Kkakdugi with RFF white mu

CSA member Ji Song shared a jar of her kkakdugi, radish kimchi, with me at the Sebastopol Farmers Market in February. My son LOVED it! Ji was kind enough to share her mother’s recipe so I can make this radish kimchi for my family. I’m always looking to expose my kiddos more to their Korean heritage and the easiest way, so far, is through Korean food and the crops I grow on the farm. Thank you Ji!

Kkakdugi with RFF white mu by JI SONG

It's the recipe my mom makes, but with lots of eyeballing and tasting as I go 😂

Approximate measurements are:

1 cup gochugaru

Blend together 1/4 korean pear or a similarly textured sweet apple (fuji or honeycrisp), 1/4 onion, small knob ginger, 10-15 cloves garlic, and 1 tbsp saewoojeot (korean salted, fermented shrimp). Fish sauce to the preferred saltiness. I use three crab brand but that's just personal preference.

Mix together and let the gochugaru get rehydrated for about 10 minutes. The mix should be just salty enough that it makes you want a spoonful of rice to help balance it.

I believe this should make enough sauce for about 3-5lbs of radish.

Cut the radish into bite size pieces and heavily salt with coarse sea salt or kosher salt. This will need to soak for about 4-6 hours. Mix every hour or two. A lot of water will be released. You want the radish to be slightly squishy and well salted throughout when you rinse it with water and taste. Wash well with cold water and mix with the kimchi sauce. Jar it up and let it sit on a counter for a couple days. I usually go about 3 days in cool weather and then fridge. If you prefer more fermented, let it sit a couple extra days and taste before putting it in the fridge.