Maneul-jangajji (Soy-Pickled Garlic)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •1 liter glass jar with tight lid
• •Small nonreactive saucepan
• •Fine-mesh strainer
• •Clean kitchen towel

Instructions

1. 1

   Prepare the jar

   Wash a 1 liter glass jar and lid well, then rinse with boiling water and let them air-dry completely. Pickles do not forgive a dirty jar. You are not canning this for a shelf, but you are making food that will sit for weeks, so begin clean.

2. 2

   Trim the garlic

   Peel the garlic and trim only the dry root end from each clove. Leave the cloves whole. Cut garlic bleeds its strength into the brine too fast and loses the crisp bite that makes maneul-jangajji worth keeping.

3. 3

   Blanch the cloves

   Bring 4 cups water and 1 teaspoon salt to a boil. Add the garlic cloves and blanch for 45 seconds, then drain at once and spread them on a clean towel. This is not cooking the garlic through. It is drawing out the raw sting so the pickle mellows cleanly instead of biting back for a month.

   Do not blanch longer than 1 minute. Soft garlic in jangajji is a sad thing, and no amount of soy sauce will repair it.
4. 4

   Boil the brine

   Combine the soy sauce, rice vinegar, water, sugar, and kelp if using in a small nonreactive pot. Bring just to a boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves, then simmer 1 minute. Pull out the kelp. The ratio matters: equal soy, vinegar, and water, with half as much sugar, gives salt, acid, and sweetness without turning the garlic into candy.

5. 5

   Pack and pour

   Pack the dry blanched garlic into the clean jar. Pour the hot brine over the cloves until they are fully submerged, leaving about 1/2 inch of space at the top. Tap the jar gently to release trapped air. The cloves must stay under the brine, because any piece sitting above it can spoil.

6. 6

   Cool and refrigerate

   Let the jar cool at room temperature for 1 hour, then seal and refrigerate. After 3 days, drain the brine into a pot, boil it for 1 minute, cool it completely, and pour it back over the garlic. This second boil strengthens the keeping quality and keeps the flavor even.

7. 7

   Wait and serve

   Start tasting after 2 weeks; 3 to 4 weeks is better. The garlic should be crisp, soy-brown at the edges, and sharp only at the center. Serve a few cloves at a time as banchan, sliced in half if the cloves are large. Keep the jar refrigerated and use clean chopsticks every time.

Chef Tips

• •Use fresh, firm garlic with tight cloves. Old garlic with green shoots turns bitter faster, and pickling will not make it young again.
• •Blue-green garlic can happen when garlic sulfur compounds meet acid, especially with young garlic or reactive metal. If it smells clean and stays submerged, it is harmless. Use stainless steel, enamel, or glass, never aluminum or copper.
• •For a less sweet jar, reduce the sugar to 1/3 cup, but do not reduce the vinegar. The acid is part of the preservation, not only the taste.
• •If your soy sauce is very salty, replace 2 tablespoons of the soy sauce with water the next time. Write that down beside the brand name, because soy sauces do not all speak at the same volume.

Advance Preparation

• •Maneul-jangajji needs at least 2 weeks in the refrigerator before serving, and 3 to 4 weeks gives a rounder flavor.
• •Stored refrigerated, fully submerged, and handled with clean utensils, it keeps well for about 2 to 3 months.
• •You can peel and trim the garlic a day ahead. Keep it covered in the refrigerator, then blanch and brine it the next day.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 30g)