Korean Pickled Garlic (Soy-Vinegar Aged Whole Cloves)
Quick answer
- Active time
- 30 min
- Waiting
- See the steps
- Level
- Easy
- Servings
- 4 servings
- Ingredients
- 5
About this dish
After three months or more in the brine, whole garlic cloves lose their raw bite and turn springy, salty, and sweet.
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Freshly packed cloves still taste sharp, because this long-keeping pickle, traditionally made with the new garlic of June, is meant to sit for months. The repeated cycle of draining, reboiling, and cooling the brine is what lets the jar keep that long, and the brine always goes in cold, since hot liquid partially cooks the cloves and dulls their texture. Eat them one at a time alongside fatty grilled pork belly or short ribs.
Ingredients
Instructions
- 1
Peel both the outer and inner skins from 300g whole garlic.
Trim about 0.5cm from each root end so the brine can reach the center instead of only seasoning the surface.
- 2
Combine 200ml soy sauce, 100ml vinegar, 50g sugar, and 200ml water in a pot.
Set it over medium heat and stir steadily until the sugar dissolves before the liquid reaches a full boil.
- 3
When the brine comes to a clear boil, turn off the heat immediately and cool it completely at room temperature.
Do not pour it hot, because heat can partially cook the garlic and dull its crunch.
- 4
Dry the sterilized glass jar thoroughly, then pack the garlic cloves in tightly without crushing them.
Pour in the cooled brine slowly until every clove is fully submerged, with no exposed tops.
- 5
Leave the jar at room temperature for 3 days, then drain only the brine into a pot and boil it again.
Cool it completely and return it to the jar, repeating this every 3 days for three cycles.
- 6
After the repeated brine cycles are finished, move the jar to the refrigerator for slow aging.
Serve chilled after 3 months or more, when the sharp raw bite has faded and the cloves feel firm and bouncy.