Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Aug 12, 2026

Korean brining salt

Korean brining salt, also called Korean sea salt, is a variety of edible salt with a larger grain size compared to common kitchen salt. It is called gulgeun-sogeum or wang-sogeum in Korean. The salt is used mainly for salting napa cabbages when making kimchi. Because it is minimally processed, there are microorganisms present in the salt, which serve to help develop flavours in fermented foods.

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A bowl of Korean sea salt source ↗
Korean sea salt crystals source ↗

Korean brining salt, also called Korean sea salt, is a variety of edible salt with a larger grain size compared to common kitchen salt.12 It is called gulgeun-sogeum (굵은소금; "coarse salt") or wang-sogeum (왕소금; "king/queen salt") in Korean.345 The salt is used mainly for salting napa cabbages when making kimchi. Because it is minimally processed, there are microorganisms present in the salt, which serve to help develop flavours in fermented foods.1

References

References

  1. Parks, Cara (16 December 2014). "Shaking Up Salt". Modern Farmer. Archived from the original on 10 January 2017. Retrieved 10 January 2017.
  2. Kierzek, Kristine M. (11 March 2016). "Cooking up a cultural connection with Kimchi". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Archived from the original on 10 January 2017. Retrieved 10 January 2017.
  3. "wang-sogeum" 왕소금. Korean–English Learners' Dictionary. National Institute of Korean Language. Archived from the original on 10 January 2017. Retrieved 10 January 2017.
  4. "wang-sogeum" 왕소금. Standard Korean Language Dictionary (in Korean). National Institute of Korean Language. Archived from the original on 10 January 2017. Retrieved 10 January 2017.
  5. "gulgeun-sogeum" 굵은소금. Standard Korean Language Dictionary (in Korean). National Institute of Korean Language. Archived from the original on 10 January 2017. Retrieved 10 January 2017.