Korean Thistle Greens Pickles

Quick answer

Total time: 28 min
Level: Medium
Servings: 4 servings
Ingredients: 8

About this dish

Gondre-jangajji is a pickled banchan made from gondre, a Korean mountain thistle foraged in Gangwon Province each spring.

The greens are blanched briefly to soften the fibrous stems before being submerged in a curing liquid of dark soy sauce, brown rice vinegar, rice syrup, minced garlic, and ginger. The blanching step is essential: raw gondre has a toughness that pickling liquid alone cannot fully penetrate, and a short time in boiling water opens the cell structure just enough to allow the marinade to work through without turning the greens limp. Rice syrup wraps the combined salt and acid in a mild sweetness that prevents the sharpness of either from dominating. A cheongyang chili adds a gentle heat at the finish that keeps the overall flavor from reading as one-dimensional. Because the fibrous texture holds the liquid within the grain of the vegetable, the jangajji stays moist and pliable throughout a week or more of refrigerated storage.

Ingredients

servings

IngredientAmountUnit

gondre greens250 gg

soy sauce100 mlml

kelp stock120 mlml

brown rice vinegar70 mlml

rice syrup2 tbsptbsp

minced garlic1 tsptsp

sliced ginger6 gg

Cheongyang chili½ piecepiece

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Instructions

Read the steps as a cooking flow: prep, heat, seasoning, doneness control, and finish.

6 steps

1

Prep

Trim away the thick, tough stem ends from 250 g gondre greens, then rinse the greens several times under running water.

Shake off surface moisture and cut them into even 4 cm lengths for easier packing.
2

Heat

When the pot of water reaches a rolling boil, add the gondre and blanch for only 20 seconds.

Remove it as soon as the color brightens and the stems bend slightly, before the leaves turn limp.
3

Heat

Transfer the blanched gondre straight into cold water to stop the cooking.

Press and squeeze it well by hand, because excess moisture will dilute the brine and make the curing liquid cloudy.
4

Prep

Pack the gondre loosely in a sterilized jar, adding 6 g sliced ginger and half a diagonally sliced Cheongyang chili between the layers. Do not press too hard, so the brine can flow through the greens evenly.
5

Control

Add 100 ml dark soy sauce, 120 ml kelp stock, 70 ml brown rice vinegar, 2 tbsp rice syrup, and 1 tsp minced garlic to a pot.

Bring it to a boil over medium heat, stirring until the syrup dissolves.
6

Control

Once it boils, lower the heat and simmer for 2 more minutes, then cool for 5 minutes.

Pour the warm brine over the jar contents until submerged, then refrigerate for 2 days before serving.

Practical Cooking Checks

The cues that matter most while cooking.

Key technique: Gondre-jangajji balances the wild mountain thistle's bitterness with a savory soy brine.
Finish cue: Once it boils, lower the heat and simmer for 2 more minutes, then cool for 5 minutes.
Avoid this: Trim away the thick, tough stem ends from 250 g gondre greens, then rinse the greens several times under running water.
Storage and reheating: Because the fibrous texture holds the liquid within the grain of the vegetable, the jangajji stays moist and pliable throughout a week or more of refrigerated storage.