Anything that has a name that starts with two "K"s has to be great, right? Kkakdugi (Cubed Radish Kimchi) certainly is. It certainly is crunchy! It certainly is spicy! And it certainly is one of my favorite kimchis! When I lived in South Korea and this would show up as a dinner's side dish I was always excited because I liked it so much. Kimchi is served as one of the little side dishes that comes out to the table when you eat at a Korean restaurant. It isn't, however, one of those things that you generally order as a side dish. I suppose you could, but my Korean wasn't that good. It just appears. You can go to the same restaurant every day in a row and the little side dishes are frequently different. I just never thought about it, I was happy to have been able to successfully place an order for the main dish that I wanted!
Since being home from Korea (for over 20 years) I've never had radish kimchi. Yeah, I could have searched the internet but I wasn't that clever. We don't have any Korean restaurants nearby so I've just done without. Then last week my sweetie and I ventured out of the house wearing our masks and decided to peek into a local Asian market (actually two) that I did come across on Google. I was actually looking for a local source where I could get the bean pastes I need (and found on Amazon) and while in the store I came across the sauce needed for radish kimchi!! Wooohoooo!!
I could take the time to purchase all of the magical red powders that I'd need but this was sooooo darn convenient I couldn't pass it up. It turned out soooooo good that I don't think I'll be trying to mix it up in the future -- as far as I'm concerned this bag of spice is the way to go!
I used a large white daikon radish since we had no Korean radishes here. No, really, there is such a thing as a Korean radish. Look it up if you don't believe me! They are short fat white radishes but a daikon radish is a suitable substitute. The name of Kkakdugi comes from the first steps I needed to take to make this kimchi. Apparently, the name originated from kkakduk sseolgi in Korean which describes the motion of cutting food into cubes. Interesting, eh? I learned that without even speaking Korean thanks to good old Google!
Since the sauce came from a bag, the preparation was really simple. First I peeled the radish and then cut it into cubes. I made them about 3/4" and would probably go a little larger next time. The idea is that they should be bite sized but not small like diced potatoes. You are traditionally taking one at a time from a small bowl using chopsticks, not scooping up several with a spoon.
Some green onions were cut up and added to the radishes. I did make a bit of a mistake by chopping the green onions up really small. I forgot that they are actually more of a decoration in this dish -- when you make it (and when I make it next time) you should cut them to be about 1/2"-3/4" long.
Once everything was cut up and in a large bowl, the sauce was poured in and mixed up. I was surprised how dry it looked because I remembered it as being fairly juicy. The next step took care of that. To finish preparing the radish kimchi I needed to heat the room to room temperature. The bowl of radishes with the sauce was covered and then left out on the counter for about 24 hours. During that time, the spices soaked in and a lot of the juice came out of the radishes. When I opened it up it was nice and juicy, just like I remembered it!
The bowl went into the fridge where it stays until needed. A glass jar would be great but I'm in that modern generation with Tupperware. The first meal we used this with was a noodle dish called Chapchae (which I'll write about in a separate post) so that's what I've used for the main photo. As you can see in the photos below, this dish isn't much to look at when it is sitting in its tub. Remember, it is normally used as a small side dish (kind of like a side salad with an American dish).
Don't let the looks, or the name, keep you from trying this. Elizabeth tried it and even said it was "good." She didn't have seconds though and even let me finish some of hers. That wasn't a big surprise though and she was brave and ate some. You need to understand that Elizabeth isn't a huge fan of spicy food. She thinks of Ketchup as being a hot sauce (honest, that's only a very slight exaggeration). Radish kimchi is definitely on the spicy side and if you like spicy food this'll be one you'll probably really enjoy. The red pepper used in Korean dishes is kind of fun because it is hot for a minute or two but subsides pretty quickly. In any case, this turned out exactly as I remember it and I'm so glad to have some stashed in the fridge to have with our Korean dishes.
Bon Appetit!
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