Myeongi-jangajji (Pickled Mountain Garlic)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Two-liter heatproof glass jar or small onggi
• •Fermentation weight, small clean saucer, or food-safe weight
• •Large bowl for washing greens
• •Salad spinner or clean kitchen towels
• •Nonreactive saucepan
• •Clean tongs

Instructions

1. 1

   Sort the leaves

   Choose young, tender myeongi leaves with flexible stems and no yellowing. Trim the dry stem ends, leaving about 1cm of stem attached. Do not use old leaves with thick, fibrous stems for whole-leaf jangajji; they will pickle unevenly and chew like paper rope.

   If you forage, do it only with someone who knows this plant well. Buy from a trusted grower unless you can identify mountain garlic without guessing.
2. 2

   Wash and dry

   Swish the leaves in a large bowl of cold water, lift them out, and repeat with fresh water until no grit falls to the bottom. Dry them in a salad spinner, then spread them on clean towels for 30 minutes. Water clinging to the leaves dilutes the brine on the first day, and diluted brine is how jangajji turns cloudy before it has learned its work.

3. 3

   Pack the jar

   Pack the dry leaves into a clean heatproof two-liter glass jar or small onggi, stacking them mostly in the same direction so you can lift one leaf out later without tearing five. Press gently, not violently. Bruised leaves soften too much during the week of curing.

4. 4

   Make the brine

   Put the soy sauce, water, sugar, kelp, and dried shiitake in a nonreactive saucepan. Bring just to a simmer, stirring until the sugar dissolves, then pull out the kelp as soon as the liquid bubbles at the edge. Simmer 3 minutes more, turn off the heat, and stir in the rice vinegar. The kelp gives body, but if you boil it hard it turns slick and bitter.

5. 5

   Pour the first brine

   Set the jar on a folded towel and pour the hot brine through a strainer over the leaves. Press the leaves down with clean tongs as they soften and darken from bright green to olive brown. Weight them so every leaf stays under the brine. Cool until the jar is no longer warm, then refrigerate. This is refrigerator jangajji, not shelf-stable canning.

6. 6

   Reboil the brine

   After 24 hours, pour the brine back into the saucepan, leaving the leaves in the jar. Bring the brine to a full boil for 2 minutes, then cool it completely before pouring it back over the leaves. My teacher made me do this even when I was tired. The first day pulls water from the leaves; reboiling tightens the brine again, and cooling it preserves the texture after the first wilt.

7. 7

   Cure and serve

   Refrigerate at least 5 days, though 7 days is better and 2 weeks is when the flavor settles properly. To serve, lift out one leaf at a time, let the brine drip back into the jar, and wrap it around grilled pork, rice, or a small mouthful of barley rice. If a leaf tastes too salty for your table, soak only the serving portion in cold water for 3 minutes, then drain. Do not water down the storage jar.

Chef Tips

• •Buy leaves in spring when they are young and flexible. A leaf should bend without cracking and smell gently of garlic when torn. If the stem is thick and the leaf feels leathery, it is too late for whole-leaf jangajji.
• •Use brewed soy sauce, not guk-ganjang (soup soy sauce). Soup soy sauce is too salty and sharp here, and it will bury the myeongi instead of curing it.
• •The safe shortcut is the vessel: a clean heatproof glass jar and a small fermentation weight work as well as onggi. The unsafe shortcuts are wet leaves, skipping the second boil, and storing the finished pickle at room temperature.
• •Keep the leaves submerged and use clean tongs every time. Refrigerated and covered with brine, they keep well for about 2 months. If the brine turns fizzy, slimy, or smells wrong, throw it away without arguing with it.

Advance Preparation

• •Make this at least 7 days before serving. For a pork grill table or special meal, 10 to 14 days ahead is better because the soy, vinegar, and leaf settle into one another.
• •The leaves can be washed and dried earlier the same day, but do not leave wet leaves packed overnight. Dry first, then pickle.
• •For serving a crowd, lift out a stack of leaves, drain for 5 minutes, and fold them into a small banchan dish. Keep the storage jar cold and return only untouched leaves to it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 60g)