Bamboo Salt

Korean bamboo salt is made in a most unusual way. Sea salt is dried in the sun, then inserted into bamboo tubes which are carefully sealed with clay and then roasted over an open fire at a temperature of between 1,000 and 1,500 °C. This process is repeated up to nine times. Each roasting increases the pH of the salt. The end product is a very alkaline salt that can be ground to a fine powder.

This unconventional method of production is thought to have originated among Buddhist monks in Korea who wanted to find a way of drying sea salt as quickly and thoroughly as possible. The resulting salt was used in healing rituals. Korean bamboo salt is still produced entirely by hand in the traditional way: no mass production techniques are involved.

Even the appearance of bamboo salt makes it a talking point: it is a fine, white powder that doesn’t look like salt at all … cooks should take care not to confuse bamboo salt with icing sugar! Roasted bamboo salt is very alkaline – the pH of the salt increases with each roasting – and it is rich in minerals.

Because it has been roasted at high temperature, bamboo salt has a strong salty taste. With its fine consistency, resembling that of icing sugar, it produces a feeling of “salty sugariness” and is soft and pleasant on the palate, with a rounded and long-lasting finish. Bamboo salt acts like a concentrate and should therefore be used sparingly.

Bamboo salt is high in minerals; in Korea it is traditionally used in cooking and for therapeutic purposes. It lends an authentic taste to typical Korean dishes made with rice or millet.

Its intense saltiness and fine consistency perform particularly well on raw vegetables – it is best sprinkled lightly on the food at the table. Bamboo salt gives vegetable juices a lift and its alkalinity makes it perfect for adding to tomato juice as a home remedy for a hangover.

The Buddhist monks of Korea who invented bamboo salt were quick to use it as a therapeutic salt. The alkaline salt powder is particularly good for regulating the acid-alkaline balance and can be used either externally or internally for this purpose.
It is the perfect bath supplement for a natural alkaline bath. It both acts as a relaxant and stimulates the metabolism. The same effect can be achieved with alkaline wraps. Because the roasted crystals are so fine, bamboo salt is very gentle when used in the shower or as a peeling salt and it is therefore perfect for sensitive skin.

Bamboo salt also makes a very effective isotonic drink. Simply dissolve eight level teaspoons of sugar and three-quarters of a teaspoon of bamboo salt in half a litre of orange juice and half a litre of mineral water. This mixture can even be used in place of the rehydration salts recommended by the World Health Organisation in cases of dehydration in which liquids and electrolytes need to be replaced.

To ensure protection from harmful environmental influences, the bamboo salt in the finestfoodage SALT COLLECTION is supplied in high-quality violet glass jars. Keeping this special jar tightly closed will ensure that the bamboo salt always has the dry and dark Storage conditions that it needs.

Salt should not be kept next to the stove or over the cooker hood because the cooking carried out in this area produces a lot of moisture that will quickly cause the salt to become clumpy.