar that has been brought to a boil and then cooled. The eggplant absorbs the brine rapidly and deeply, like a sponge, while holding a soft, yielding texture at its core. Vinegar sharpens the eggplant's otherwise flat flavor, and garlic together with cheongyang chili pressed into the brine build a low heat and quiet complexity that goes beyond basic preservation. Ready to eat after a single day in the refrigerator, this jangajji holds its texture for more than ten days when kept cold, which makes it a practical banchan to prepare in advance and pull out over multiple meals.
Korean Bok Choy Kimchi (Gochugaru Fermented Quick)
Cheonggyeongchae kimchi is a bok choy kimchi prepared by halving the heads lengthwise, salting them for twenty minutes, and coating each leaf layer with a paste of gochugaru, salted shrimp, anchovy fish sauce, and sweet rice paste. Keeping the salting time short preserves the crisp snap of the stems, while the leaves soften just enough to hold the seasoning. Julienned scallions and carrot add color and textural variety, and adjusting the fish sauce quantity based on the salted shrimp salinity keeps the overall salt level balanced. After four hours of room-temperature fermentation followed by refrigeration, this kimchi is ready within a day and offers a lighter, crunchier character than traditional napa cabbage kimchi.
Korean Braised Eggplant in Seasoned Soy Sauce
Gaji yangnyeom jorim is a Korean braised eggplant side dish made with soy sauce, gochugaru, garlic, and sesame oil. Briefly sauteing the eggplant in oil before adding the braising liquid is important: pre-cooking the surface prevents the eggplant from releasing too much water into the sauce, which keeps the seasoning concentrated and helps it penetrate evenly. A small amount of sugar or plum extract is added to the sauce, giving the finished dish its characteristic glossy sheen. Scallions are stirred in only after the heat is off to preserve their color and texture. The result is a compact, salty-spicy banchan with a deep lacquered surface on each piece. Keeping a batch in the refrigerator means it is available as a side dish for three or more days, and the leftover braising liquid works well as seasoning in bibimbap.
Korean Cauliflower Jangajji (Pickled Cauliflower)
Korean pickled cauliflower made by soaking bite-sized florets in a boiled-and-cooled brine of soy sauce, vinegar, and sugar. The dense, compact structure of cauliflower absorbs the pickling liquid at a gradual pace, developing flavor over time without turning soft - a texture advantage over vegetables like cucumber or radish that break down faster. Vinegar and sugar balance each other cleanly, and the soy sauce adds a low layer of umami beneath the bright, tangy top note. The pickle works well as a palate cleanser alongside fried or grilled food, and holds up just as well as a plain rice side. The preparation is simple: boil the brine, let it cool, pour it over the florets, and wait.
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Korean Mapo Tofu Rice Bowl
Soft tofu and ground pork are cooked in a Sichuan-inspired doubanjiang sauce, then ladled over steamed rice. Blanching the tofu in salted water firms it up so the cubes hold their shape through stir-frying. The fermented heat of doubanjiang builds layers of flavor alongside the pork, and a starch slurry thickens everything into a glossy sauce that clings to each grain of rice. A finishing drizzle of sesame oil rounds out the dish, and a pinch of Sichuan pepper adds authentic numbing heat.
Korean Perilla-Grilled Mushrooms
Songhwa mushrooms have thick caps with high moisture content, so they stay succulent and chewy when grilled. Sliced into thick pieces and tossed with a simple mix of perilla oil, soy sauce, garlic, salt, and pepper, they cook for about three minutes per side on a hot pan. The perilla oil imparts a distinctly nutty, toasted aroma that differs from sesame. Ground perilla seed is sprinkled on just before the heat is turned off, releasing fragrance without scorching. Finished with chopped chives, this vegetarian dish works equally well as a rice side or a drinking snack.
Korean Silken Tofu Seafood Stew
Sundubu haemul jjigae is a seafood soft tofu stew that combines silken tofu with shrimp and Manila clams in an anchovy stock seasoned with gochujang and Korean chili flakes. The aromatics are stir-fried in sesame oil first to build a deeper base before the stock is added. As the shrimp and clams cook through, they release their own briny juices into the spicy broth and push the umami noticeably higher. An egg cracked in at the end binds gently with the silken tofu, adding richness and a slight body to the broth. Deveining the shrimp and removing the back intestine keeps the flavor clean, and soaking the clams in lightly salted water beforehand purges any sand that would otherwise cloud the stock.
Similar recipes
Korean Soy Pickled Asparagus
This pickle applies the Korean jangajji tradition - soy-brine preservation - to asparagus, a vegetable that arrived in Korean cooking relatively recently but now appears freely across banchan preparations. The asparagus is blanched for just 20 seconds to fix its color and soften the fibrous outer layer, then immediately shocked in ice water to lock in a vivid green and a firm, snapping texture. Packed upright in a sterilized jar, the spears are covered with a boiling brine of soy sauce, rice vinegar, sugar, and water that partially cooks the surface while leaving the core crisp and springy. Within 24 hours the brine penetrates enough for the pickle to be edible, but the flavor peaks at three days when the sweet-sour-salty balance has fully developed. Unlike most jangajji that rely on root vegetables or dense greens like radish and napa cabbage, asparagus brings a distinctive grassy, almost herbal note to the preserved format - a quality that stands on its own without the weight of fermentation. Keeps refrigerated for two weeks, and works well alongside rich or oily dishes where its acidity provides contrast.
Korean Pickled Garlic Scapes
Maneuljjong-jangajji is a preserved side dish of garlic scapes pickled in a boiled soy sauce, vinegar, and sugar brine. The preservation principle is identical to that of whole garlic jangajji, but the scape, meaning the flowering stalk of the garlic plant, is used instead of the bulb, and there is one crucial technique difference. The scapes are cut into 4 cm lengths, packed tightly into glass jars, and covered with the brine immediately while it is still boiling hot. The heat partially cooks the outer layer of each scape, which creates a clean, crisp snap when the scape is bitten, unlike the soft texture that results from the cold-pour method used for whole garlic. Whole black peppercorns included in the jar release their warmth and spicy aroma slowly into the liquid during the aging period, adding a dimension beyond the straightforward salt-and-acid base. The pickles are ready after a single day, but day three is when seasoning has penetrated to the center while the scapes still push back satisfyingly under the teeth. The brine can be drained, reboiled, and poured back over the scapes once during storage, which significantly extends shelf life by suppressing bacterial growth. On the Korean table, these sharp, vinegary pickles serve as a natural counterbalance to fatty meat dishes, cutting through richness and clearing the palate between bites.
Korean Seasoned Bok Choy Namul
Unlike high-heat stir-fried bok choy with oyster sauce, this namul follows Korea's traditional blanch-and-dress method. One minute in boiling water wilts the leaves fully while keeping the pale stalks firm enough to provide a mild crunch. The greens are squeezed dry, cut into short lengths, and rubbed by hand with a mixture of doenjang, soup soy sauce, and minced garlic, working the seasoning into every piece rather than just tossing. The fermented soybean paste adds a deeply savory, slightly earthy quality that transforms the mild vegetable into something with real character. Sesame oil gives the finished dish a glossy coating and a nutty fragrance, and sesame seeds scattered on top add a final textural contrast against the soft leaves.