Korea · 45 min · Vegan · For preserving · For beginners
Kkaennip Jangajji
In German: Eingelegte Sesamblätter in Sojasauce · In English: Soy-Pickled Perilla Leaves
For 6 servings · US units
Pickled perilla leaves in a savory soy marinade — the banchan that steals your rice
In Korea, kkaennip jangajji is put up in summer, when perilla leaves are everywhere, and it keeps the table company right through to winter. The leaves steep in a marinade of soy sauce, garlic, spring onion and Korean chili flakes (gochugaru) until they're salty, savory and gently spicy. There's a reason Koreans call this kind of side dish a "rice thief" — lay one leaf on hot rice and the bowl empties faster than you'd expect.
Ingredients
- 30about 100 g, washed leaf by leaf and drainedLarge, serrated leaves of Korean perilla, a plant of the mint family, strongly aromatic with a note somewhere between mint, anise and fresh grass.Substitute: There is no equivalent substitute. Japanese shiso, a related variety, comes closest, but it is smaller, more delicate and tastes brighter and more lemony. For wrapping you can fall back on lettuce leaves, but then the very aroma that defines the dish is missing.Read more
- ½ cupSoy saucebase of the pickling seasoning
- ¼ cupWaterdilutes the soy sauce
- 2 tbspSugarbrown or white
- 1 tbspVinegarstir into the cooled liquid only
- 2 clovesGarlicfinely minced
- 2Spring onionfinely chopped
- 1 tbspKorean chili flakes, amount to tasteKorean chili flakes made from sun-dried red chilies, ground coarse or fine. Bright red, fruity, mild to medium hot and slightly smoky.Substitute: The closest match is Aleppo pepper (pul biber) from a Turkish grocery, which is similarly fruity and mild but oilier, often salted and slightly tangier. In a pinch, mix sweet paprika with a little cayenne; this roughly matches colour and heat but not the fruitiness or texture. Ordinary crushed red pepper flakes are too hot to use in the usual quantities.Read more
- 1finely chopped or roughly cut (optional)A fresh chili picked unripe, grassy and bright, ranging from mild to very hot depending on the variety.Substitute: For the mild variety, use long green peppers or mild green peppers such as Italian frying peppers; for the hot one, jalapeño or serrano. The fresh character stays the same, and you only need to adjust the amount for heat.Read more
- ⅛ ozfor a broth as the base of the pickling liquid (optional)Caution: Dried kelp is very high in iodine, so it should be used only in small amounts and not eaten in large quantities.Dried sheets of brown seaweed (Korean dashima, Japanese kombu), used above all to give broth a deep, savoury base.Substitute: There is no equivalent substitute; a pinch of glutamate seasoning or a little soy sauce adds savouriness but not the rounded, faintly oceanic taste, and the broth will be flatter.Read more
- ¼ cupboiled with the liquid (optional)Rice wine for cooking, usually lightly salted, that softens fishy and meaty odours and gives sauces a mild, rounded depth.Substitute: Drinking sake, dry sherry or dry white wine do the same job but bring no salt, so add a little extra salt; mirin is not a substitute, as it is distinctly sweet.Read more
- ¼ cupinstead of sugar, sweetens and preserves (optional)Korean syrup made from green, unripe plums (maesil) steeped in sugar: sweet, fruity and tart.Substitute: There is no true equivalent. Honey or a light sugar syrup with a little lemon juice or rice vinegar matches the balance of sweetness and acidity, but the fruity, slightly almond-like plum aroma is lost; in marinades and dressings this is barely noticeable, whereas diluted as a drink the difference is obvious.Read more
- 1Gingersmall piece, simmered with the liquid (optional)
- 10½ ozCabbageleaves cut to size, layered alternately with the perilla (optional)
Method
- Wash and dry the leavesWash the perilla leaves one by one in cold water, pile them into a colander and let them drain and dry completely — no water should be sitting on the leaves.
- Blanch if you likeIf you like softer leaves, blanch them in batches for 20 seconds in boiling water, let them cool, then gently squeeze out the water.
- Cook the seasoning liquidFor the seasoning liquid, bring the soy sauce, water and sugar to a boil along with the garlic, spring onion, Korean chili flakes and the green chili if you're using it, simmer gently for a few minutes, then let it cool completely. If you like, first bring the dried kelp (dasima) to a boil in the water, let it steep for 10 minutes and lift it out again.
- Stir in the vinegarStir the rice vinegar into the liquid only once it has cooled completely. Alternatively, you can simply whisk the soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, Korean chili flakes, garlic and spring onion together cold.
- Layer the leavesLayer the leaves in a glass or plastic container, brushing a little of the seasoning sauce over them every few leaves — or dip each leaf in the marinade and stack them one on top of the other.
- Cover with the saucePour the remaining sauce over the top so the leaves are fully submerged, then close the container.
- Pour the marinade over againAfter about an hour, drain off the liquid and pour it back over the stack so the seasoning spreads evenly.
- Steep overnight in the fridgeChill the container and let the leaves steep at least overnight. They keep in the fridge for 1–2 weeks.
- Serve with hot riceTo serve, carefully peel a few leaves off the stack and set them alongside a bowl of hot rice.
Tips and variations
You can also pickle the leaves raw, with no blanching at all — they stay a bit firmer that way. Instead of sugar, green plum syrup (maesilcheong) brings the sweetness; as a fermented product it also helps keep things from spoiling, and a small piece of ginger in the liquid suits it well. For something milder, make the liquid from dried kelp broth, cooking sake and vinegar, leaving out the garlic, spring onion and chili entirely. Another route is a vinegar-sugar-salt brine with alternating layers of cabbage: leave it at room temperature for a day, then boil the brine once more and pour it back over. The jangajji is edible from the next day, and fully steeped after three days or even a week. Serve it as banchan with hot rice and other Korean side dishes.
Allergens
Contains: Cereals containing gluten, Soybeans
Not every ingredient in this recipe has been checked, so nothing is promised as free from.
These notes follow from this recipe's ingredient list. Ready-made products and brands may contain further allergens — please check the packaging yourself.
Something not right?
This recipe was put together from independent sources and checked before publishing. Even so, a mistake can slip through — an amount that does not add up, a step that does not work as written. If you spot something, write to us: we will look into it and put it right.
