Chef Jeong-sun
Albaechu-mul-kimchi (Baby Cabbage Water Kimchi)
Tender baby napa cabbage in a clear pear-garlic brine, lightly fermented until the broth turns clean and bright, the summer kimchi a beginner can make without a kimjang floor.
Culinary Explorer
A cooking platform built around craft, culture, and the stories behind what we eat.
Kkaennip-kimchi (깻잎김치, Perilla Leaf Kimchi)
Created by
Tender perilla leaves stacked with soy, gochugaru, garlic, and scallion, patient leaf-by-leaf work that rests into a sharp little banchan ready to wrap around hot rice.
Sauces & Condiments
Korean
Make Ahead
Budget Friendly
30 min
Active Time
0 min cook•2 hr 30 min total
Yield6 to 8 side-dish servings
Kkaennip-kimchi lives or dies in the stacking. Master Seong-nyeo made me align fifty perilla leaves before she let me touch the seasoning. A crooked stack, she said, gives you salty leaves at the bottom and bare leaves at the top. I thought she was being severe. She was being practical.
This is summer banchan, the kind that makes hot rice feel like a meal even when the table is thin. Buy Korean perilla leaves, kkaennip, when the bundles are firm, green, and not bruised at the stems. They are strong leaves, minty, grassy, and a little wild, so the seasoning must be bold enough to meet them and restrained enough not to bury them.
You will wash, dry, trim, and season leaf by leaf. I won't tell you it is quick. It is patient, and patience is the dish: one teaspoon of yangnyeom (seasoning paste) per leaf, enough to gloss the veins without leaving a soy puddle. After a few hours the leaves soften, darken, and cling together, and two wrapped around hot rice can carry a whole lunch.
Notebook 42 says: measure the soy, measure the gochugaru, and write down whether your leaves were small or palm-wide. 손맛 is real; I measure it anyway, so it can be handed on.
Kkaennip are the leaves of deulkkae, Korean perilla, a plant long grown in Korea for both its oil-rich seeds and its leaves; the English menu name "sesame leaf" is common but botanically wrong. Kkaennip-kimchi belongs to the everyday banchan and jangajji family, made in small summer batches when leaves are cheap and abundant, not to the large late-autumn kimjang system. The modern red seasoning reflects the Joseon-era arrival and spread of chili peppers, while the soy and fish sauce base keeps the dish tied to Korea's older jang (fermented sauce) preserving habits.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
fresh Korean perilla leaves (kkaennip)
Quantity
60 leaves, about 120g
carrot
Quantity
1/2 small (40g)
peeled and cut into fine matchsticks
onion
Quantity
1/4 medium (50g)
very thinly sliced
scallions
Quantity
3
finely sliced
Korean soy sauce (ganjang)
Quantity
6 tablespoons
fish sauce (aekjeot)
Quantity
1 tablespoon
anchovy or sand lance preferred
gochugaru (Korean chili flakes)
Quantity
3 tablespoons
medium-coarse
cooled boiled water
Quantity
2 tablespoons
maesil-cheong (green plum syrup)
Quantity
1 tablespoon
or 2 teaspoons sugar
garlic
Quantity
5 cloves
minced
fresh ginger
Quantity
1 teaspoon
grated
toasted sesame seeds
Quantity
1 tablespoon
toasted sesame oil (optional)
Quantity
1 teaspoon
for serving only
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| fresh Korean perilla leaves (kkaennip) | 60 leaves, about 120g |
| carrotpeeled and cut into fine matchsticks | 1/2 small (40g) |
| onionvery thinly sliced | 1/4 medium (50g) |
| scallionsfinely sliced | 3 |
| Korean soy sauce (ganjang) | 6 tablespoons |
| fish sauce (aekjeot)anchovy or sand lance preferred | 1 tablespoon |
| gochugaru (Korean chili flakes)medium-coarse | 3 tablespoons |
| cooled boiled water | 2 tablespoons |
| maesil-cheong (green plum syrup)or 2 teaspoons sugar | 1 tablespoon |
| garlicminced | 5 cloves |
| fresh gingergrated | 1 teaspoon |
| toasted sesame seeds | 1 tablespoon |
| toasted sesame oil (optional)for serving only | 1 teaspoon |
Equipment Needed
- •Large bowl or basin for washing leaves
- •Salad spinner or clean kitchen towels
- •1-quart glass, ceramic, or small onggi container with a tight lid
- •Small spoon or silicone brush
Instructions
- 1
Wash the leaves
Fill a large bowl with cold water and swish the perilla leaves gently, then lift them out instead of pouring the water off, so grit stays behind. Repeat once more. Trim the stems to about 1/2 inch, then dry the leaves well between clean towels or in a salad spinner. Water left on the leaves thins the seasoning and shortens the time this banchan keeps.
Choose leaves that are firm, green, and palm-size. Very large old leaves can be leathery, and bruised stems turn dark quickly in the jar. - 2
Cut the vegetables
Cut the carrot into fine matchsticks, slice the onion very thin, and finely slice the scallions. Keep these pieces narrow, because thick vegetables push the leaves apart and leave bare pockets where the seasoning cannot touch.
- 3
Mix the seasoning
In a bowl, stir together the soy sauce, fish sauce, gochugaru, cooled boiled water, maesil-cheong, garlic, ginger, sesame seeds, carrot, onion, and scallions. Let it sit 10 minutes so the gochugaru softens and stains the liquid red. The yangnyeom (seasoning paste) should fall slowly from a spoon, not run like broth. Taste it now. It should be salty and a little sharp, because the plain leaves and rice will soften it, but it should not taste sweet.
- 4
Season each leaf
Set one perilla leaf in a 1-quart container, veined side up. Spoon about 1 teaspoon of seasoning over it and drag it lightly toward the edges, especially near the stem. Lay the next leaf on top and repeat until all 60 leaves are stacked. Press gently every 10 leaves so the stack settles. If the stems make one side rise too high, turn every tenth leaf the other way to keep the pile level.
Do not pour the seasoning over the stack and hope it travels. It will not. The bottom leaves will become too salty and the top leaves will taste unfinished. - 5
Rest and chill
Scrape any remaining seasoning over the top and down the sides, then press the stack once with clean fingers or the back of a spoon. Cover and let it stand at room temperature for 30 minutes only, just long enough for the leaves to begin relaxing. Refrigerate at least 2 hours, and preferably overnight. This is a quick leaf kimchi, not a long room-temperature ferment.
- 6
Serve with rice
Lift out one leaf at a time with clean chopsticks and wrap it around hot rice. If you want sesame oil, drizzle a few drops at the table, not into the storage container. The leaves will darken, soften, and cling together as they rest; spoon a little seasoning from the bottom back over the top if the stack looks dry.
Chef Tips
- •Best season is late spring through early autumn, when perilla leaves arrive in fat bundles and the stems still look fresh. In winter, buy them only if they look alive; a tired leaf never becomes better in the jar.
- •Korean perilla is not Japanese shiso. Shiso will work only as a clear adaptation, with a more perfumed taste and thinner leaf. If your market has no kkaennip, I would rather you make oi-muchim (seasoned cucumber) that day than pretend the leaf does not matter.
- •The safe shortcut is using a small spoon or silicone brush to spread the seasoning faster. The corner you cannot cut is seasoning leaf by leaf. Dumping sauce over the top changes the dish.
- •For a vegetarian version, replace the fish sauce with 1 tablespoon soup soy sauce plus 1/4 teaspoon salt. It will taste cleaner and less deep, so let it rest overnight before judging it.
- •Do not store sesame oil in the jar if you plan to keep the kimchi more than a day or two. Sesame oil is beautiful at the table and dull in the refrigerator. Add it only when serving.
Advance Preparation
- •The leaves can be washed, dried, wrapped in clean towels, and refrigerated 1 day ahead. Dry leaves season more evenly and keep better.
- •The seasoning can be mixed up to 1 day ahead and refrigerated, but add the sliced vegetables the day you stack the leaves so they do not release too much water.
- •Finished kkaennip-kimchi is ready after 2 hours, better after 12 to 24 hours, and keeps about 7 days refrigerated. Use clean chopsticks each time, because this is a raw leaf banchan.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 65g)
Calories
60 calories
Total Fat
2 g
Saturated Fat
0 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
2 g
Cholesterol
0 mg
Sodium
1000 mg
Total Carbohydrates
8 g
Dietary Fiber
2 g
Sugars
3 g
Protein
3 g
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