Nabak-kimchi

Water kimchis are among the older strands of the kimchi family: before chili peppers reached Korea, the earliest pickled vegetables were brine-steeped radish, and mild brothy types like nabak-kimchi and dongchimi descend from that lineage. A dish recorded as nabak in the fifteenth-century Sanga-yorok, a household manual attributed to the physician Jeon Sun-ui, is often cited as an early form. The name is usually read as coming from the vegetables being cut nabak — into thin flat squares — with one account tracing it to nabak (radish thinly sliced) and another to an old word for radish itself. Lightly seasoned and quick to sour, nabak-kimchi long served Confucian ancestral rites, where it was among the most widely used preserved-vegetable offerings, and it remains a gentle, seasonal table kimchi.

First the broth: cold, clean and lightly tart, with a soft sweetness and only the faintest warmth of chili. Then the vegetables — radish and cabbage squares that stay crisp and juicy, snapping cleanly between the teeth. Garlic, ginger and scallion hum quietly underneath, and water dropwort or pear lends a fresh, sweet lift. It finishes bright and palate-clearing, never heavy or fiery.

Nabak-kimchi is a fast, mild lactic fermentation in a watery brine. A light salting first draws moisture from the radish and cabbage, firming them and setting the stage; then lactic acid bacteria living on the vegetables convert their sugars into lactic acid, which lowers the pH, builds the clean sour tang and preserves the brine. Because there is no heavy paste and the salt and chili are low, fermentation is brisk — a day or two at room temperature — and the broth stays thin and drinkable. The chili powder is steeped and often strained so it only tints the liquid pink without making it hot, and serving cold slows the souring so the kimchi holds its fresh, crisp balance.