Korean · sauce/condiment
Baek Kimchi (White Kimchi with Pear, Jujube and Chestnut)
Baek Kimchi (White Kimchi with Pear, Jujube and Chestnut) reads allium 5.3, salinity 5.0 and fruity 4.9 on Palate's 0–10 flavor X-ray — a Korean sauce/condiment, about 232 hr 15 min. Measured from the recipe itself: ingredients and technique.
The flavor X-ray — six axes, 0–10
- Umami & Savory — 5.2 / 10
- Sweet & Fruity — 6.2 / 10
- Sour & Bright — 2.7 / 10
- Bitter & Earthy — 2.8 / 10
- Rich & Fat — 4.1 / 10
- Aromatic & Spice — 5.8 / 10
The measured notes (of 18)
Allium 5.3 · Salinity 5.0 · Fruity 4.9 · Sweetness 4.2 · Nutty 3.6 · Floral 3.1 · Earthy 2.6 · Sourness 2.5 · Warm Spice 2.1 · Umami 1.9 · Richness 1.6 · Herbaceous 1.4 · Bitterness 1.1 · Heat 0.7 · Citrus 0.7 · Funk & Ferment 0.7
What's in it (14)
- chinese cabbage — 2000 g
- salt — 120 g
- water — 1200 g
- daikon radish — 200 g
- asian pear — 250 g
- garlic — 40 g
- fresh ginger — 10 g
- dried jujubes — 20 g
- chestnuts — 40 g
- minari — 30 g
- silgochu — 3 g
- water — 1000 g
- salt — 20 g
- onion — 60 g
Time & effort: about 232 hr 15 min (1 hr 15 min active) · effort: involved
Nutrition (per 100 g, engine-estimated): 11.5 kcal, 0.8 g protein, 0.1 g fat, 2.3 g carbs
How it's cooked (7 steps)
- Salt the cabbage exactly as for red kimchi: dip the halves in the 1.2 L of water, pack the coarse salt between the leaves, heavier at the stems, and leave 3 hours, turning twice. Rinse three times and drain cut-side down for 45 minutes. Baek kimchi has no chile to mask anything, so an over-salted or under-rinsed cabbage has nowhere to hide.
- Slice the garlic and ginger into slivers instead of mincing them. In a white kimchi the brine stays clear and is drunk as much as the cabbage is eaten, and minced aromatics cloud it and turn it harsh.
- Toss the radish matchsticks with the pear matchsticks, garlic, ginger, jujube rings, chestnut slices, minari and silgochu. The chile threads are for colour and a faint warmth only; if you cannot find them, leave them out rather than substituting flakes, which would make this a different pickle.
- Tuck a little of this mixture between every few leaves of each cabbage half, then fold each half over on itself and pack them into a crock or a wide jar.
- Make the broth: stir the 1 L of water with the 20 g of fine salt, the pear juice and the grated onion until the salt dissolves, then pour it over the cabbage until it is submerged. The brine should taste like a mild seawater, no more. Weight the cabbage down with a small plate so nothing floats above the liquid, since anything exposed to air will go slimy.
- Ferment 2 to 3 days at cool room temperature, 15 to 18 C, then refrigerate for at least a week. It is ready when the broth has gone faintly cloudy, tastes sour-sweet and prickles slightly on the tongue. Serve cold with some of its broth spooned over, cut across into bite-size pieces. This is the kimchi for children, for people who cannot take chile, and traditionally for winter tables in the north, and the broth is the base of naengmyeon.
- Substitutions: watercress can stand in for the minari.
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Keep reading: what allium, salinity, fruity mean in the flavor lexicon · the world's cuisines, by flavor.
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Every number above is Palate's engine-measured estimate, computed from this recipe's ingredients and techniques — not human-tasted ratings or reviews.