Why is Bamboo Salt so high priced?
Can you imagine spending around 100 dollars (Rs 7348) for just 250 grams of salt? No wonder this may seem like a lavish affair to most of us, but this is how the world’s most expensive salt is priced and its ever surging demand will certainly leave you surprised!
Bamboo salt also known as Purple salt, has been a part of Korean culture so much so that Koreans swear by it, but what makes this salt so expensive?
Why do Koreans swear by Purple Bamboo salt ?
Since ages, Bamboo salt has been a quintessential part of the Korean culinary culture and was used in traditional Korean medicines for its therapeutic properties, but what makes this salt so expensive and different from other salt variants around the world.
How is Bamboo Salt prepared?
Bamboo salt is prepared by filling sea salt inside the bamboo case and roasting the bamboo at a very high temperature. The process of roasting the bamboo helps in fortifying the salt with the minerals present in bamboo, this infusion leads to change of colour after roasting several times and turns into a solid rock-shaped salt, which is broken, crushed and further packaged.
The labour intensive process?
What makes this salt so expensive is its labour intensive process, wherein most of the things are done manually, right from stuffing sea salt in the bamboo cases to breaking and crushing the rock solid salt. In fact, the premium purple salt is prepared by roasting it 9 times at high temperature. The process of preparing this salt takes about 40-45 days, right from stuffing the bamboo barrels to melting it 9 times till the process is finished.
The process of baking or roasting the bamboo barrels is done at a temperature of over 800 degrees celsius that burns the bamboo case leaving just a column of salt and these are combined and the final process of roasting is the hottest at around 1,000 degrees celsius and is fired in a special kiln and operated by an expert. This turns the salt into a huge solid rock, which is then manually broken, crushed and made fit for consumption and packaged and what makes this salt expensive is that the entire thing is done manually.
In a nutshell
It is believed that Bamboo salt can improve digestion, oral health, skin care and has anti-inflammatory properties and anti-cancer effects.
According to studies, bamboo salt has a mineral dense composition and is rich in iron, potassium, and calcium compared to regular sea salt, which helps in improving immunity and metabolism. It is believed that apart from the labour intensive process and fortification of salt with bamboo minerals, the health benefits associated with this salt are one of the reasons that contribute to its high price.