Among all the kimchi, Radish kimchi is one of my favorite and I often enjoyed with Korean Ramen. Because it is very crunchy and has little sweetness on taste, we Korean often eat this when we were children.
Whether than buy the Korean grocery Rasidh Kimchi brand( Kkakdugi), the taste will be much better when you make it at home.
So if you decided to make some Radish Kimchi by yourself, you are in a good place.
Because this is the easiest Kimchi you can make with little preparation
Radish Kimchi has a well-balanced taste with sweetness and a little spicy touch.
What is Korean Radish Kimchi (Kkakdugi)?
Radish Kimchi is kimchi made out of radish instead of Napa cabbage. The name Kkakduk came from a word that describes cutting food in a cube shape.Because radish harvest season is falling in October and December, the tastes of Kkakdugi is best when you make it in mid to late autumn.Since October and December are the best time to pick the Korean radishes, many Korean prepare to make Kkakdugi in autumn, It gives a natural sweet taste and raw radishes are firmer than other seasons.Kkakdugi often serves with Korean ox bone soup, or Beef short rib soup to give extra spiciness to the meal.
How to Make Korean Radish Kimchi Kkakdugi (깍두기)?
1. Wash the radish thoroughly and cut the radish into bite-size cubes. Make sure it is a little bigger than your imagined size because it will shrink as they go through the fermentation stage.
2. Wash and rinse the radish cold running water and drain the water for 5 minutes.
3. Chop the green onion into small pieces. Blend the onion and apple with the fish sauce in a blender until it becomes liquidly. For rice porridge, mix the water and the rice and heat them for 1 minute. It should be a mildly runny porridge texture. Mix them all together.
4. Place the radish into a large mixing bowl and add the sugar and salt. Let it soak the sugar and salt for about 1 hour at room temperature.
5. Place the radish into a mixing bowl and add 2 teaspoon fo Korean Chili flakes and mix them thoroughly. Add the chopped green onion and rice porridge and ix them thoroughly again.
6. Place all the radish kimchi into the jar or container and leave it at room temperature for 1 day.
KOREAN RADISH KIMCHI (KKAKDUGI)
Ingredients
MAIN
- 1.1 kg Korean radish (2.5 pounds), or daikon radish, rinsed and skin peeled
- 3 stalks green onion (50 g / 1.8 ounces), rinsed
- 2 Tbsp raw sugar
- 2 Tbsp rock salt or Korean coarse salt
RADISH KIMCHI BASE
- 0.5 small brown onion (70 g / 2.5 ounces), skin peeled, cut into small pieces to blend
- 0.5 small red apple (50 g / 1.8 ounces), seed and core removed, cut into small pieces to blend
- 3 Tbsp Korean fish sauce , I used anchovy sauce
- 1 Tbsp minced garlic
- 0.5 Tbsp minced ginger
- 4 Tbsp Korean chili flakes (gochugaru)
- 0.25 cup water
- 1 Tbsp rice flour
Instructions
- Cut the radish into medium sized cubes. (It could be smaller or bigger if that’s what you prefer. Just be mindful that the radish will shrink as they go through the fermentation process.) Put the cubed radish into a large mixing bowl and add the sugar and the salt and mix them well. Leave it for 1 hour at room temperature.
- While waiting, chop the green onion into small pieces and make the Kimchi base. Blend the onion and apple with the fish sauce in a blender. (It can take a few minutes as the liquid isn’t as much as the solids.) Make the rice porridge by mixing the water and the rice flour in a bowl and heating them up for 1 min in a microwave. (It could be shorter or longer depending on the output power of your microwave). It should give you a mildly runny porridge texture. Mix all the Kimchi base ingredients (*except for 2 Tbsp of Korean chili flakes) in a medium sized bowl.
- After one hour, rinse the radish in cold running water a couple of times and drain any excess water for 5 mins.
- Put the radish into a clean mixing bowl and add 2 Tbsp of Korean chili flakes. (Put a food prep glove on.) Mix the chili flakes with the radish evenly. (By adding this chili flakes separately and earlier than rest of the Kimchi base, you are giving a nice vibrant colour to the radish. Also, my mum believes that it will help the Kimchi base to smear well into the radish). Add the chopped green onion and the Kimchi base and mix them evenly and thoroughly.
- Move the seasoned radish into an air tight glass container (1.5L glass jar for the above-listed quantity) and leave it at room temperature for between 6 to 24 hours depending on the temperature (I left mine out for 1 day with early spring temperature.). After that keep it in the fridge. (The best temperature for storing any Kimchi is 6 degree Celsius (42.8F).)
