Chef Jeong-sun
Albaechu-mul-kimchi (Baby Cabbage Water Kimchi)
Tender baby napa cabbage in a clear pear-garlic brine, lightly fermented until the broth turns clean and bright, the summer kimchi a beginner can make without a kimjang floor.
Culinary Explorer
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Sunmu-kimchi (Ganghwa Turnip Kimchi)
Created by
Ganghwa's purple-topped turnip made into a pale, clean kimchi, salted carefully and fermented slowly so its peppery sweetness stays clear.
Sauces & Condiments
Korean
Comfort Food
Make Ahead
45 min
Active Time
5 min cook•P3DT50M total
YieldAbout 2 liters kimchi, 8 to 10 banchan servings
Cook the month you're standing in. Sunmu belongs to the cold edge of the year, when Ganghwa's turnips come from the field dense, purple at the shoulder, white inside, and sharp enough to remind you they are kin to mustard. Use them in late autumn and winter if you can. Out of season, make a small batch and don't pretend it will taste the same.
This kimchi lives or dies by salting. Too little salt and the turnip tastes raw and flat after fermenting. Too much and its own peppery sweetness is lost. My teacher Master Seong-nyeo made us cut the pieces the same thickness before we ever touched the brine, because uneven pieces ferment like a noisy room: one sour, one hard, one already tired. I write it as 2.5 percent salt by weight. 손맛 is real; I measure it anyway.
There is no chili paste here, and that is not an absence. The turnip carries its own clean bite, helped by garlic, ginger, scallion, pear, and a light rice paste that gives the fermentation something steady to eat. Pack it under its brine, leave it at room temperature just until it begins to speak, then move it cold. Tonight it asks for a scale, a sharp knife, and patience. Not much theater. Good kimchi rarely needs it.
Ganghwa sunmu, the purple-topped turnip grown on Ganghwa Island, is closely associated with the island's sandy, salty soil and has been recorded as a local specialty since the Joseon period. Older forms of turnip kimchi were white kimchi, made before chili became common in Korean kimchi after peppers arrived from the Americas in the late sixteenth century. Ganghwa's version remains distinct because the turnip itself has a mustardy bite, so the kimchi can be brined and fermented without gochugaru and still taste vivid.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
Ganghwa sunmu (purple Korean turnips)
Quantity
1.5kg
trimmed, scrubbed, leaves reserved if tender
coarse sea salt
Quantity
38g, about 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon
Korean radish
Quantity
300g
cut into 1/4-inch batons
Asian pear
Quantity
120g
peeled and cut into 1/4-inch batons
scallions
Quantity
40g
cut into 1 1/2-inch lengths
fresh ginger
Quantity
20g
peeled and thinly sliced
garlic
Quantity
18g
thinly sliced
fresh green chili (optional)
Quantity
1 small
thinly sliced
water
Quantity
2 cups
sweet rice flour
Quantity
1 tablespoon
maesil-cheong (green plum syrup) or sugar
Quantity
1 tablespoon maesil-cheong or 2 teaspoons sugar
saeujeot (salted shrimp) (optional)
Quantity
1 1/2 teaspoons
finely minced
fish sauce (optional)
Quantity
1 teaspoon
cold water for final brine
Quantity
1 cup
fine sea salt for final brine (optional)
Quantity
1/2 teaspoon, if needed
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| Ganghwa sunmu (purple Korean turnips)trimmed, scrubbed, leaves reserved if tender | 1.5kg |
| coarse sea salt | 38g, about 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon |
| Korean radishcut into 1/4-inch batons | 300g |
| Asian pearpeeled and cut into 1/4-inch batons | 120g |
| scallionscut into 1 1/2-inch lengths | 40g |
| fresh gingerpeeled and thinly sliced | 20g |
| garlicthinly sliced | 18g |
| fresh green chili (optional)thinly sliced | 1 small |
| water | 2 cups |
| sweet rice flour | 1 tablespoon |
| maesil-cheong (green plum syrup) or sugar | 1 tablespoon maesil-cheong or 2 teaspoons sugar |
| saeujeot (salted shrimp) (optional)finely minced | 1 1/2 teaspoons |
| fish sauce (optional) | 1 teaspoon |
| cold water for final brine | 1 cup |
| fine sea salt for final brine (optional) | 1/2 teaspoon, if needed |
Equipment Needed
- •Digital kitchen scale
- •Large mixing bowl
- •2-liter glass jar or small onggi crock
- •Small saucepan
- •Clean spoon or fermentation weight
Instructions
- 1
Trim the turnips
Scrub the sunmu well, because their skins carry color and flavor. Do not peel unless the skins are scarred or woody. Trim the root ends and any tough leaf stems. Cut the turnips into 3/4-inch wedges, keeping the pieces close in size so they salt and ferment at the same pace.
If the greens are young and clean, cut a small handful into 2-inch lengths and add them with the scallions. Tough greens belong in soup, not in this jar. - 2
Salt by weight
Put the cut turnips and radish batons in a large bowl and toss with 38g coarse sea salt. That is 2.5 percent of the turnip weight, enough to season and draw water without crushing the vegetable. Let stand 1 hour, turning every 20 minutes. The turnip should bend slightly at the edge but still snap cleanly when bitten.
- 3
Make rice paste
Whisk 2 cups water with 1 tablespoon sweet rice flour in a small pot. Bring to a gentle boil over medium heat, stirring, then cook 2 to 3 minutes until lightly thickened and glossy. Cool completely. The paste is not there to make the kimchi heavy; it feeds fermentation and helps the seasonings cling evenly.
- 4
Rinse and drain
Rinse the salted turnip and radish once under cold water, just enough to remove surface salt. Drain 20 minutes in a colander. Do not soak them. Soaking pulls out the turnip's own bite, and that bite is the reason we are making sunmu-kimchi.
- 5
Season gently
In the bowl, mix the cooled rice paste with maesil-cheong, saeujeot if using, fish sauce if using, ginger, garlic, scallions, pear, and green chili. Add the drained turnip and radish and fold by hand until everything is lightly coated. Taste one piece. It should be seasoned, faintly sweet, and still plainly turnip, not garlic with a turnip costume.
- 6
Pack the jar
Pack the kimchi firmly into a clean 2-liter jar or small onggi, pressing down to remove air pockets. Pour in any liquid from the bowl. If the vegetables are not mostly covered, stir 1 cup cold water with 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt and pour in just enough to come near the top of the vegetables. Leave at least 1 inch headspace.
- 7
Start fermentation
Cover loosely or use a fermentation lid and set the jar in a tray at cool room temperature, about 18 to 21 C, for 24 to 36 hours. Press the vegetables down once a day with a clean spoon. When you see small bubbles at the sides and the brine tastes lightly tart, move it to the refrigerator.
- 8
Age and serve
Chill at least 2 days before eating, and 5 to 7 days if you want a rounder sourness. Serve cold as banchan, with rice and a mild soup or grilled fish. Use clean utensils every time and keep the vegetables under brine; treated properly, the kimchi keeps 3 to 4 weeks refrigerated.
Chef Tips
- •True Ganghwa sunmu has purple shoulders, dense flesh, and a peppery smell when cut. If you cannot find it, use small young purple-top turnips, but reduce the first room-temperature fermentation to 18 to 24 hours and expect a milder kimchi.
- •This is a white kimchi. Do not add gochugaru because you miss the color. The turnip's mustard bite is the seasoning you are protecting.
- •Saeujeot and fish sauce add depth, but you can leave both out for a clean vegetarian version. Add 1 teaspoon more salt to the final brine if you do, and ferment it a day longer in the refrigerator before judging the flavor.
- •A scale is the tool that saves this kimchi. Turnips vary, and handful salting is how one batch becomes too salty and the next spoils early. Write down your vegetable weight and salt weight. Memory is a borrowed bowl.
Advance Preparation
- •The kimchi needs 24 to 36 hours at cool room temperature, then at least 2 days in the refrigerator before serving. Plan on 3 days before the first good bowl.
- •The rice paste can be cooked and cooled up to 1 day ahead. Keep it covered in the refrigerator, then bring it back to cool room temperature before mixing.
- •Once fermented to your liking, keep the jar cold and use clean utensils. The flavor is best within 3 to 4 weeks.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 220g)
Calories
75 calories
Total Fat
0 g
Saturated Fat
0 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
0 g
Cholesterol
2 mg
Sodium
2000 mg
Total Carbohydrates
17 g
Dietary Fiber
4 g
Sugars
10 g
Protein
2 g
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