Korean Garlic Scape Soy Pickles

Quick answer

Total time: 30 min
Level: Easy
Servings: 4 servings
Ingredients: 7

About this dish

Maneul jong jangajji is a Korean garlic scape pickle made by cutting fresh scapes into 5 cm lengths, packing them into a sterilized jar along with cheongyang chili peppers, and pouring over a freshly boiled brine of soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, and dried kelp.

The scapes' sharp garlic bite melds gradually with the soy's salty, savory depth to produce a flavor that builds with every chew, while the kelp dissolves a subtle seaweed umami into the brine over the course of steeping. The vinegar keeps the salt in check so the overall taste stays clean rather than heavy, and the cheongyang chili adds a slow, lingering warmth at the end of each bite that prevents the pickle from tasting one-dimensional. Reboiling the brine and pouring it back over the scapes after two days is an important step for both preservation and even pickling, and repeating this process once more ensures the scapes absorb flavor uniformly throughout. Handled this way, the finished banchan keeps reliably for over a month in the refrigerator.

Ingredients

servings

IngredientAmountUnit

garlic scapes500 gg

soy sauce250 mlml

water250 mlml

vinegar120 mlml

sugar120 gg

kelp5 gg

green chili2 pcspcs

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Instructions

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

6 steps

1

Prep

Rinse 500 g garlic scapes under running water, then drain them well.

Trim away any woody bottoms and tough tips, and cut the scapes into even 5 cm lengths so they pickle at the same pace.
2

Control

Add 250 ml soy sauce, 250 ml water, 120 ml vinegar, 120 g sugar, and 5 g kelp to a pot.

Stir before heating so the sugar does not sit on the bottom and scorch, then place over high heat.
3

Control

When the brine reaches a full boil, lower to medium heat and boil for just 1 minute.

Slice 2 green chilies on the diagonal, add them, turn off the heat, and remove the kelp to avoid bitterness.
4

Control

Pack the garlic scapes into a sterilized glass jar, standing or laying them to reduce empty spaces without crushing them.

Pour in the hot brine until every piece is completely submerged.
5

Step

Press gently with a clean spoon to release trapped air and keep the scapes under the brine.

Once the steam has eased, close the lid and let the jar cool completely at room temperature.
6

Step

Refrigerate the jar after it has cooled completely.

Keep the garlic scapes submerged and remove only the needed portion with a clean utensil.

Practical Cooking Checks

The cues that matter most while cooking.

Key technique: Kelp infuses the soy-vinegar brine of Maneul-jong-jangajji with an extra layer of sea umami.
Finish cue: Refrigerate the jar after it has cooled completely.
Avoid this: Trim away any woody bottoms and tough tips, and cut the scapes into even 5 cm lengths so they pickle at the same pace.
Storage and reheating: Press the garlic scapes fully below the brine before refrigerating.