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Vegetables from Korea

Gaji kimchi (stuffed eggplant kimchi) and dongga kimchi가지김치

Gaji kimchi is eggplant slit two or three ways, briefly blanched, squeezed and stuffed with green onion, garlic and red chilli, then packed with a little kimchi liquid. It is eaten after a day or two and does not keep long. A winter form, dongga kimchi, was buried in the ground in a crock.

Fully documentedVegetables24 h – 2 days

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedHousehold recipes with no fixed amounts.
EggplantsSlit in two or three places, or in a cross with the stalk kept on[nfm-sobagi]
Green onion, garlic and minced red chilli, seasoned with saltThe Pyeongan filling[nfm-sobagi]
Kimchi liquid or brineA little poured over the packed eggplants[nfm-sobagi]
Young radish (yeolmu), optionalSiui jeonseo says mixing in yeolmu is good[nfm-sobagi]

Total time across the recorded steps: 24 h – 2 days

Start
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What changes: Eggplants are slit two or three ways along their length

Step 1 of 4
Slit the eggplants
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Leuconostoc
Lactobacillus
Weissella

Output: eggplants slit two or three ways.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

At a glance

Gaji kimchi is eggplant slit two or three ways, briefly blanched, squeezed and stuffed with green onion, garlic and red chilli, then packed with a little kimchi liquid. It is eaten after a day or two and does not keep long. A winter form, dongga kimchi, was buried in the ground in a crock. Made in 4 steps over 24 h – 2 days. The longest step, pack with a little liquid and ripen, takes 24 h – 2 days (National Folk Museum of Korea 2026). Leuconostoc, Lactobacillus and Weissella, which dominated industrial napa-cabbage kimchi does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step24 h – 2 daysReported[nfm-sobagi]Pack with a little liquid and ripen

What makes this one different

Eggplant is stuffed like oi-sobagi, but blanched first in the Pyeongan method. It sours fast and does not keep, unlike dongga kimchi, which was buried for winter.

Related ferments

Variants

  • Dongga kimchi (동가김치)Made around September from low-moisture eggplants, buried in the ground and eaten in winter.
  • Siui jeonseo gajajeoEggplant peeled, slit in a cross with the stalk kept, stuffed, then tied up with its own peeled skin.

Safety

Kimchi can pick up pathogenic or spoilage bacteria if it is contaminated during preparation. South Korea's food-safety ministry sets limits for kimchi. Salmonella, Listeria monocytogenes and Vibrio parahaemolyticus must be absent from 25 g samples, and Bacillus cereus is capped at 10,000 CFU/g in fermented foods such as kimchi.

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

Sanga yorok (c. 1450), known as Korea's first cookbook, records eggplant kimchi. Jeungbo sallim gyeongje (1766) gives dongga kimchi, and Siui jeonseo gives a stuffed eggplant kimchi.

Starter
The sources we found do not say how its fermentation begins.
Temperature, salt and pH
The sources we found give no temperature, salt or pH figure for any of its steps.
  1. [nfm-sobagi] National Folk Museum of Korea, Encyclopedia of Korean Folk Culture, Korean Food, Clothing and Housing (한국의식주생활사전), 소박이 (gaji-sobagi section); KOGL type 2, facts only; read 2026-10book
  2. [ek-kimchi] 김치담그기, Encyclopedia of Korean Culture (한국민족문화대백과사전), Academy of Korean Studies; read 2026-10book
  3. [kowiki] Korean Wikipedia, 김치 (역사 and 종류 sections), read 2026-10wiki
  4. [shim2024] Shim Y., Lee J.Y., Jung J. 2024, Effects of kimchi-derived lactic acid bacteria on reducing biological hazards in kimchi, Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology 34(12):2586-2595 (introduction cites the Korean ministry's microbial limits for kimchi)paper
  5. [mfds-common] Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, Korean Food Code (식품공전), 2. Common standards, 3. general standards, foodborne pathogen limits by food type (general kimchi limits, not specific to this dish)spec
  6. [jung2011] Jung J.Y., Lee S.H., Kim J.M., Park M.S., Bae J.-W., Hahn Y., Madsen E.L., Jeon C.O. 2011, Metagenomic analysis of kimchi, a traditional Korean fermented food, Applied and Environmental Microbiology 77(7):2264-2274 (industrial napa-cabbage kimchi, 29 days at 4 degrees C)paper