Seasonal Ingredients for Jangajji (장아찌)

Remember that although you can store your soy pickled foods for a relatively long period of time, it is better to make Jangajji every new season using seasonal ingredients so that you absorb all the nutrients of those ingredients.

Seasonal Vegetables Used For Pickling

Cucumber 오이 (o-e)

Season: May-August
Cucumber has thinner skin during the summer months.
You can add whole cucumber, sliced into strips, or quartered into chunks.
Use hot pickling liquid when pickling.

Lettuce 상추 (sang-chu)

Season: May – June
You can use whole pieces of lettuce leaf
Use cooled pickling liquid when pickling.

Garlic 마늘 (ma-neul)

Season: June – August
Garlic is less spicy at the beginning of summer.
When you add garlic, you can pickle whole cloves or whole bulbs with the skin on. You can poke some holes into the garlic with a fork to help the pickling liquid penetrate the garlic.
Use hot pickling liquid when pickling.

Garlic Stems/Scapes 마늘쫑 (ma-neul-jjong)

Season: April – June
Garlic scapes have a mild garlic flavor, and are tender and crisp.
You can cut the garlic stems into 3-inch pieces.
Use hot pickling liquid when pickling.

Bell Pepper 파프리카 (pa-peu-ri-ka)

Season: July – November
Red bell peppers are the sweetest.
You can large dice your peppers before using them.
Use hot pickling liquid when pickling.

Onion 양파 (yang-pa)

Season: July – September
Use white or yellow onions
Cut the onions into either thick slices, large dice, or cut in 1/2 then into 1/3 pieces.
Use hot pickling liquid when pickling.

Pepper고추 (go-chu)

Season: June – August
Use fresh, mostly mild peppers (Shishito, Korean peppers (아삭 고추))
It is best to use peppers in late summer when the pepper is thickest.
Trim the stem of the pepper and poke the skin with a fork.
You can use peppers whole, cut into 1/3 pieces, or cut into thick slices.
Use hot pickling liquid when pickling.

Garlic Chives 부추 (bu-chu)

Season: July – October
Cut the garlic chives into 3-5 inch strips.
Use cooled pickling liquid when pickling.

Spinach 시금치 (si-geum-chi)

Season: March – June
Summer or winter spinach
Blanch the spinach for 30 seconds in salted boiling water, then add to an ice bath to cool. Then drain and add the soy pickling liquid.
Use whole spinach with stems attached
Use cooled pickling liquid when pickling.

Mushroom 버섯 (bo-sot)

Peak Season: September – February
King oyster mushroom
Quickly blanch the mushroom for 30 seconds in salted water, then add to an ice bath to cool. Then drain and add the soy pickling liquid.
Cut the mushroom lengthwise into quarters or in half.
Use cooled pickling liquid when pickling.
You can also use rehydrated dried mushroom.

Sweet Potato Stems 고구마줄기 (go-gu-ma-jul-gi)

Harvest stems early in sweet potato season (August)
Remove the outer fibrous layer along the stalk of the sweet potato stem by breaking oﬀ the tip and peeling it oﬀ.
You can pickle these without cooking them first or you can steam or stir fry these with water till tender before adding the pickling liquid to remove extra moisture.
Cut the sweet potato stems into 2-3 inch long pieces.
Use hot pickling liquid when pickling.

Oriental Melon 참외 (cham-we)

Peak Season: July – September
Trim ends oﬀ the melon, remove the seeds and wash out the center, let sit layered with coarse salt for 1 day before washing and pickling.
Cut the melon into quarters or in half lengthwise.
Use cooled pickling liquid when pickling.

Perilla Leaves 깻잎 (kkaet-nip)

Peak Season: May – July
Trim the stem oﬀ of the perilla leaf after washing, then add the pickling liquid.
Use whole perilla leaves
Use cooled pickling liquid when pickling.

Japanese Angelica Tree Shoots 두릅 (du-reup)

Peak Season: June – August
Cut oﬀ the tough bottom stem of the tree shoot and split the bottom halfway, then remove the outer leaves. Then blanch in salt water for 1.5 – 2 minutes then add them to an ice bath to remove the natural toxins before adding the pickling liquid.
Keep the Japanese Angelica Tree Shoots whole with bottom stem split halfway.
Use cooled pickling liquid when pickling.

Water Dropwort 미나리 (mi-na-ri)

Peak Season: September – January
Remove any dead leaves from the water dropwort, and trim the end of the stem if needed.
Cut the water dropwort into 3-inch pieces.
Use cooled pickling liquid when pickling.

Celery 샐러리 (sael-ro-ri)

Peak Season: August – January
Optional to remove the stringy fibers along the stalk.
Cut the stalk into thick slices.
Use hot pickling liquid when pickling.

Napa cabbage 배추 (bae-chu)

Peak Season: October – December
Toss cabbage in salt and let sit until you can bend them without the cabbage breaking (approx. 30-40 minutes) before washing oﬀ salt and then pickling.
Cut the cabbage into large dice, or strips.
Use cooled pickling liquid when pickling.

Cherry Tomato 방울토마토 (ban-gul-to-ma-to)

Peak Season: June
Prep the cherry tomato by removing the green stems. Then remove the skin by crisscrossing the bottom of the tomato with your knife and blanching quickly in boiling water (10 seconds), then put into cold water and peel the tomato skin oﬀ.
You can also try other firm varieties of tomato.
Use whole cherry tomato or quartered other variety tomato.
Use cooled pickling liquid when pickling.

Siberian Onion 명이 (myon-gi)

Peak Season: May
Remove the tough bottom stem from the siberian onion to separate leaves then use leaves whole.
Use whole leaves.
Use cooled pickling liquid when pickling.

Green Onion 대파 (dae-pa)

Peak Season: March-May
Wash the onion well and then cut the green onion into 1/3 pieces.
Use cooled pickling liquid when pickling.

Tofu 두부 (du-bu)

You can panfry your tofu and then add the pickling liquid.
Cut the tofu into even squares.
Use cooled pickling liquid when pickling.

Lotus Root 연근 (yon-geun)

Peak Season: September – November
Peel lotus root, then boil lotus root in salted water for 5 minutes. This removes any bitter flavor. You can also soak it in vinegar water for 10 minutes to keep its color before using.
Cut the lotus root into 1/2 inch slices.
Use hot pickling liquid when pickling.

Butterbur 머위 (mo-wi)

Peak Season: March
Peel fibrous stem oﬀ butterbur from the bottom of the stem with a knife by peeling towards the leaf, then blanch for 30 seconds in salted water before adding soy pickling liquid.
Use the whole butterbur leaf with stem
Use cooled pickling liquid when pickling.

Fischers Ragwort 곰취 (gom-chwi)

Peak Season: April – June
Wash the leaves of the fischers ragwort before using them and then quickly blanch them in salted water before cooling them in an ice bath. Drain the water from the leaves before adding the pickling liquid.
Use cooled pickling liquid when pickling.

Sunchokes 돼지감자 (dwae-ji-gam-ja)

Peak Season: Late October – Early April
Prep the sunchokes by scrubbing them clean, cut oﬀ any blemishes and knobs. The skin can be kept on. After prepping, add the pickling liquid.
You can use sunchoke slices or keep them whole.
Use hot pickling liquid when pickling.

Korean Radish 무 (mu)

Peak Season: October – December
Scrub the radish well in cold water. It is your choice to keep or remove the skin. Remove the radish greens and use somewhere else.
You can use them two ways.
- If using very large pieces of radish, such as quartered chunks of a whole radish, then add a generous amount of sugar to the radish and let it sit for 2 days at room temperature (check it and turn it over as time goes on). This removes the water and bitter flavor from the radish. After that is completed, you can drain the radish from it’s liquid and add your soy pickling liquid.
- If you cut the radish into small pieces you can pour the pickling liquid on them immediately.
Use hot pickling liquid when pickling.