Easy Small Batch Korean Pickled Garlic - Maneul Jangajji

Jar of freshly made Korean pickled garlic, ready to store in the dark.

Easy Small Batch Korean Pickled Garlic - Maneul Jangajji

Sweet, tangy and crunchy, make your very own Korean Pickled Garlic - small batch style - no second ferment required. Maneul Jangajji is a popular banchan you'll usually find alongside Yangpa Jangajji at Korean BBQ.

Course Appetiser, Condiment

Cuisine Korean

Prep Time 45

Cook Time 5

Pickling Time 30

Total Time 30 50

Servings

Calories 647kcal

Author Wandercooks

Cost $5

Equipment

1-2 jam jars (sterilised)

Ingredients

250 g garlic around 5-7 bulbs
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup vinegar
1/4 cup sugar 60 g
6-8 ice cubes for ice bath

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

Peel your garlic cloves and cut off the root end. (Skip if you have pre-peeled cloves).
250 g garlic
Fill up your kettle and bring to a boil. Place your peeled garlic cloves into a colander over a medium saucepan and pour over the boiling water until the garlic is covered. Pop it on the stove and cook on high heat for a further 3-5 minutes. This will help remove the spiciness in the garlic.
Prepare a medium bowl full of iced water - around 4 cups water + ice cubes. Lift the colander of garlic cloves out of the hot water and transfer straight into the ice bath. This will cool down the garlic and help to keep the crunch.
6-8 ice cubes
In a small saucepan, add your soy sauce, water, vinegar and sugar, and place over medium high heat. Bring to the boil and continue to cook for a minute or two.
1/2 cup soy sauce, 1/2 cup water, 1/4 cup vinegar, 1/4 cup sugar
Transfer into a pouring jug and allow pickle liquid to cool to room temperature. Tip: To speed this up, pop the jug into a bowl of water and add more ice. This should bring down the wait time to 5-10 minutes.
Meanwhile, drain cooled garlic and add to your selected pickle jar. Pour over cooled pickle liquid.
Place the lid on tight and leave at room temperature for a week in a dark place. Place in another container if you need to block out the light. This will help reduce discolouration of the garlic cloves.
After 1 week, drain the pickling liquid into a saucepan (leaving the garlic behind in the jar) and bring to a boil for a minute or two. Then allow to cool again and pour back into the pickle jar. This is to boil off any unwanted bacteria.
Let it sit for another 3 weeks back in a dark spot, then it's ready to eat! Once opened, pop and store in the fridge. It should last months in the fridge!

Notes

Garlic - Use the freshest garlic you can source. You could also buy store-bought pre-peeled garlic to save time.
Serving Suggestion - Ladle some pickled garlic and the pickling liquid in a small dish and add either some gochujang or gochugaru and sesame seeds to amp up your side dish even further, and give it a nice and spicy kick!
Storage - Make sure to store your pickled garlic in the fridge once you've opened it.
Add Umami - Add a small piece of kelp or a tsp of dashi powder while boiling the liquid.
Make it Spicy - Add a scoop of gochujang or thin slices of your favourite red or green chillies. You can use larger chillies to infuse more taste than heat. Or use gochugaru chilli flakes, cayenne pepper
Add Flavour - Add fresh garlic scapes (no need to boil first), peppercorns (try sichuan peppercorns for their unique numbing flavour), or your favourite pickling seasonings like mustard seeds or coriander seeds to infuse different flavours.

Nutrition