The fun thing about pickled foods is that there is a universal measurement of the sauce that can be used on a variety of ingredients, making this a super versatile and easy side dish.
The four ingredients needed to make 장아찌 liquid are soy sauce, water, vinegar, and sugar. The ratio that is a good base ratio to work off of when making your own pickling base is 1:1:1:1. You can adjust and play with this ratio if you like by adding more vinegar or soy sauce or sugar.
There are certain types of these three ingredients that are best to use when you are making your soy pickled liquid.
Soy Sauce: The soy sauce that you should use is Dark soy sauce (진간장) or Naturally brewed soy sauce (양조간장). These soy sauces have a natural sweetness to them. Soup soy sauce (국간장) is not recommended to use as the base of the pickling liquid but it can be paired with the other soy sauces to give a saltier flavor. This soy sauce is saltier and less sweet so adding some is better then using it as the base. Fish sauce can also be used along with soy sauce to add more deep flavor and salt.
Vinegar: The type of vinegar that you should use is a mild-flavored vinegar such as Brewed vinegar (양조식초) or Brown rice vinegar (현미식초). Don’t use vinegar that has an overpowering flavor like Apple vinegar (사과식초) or persimmon vinegar (감식초).
Sugar: White sugar is the most commonly used sweetener when making soy pickled liquid. Green plum syrup (매실청) and Honey (꿀) are other options. If you want, you can play around with what sweetener you use and use a mixture of sugar and green plum syrup (매실청).
Soju is not always added to pickling recipes like the other ingredients but when it is added it helps to preserve the texture of the pickling ingredients and also helps with preserving the pickled food. Adding alcohol to your pickling liquid can help to reduce the amount of times you need to re-boil it. You add the soju at the same time you add the vinegar. You can also use Korean Rice Wine (청주) or Mirim (미림) (keep in mind this has a sweeter flavor and other flavor additives) if you want.
Adding Extra Flavor
Along with the main ingredient that you are pickling, you can experiment and add some different flavoring ingredients. You can just add these to the container along with the main ingredient.
Some examples are:
- Large diced or sliced onion
- Sliced garlic
- Spicy peppers cut into 1/3 pieces or thin slices
- Sliced lemons
You can also simmer some flavoring ingredients with the liquid and then strain them from the liquid.
Some examples are:
- Bay Leaves
- Onions
- Dried Radish
- Green onion roots
- Ginger
- Dried Seaweed (only simmer for for a max of 15 minutes)
- Black Peppercorn
- Cinnamon stick
- Dried Pollock
- Dried red peppers (you don’t need to strain these)
- Dried Large Anchovy
- Licorice root (감초)
- Spicy Peppers
- Korean pepper seeds (you don’t need to strain these)
- Garlic Cloves
