How to Make Refreshing Yeolmu Water Kimchi: What Is the Secret to the Perfect Recipe?

Summer is approaching, bringing intense UV rays and high ozone levels. Ahead of June’s full-fledged summer weather, Altoran revealed how to make delicious yeolmu water kimchi that can be enjoyed refreshingly cool. Why not use Altoran’s signature recipe to cool down from the inside out?

The ingredients needed are 1 kg of yeolmu pickled in 2 L of water and 300 g of sea salt, 1 tablespoon red bell pepper juice, 2 tablespoons carrot juice, 5 tablespoons ground red chili pepper, 5 g salt, and 2 Cheongyang chili peppers. To make the vegetable stock, prepare 8 L water, half a radish cut into small pieces, 1 onion quartered, 2 green onions halved, 10 green onion roots, 20 dried shiitake mushrooms, 4 sheets of kelp, 160 g buckwheat flour paste, 3 tablespoons anchovy fish sauce, 1 cup pear juice, 3 tablespoons garlic juice, 1 tablespoon ginger juice, 5 tablespoons radish juice, 80 g salt, 3 red chili peppers sliced diagonally, 10 scallions cut into 5 cm lengths, and half an onion thinly sliced.

1. Thoroughly wash 1 kg of yeolmu with long, plump stems. Discard the roots and leaves, and cut only the stems into 5 cm lengths.

2. Add 300 g of sea salt to 2 L of water. Using brine instead of sprinkling on salt allows the yeolmu to be seasoned evenly throughout. Add 1 kg of yeolmu to the brine.

3. To preserve the yeolmu’s important crunchy texture, pickle it for exactly 10 minutes, turning it over after 5 minutes and pressing it down gently.

4. Thoroughly rinse the pickled yeolmu, then let it drain for 10 minutes.

1. To make a vegetable stock that removes the kimchi’s heavy aftertaste and gives the broth a clean, refreshing flavor, add 8 L water, half a radish cut into small pieces, 1 onion quartered, 2 green onions halved, 10 green onion roots, and 20 dried shiitake mushrooms. Boil over high heat for 10 minutes.

2. After boiling over high heat for 10 minutes, reduce to medium heat and boil for 20 minutes. Add the kelp 10 minutes before turning off the heat.

3. Pour 3.6 L of the finished stock into a bowl and let it cool completely. The vegetable stock is now ready.

Buckwheat flour is used to remove the yeolmu’s raw, grassy smell and add a mild, savory flavor. 1. Add 20 g buckwheat flour to 150 ml boiling water and cook while stirring. Let the finished buckwheat flour paste cool completely before use.

2. Strain 160 g of the buckwheat flour paste into the vegetable stock.

3. Add 3 tablespoons anchovy fish sauce, 1 cup pear juice, 3 tablespoons garlic juice, 1 tablespoon ginger juice, 5 tablespoons radish juice, 80 g salt, 3 red chili peppers sliced diagonally, 10 scallions cut into 5 cm lengths, and half an onion thinly sliced. The broth for the yeolmu water kimchi is now complete.

Pass 2 tablespoons red bell pepper juice, 2 tablespoons carrot juice, and 5 tablespoons ground red chili pepper through a sieve and add them. Add 5 g salt and sliced Cheongyang chili peppers to complete the red yeolmu water kimchi. Adding ground Cheongyang chili peppers instead produces white yeolmu water kimchi.

How to Store Altoran’s Yeolmu Water Kimchi

Keep it at room temperature for about one day, then refrigerate. It can be eaten immediately after fermenting for one day or after fermenting for 2–3 days.

[FamTimes = Reporter Kim Ji-yeon]