{{Short description|Korean salt roasted in bamboo}} {{More citations needed|date=September 2023}} {{Infobox Korean name/auto|hangul=죽염|hanja=竹鹽|ipa={{IPA|ko|tɕu.ɡjʌm|}}|image=Bamboo salt container, La Ha - Vietnam Museum of Ethnology - Hanoi, Vietnam - DSC02929.JPG|caption=A bamboo salt container from Vietnam.}} '''Bamboo salt''' ({{Transliteration|ko|Jugyeom}}, {{langx|ko|죽염}}) is a Korean condiment and traditional remedy. It is prepared by packing sea salt in a thick bamboo stem, and baking it nine times at high temperature using pine firewood.

== Production == To make {{Transliteration|ko|jugyeom}}, sea salt is packed into bamboo canisters and sealed with yellow clay. Traditionally, the mixture is baked in an iron oven and roasted in a pine fire<ref name="Bitterman">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wDiADAAAQBAJ&pg=PA47|title=Bitterman's Craft Salt Cooking|last=Bitterman|first=Mark|publisher=Andrews McMeel Publishing|year=2016|isbn=978-1-4494-8377-7|location=Kansas City, Missouri|page=47|accessdate=19 September 2018}}</ref> at about 800°C (or 1472°F) which burns away the bamboo, leaving a column of salt. This process takes around 12 to 14 hours.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Morgan |first=Clancy |title=Why nine times roasted bamboo salt costs so much more than sea salt |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/korean-purple-bamboo-salt-so-expensive-2021-4 |access-date=2025-05-13 |website=Business Insider |language=en-US}}</ref> These columns are then taken out, ground, and repacked in bamboo canisters. This process is repeated eight more times.<ref name=":1" />

The salt filled in these bamboo canisters is bay salt produced from Korea's west coast. During baking, the salt absorbs the bamboo constituents that bring a distinctive sweetness, which is called Gamrojung flavor. Baking darkens the salt. The ninth baking process uses the highest temperature, over {{convert|1,000|C}} in a special kiln. This high temperature completely melts the salt, which is drained into a mould. Then it is allowed to cool down for a few days; a blackened rock like structure remains which is carefully broken down.<ref name=":1" /> Afterwards, the bamboo salt contains blue, yellow, red, white and black crystals.

Well-baked bamboo salt, with a temperature above {{convert|1,500|C}}, is called "purple bamboo salt" because of its unique purple color, which indicates the best quality. While the quality of bamboo salt cannot be solely determined by color, its crystal structure and hardiness is definitive.{{clarify|date=August 2023}}

For centuries, bamboo salt was baked about two to three times that was used in traditional Korean medicine. But in the 20th century, the above mentioned nine-times-roasting process was developed. The manufacturers say this process has the lowest toxicity and highest mineral content. Today, it is used for cooking, toothpaste, soap, and various remedies.<ref name=":1" />

==Korean folk medicine== alt=A small glass vial of salt on a store shelf, under a sign reading "Bambussalz".|thumb|A capsule of jugyeom, sold in a foreign imports store in Germany In Korean folk medicine, trace elements in the yellow clay and bamboo are thought to make this form of salt more healthy.<ref>John Shi, Chi-Tang Ho, Fereidoon Shahidi (ed) ''Asian functional foods'', CRC Press, 2005 {{ISBN|0-8247-5855-2}} pages 574-575</ref> Historically, {{Transliteration|ko|jugyeom}} has been used as a digestive aid, styptic, disinfectant or dentifrice.

==Chemical composition== Bamboo salt is mostly sodium chloride (NaCl) ranging from 85% to 98% based on the making process. Magnesium and sulphur are the next two major component standing at ~2% and ~1% respectively, with trace amounts of other elements like potassium, calcium, silicon, aluminium, phosphorus, bromine, and iron.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Meng |first=Cheng Ee |date=15 January 2024 |title=Mineral composition, crystallinity and dielectric evaluation of Bamboo Salt, Himalaya Salt, and Ba'kelalan salt content |journal= Heliyon|volume=10 |issue=1 |pages=3 |doi=10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e23847 |doi-access=free |pmid=38332888 |bibcode=2024Heliy..1023847M |pmc=10851306 }}</ref>

==References== <references /> {{Salt topics}}

Category:Traditional Korean medicine Category:Salts