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Vegetables from Korea

Jeonbok kimchi (abalone kimchi)전복김치

Jeonbok kimchi is a water kimchi with abalone, listed in an 18th-century farm-household book and revived as abalone mul-kimchi. In a fisheries institute trial, the kimchi in a broth of dried pollack or licorice ripened best after 21 days at 4 °C, at pH 4.3, as Leuconostoc peaked.

Fully documentedVegetables56 days

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedA research recipe from the National Fisheries Research and Development Institute (Jang 2012); the abstract gives no amounts.
Abalone[jang2012]
Dried pollack (bugeo) broth, or licorice brothThe two broths gave the same fermentation in the trial[jang2012]
Water-kimchi vegetables and seasoningsNot listed in the abstract read[jang2012]
Starterspontaneous, as for kimchi in general. No culture is added on purpose and the microbes come from the raw materials (Surya 2022).

Total time across the recorded steps: 56 days

Start
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What changes: Dried pollack or licorice is simmered into the kimchi broth

Step 1 of 4
Make the broth
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Leuconostoc
Leuconostoc sp.

Dried pollack or licorice is simmered for the kimchi liquid.

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

Jeonbok kimchi is a water kimchi with abalone, listed in an 18th-century farm-household book and revived as abalone mul-kimchi. In a fisheries institute trial, the kimchi in a broth of dried pollack or licorice ripened best after 21 days at 4 °C, at pH 4.3, as Leuconostoc peaked. Made in 4 steps over 56 days. The longest step, keep cold past ripeness, takes 35 days (Jang M.-S 2012) and runs at 4 °C (Jang M.-S 2012). Leuconostoc sp. does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step35 daysMeasured[jang2012]Keep cold past ripeness
Temperature4 °CReported[jang2012]Keep cold past ripeness
AciditypH 4.3–4.3Measured[jang2012]Ripen in the cold

What makes this one different

Unlike plain water kimchi, the abalone's protein slowed the fermentation and stretched the time to best ripeness, and the broth is rich in amino acids from the shellfish.

Related ferments

Safety

The trial abstract does not say whether the abalone is cooked, and none of the steps on this page heats it. The CDC says most Vibrio infections come from eating raw or undercooked shellfish and advises cooking seafood before eating it. The trial reports pH 4.29–4.30 at best ripeness. For kimchi in general, a review says salting and chilli powder hold back spoilage and disease-causing bacteria, and the lactic acid the bacteria make lowers the pH to 4.0–4.2, which most other microbes cannot tolerate (Surya 2022). That review does not mention Vibrio, and the trial abstract reports no pathogen test.

History and sources

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

The Jeungbo sallim gyeongje (1766) already lists dongchimi, cabbage kimchi, Yongin oiji, winter eggplant kimchi, abalone kimchi and oyster kimchi (Lee 1995). The 2012 trial that gives the modern water-kimchi data came from the National Fisheries Research and Development Institute.

  1. [jang2012] Jang M.-S., Park H.-Y., Nam K.-H. 2012, Changes in nutrient composition and fermentation properties of abalone mul-kimchi using dried pollack and licorice stock, Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology 44(5):613–620 (abstract)paper
  2. [ekc-kimchi] Lee Seong-u (이성우) 1995, revised 2024, 김치 (Kimchi), Encyclopedia of Korean Culture (한국민족문화대백과사전), Academy of Korean Studies; public work under KOGLbook
  3. [kowiki] Korean Wikipedia, 김치 (history section, Jeungbo sallim gyeongje of 1766), read 2026-10-23wiki
  4. [cdc-vibrio-prevention] US CDC, Preventing Vibrio infectiongov
  5. [surya2022] Surya R. and Lee A.G.-Y. 2022, Exploring the philosophical values of kimchi and kimjang culture, Journal of Ethnic Foods 9, 20paper