Radish kimchi or kkakdugi is another classic kimchi and popular side dish just like napa cabbage kimchi. There are actually a couple different versions of kkakdugi and this is the most popular version made with diced Korean radish. You'll find radish kimchi often served with Korean soups like samgyetang (Korean ginseng chicken soup) and seollentang (ox bone soup), but it's also commonly paired with jajangmyeon (Korean black bean noodles) and japchae (Korean glass noodle stir fry). Follow along our step by step guide with photo reference to make your own radish kimchi!
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Ingredients needed for radish kimchi
Please scroll down to the recipe card for the ingredient quantities!
For the bulk of the radish kimchi:
- Korean radish - This is the star of this kimchi! Korean radish is usually a light green on the upper half and white on the bottom half. You can find it at Korean grocery stores and most Asian markets. Look for ones that feel smooth, firm, and and hefty for its size. This usually indicates that the radish is fresh and juicy. Also try to get ones that have more green than white. This usually means the radish is sweeter.
- Salt and sugar- We highly recommend using kosher salt or any coarse salt, but regular table salt can work for this kimchi as well. If using table salt and fine salts, use a bit less. Regular granulated sugar is perfect for this. It's to balance out the slight bitterness in the radish.
- Carrot and Asian chives - These two are mostly for adding color and texture, but it is not necessary at all. Sometimes we'd only add a small handful of Asian chives just to some extra funk. And since Asian chives come in a big bundle, here are a couple of our favorite recipes to help use them up: pork and chive dumplings (they're really tasty!) or kimchijeon (savory kimchi pancakes).
For the marinade:
- Rice flour and water - These two are cooked into a paste, cooled, and added to the marinade to help the marinade stick to the radish better. It also helps speed up the fermentation process. You can use either regular rice flour (red bag) or glutinous rice flour (green bag).
- Gochugaru - Also known as Korean red pepper flakes. Make sure to get the coarse gochugaru. The fine version is too fine for kimchi. Also, some Korean markets offer different varieties of gochugaru that differ in spice level. You can choose the one that you prefer.
- Yellow onion, garlic, ginger - These are the base flavors of the marinade. They also add spiciness to the kimchi.
- Apple, Korean pear, or Yakult (probiotic yogurt drink) - We usually add fruits to give the marinade natural sweetness and some extra liquid. Sometimes we like to substitute them with Yakult because it's got the sweetness, the extra liquid, and helps to really speed up the fermentation process. If you're in a bind, you can just add some sugar and a little water.
- Fish sauce or saeujeot- The purpose of both ingredients is to add funk and saltiness to the marinade. In Korean households, saeujeot (fermented salty shrimps) is the more preferred option, but saeujeot has gone up in price and can be quite expensive. So a good fish sauce is a great substitute.
How to make radish kimchi (kkakdugi)
Please scroll down to the recipe card for the full recipe and instructions!
For the radish:
1. Prepare the radish. Wash, peel, and cut the radish into 1 inch cubes. To cut into cubes, you can first cut the radish into 1 inch slices, then dice them.
🌟 Pro tip: It is very important to cut the radish into similar sizes because it determines how long they will take to salt. It is inevitable that some pieces will be smaller since the radish is an oblong shape, but try to keep most of the pieces 1 inch cubes.
2. Salt the radish. In a large mixing bowl, sprinkle the salt and sugar over the cubed radish and mix well. Set aside and let it salt for about 45 minutes to 1 hour, mixing it again midway through.
3. Taste and drain. After 45 minutes, there should be a considerable amount of liquid pooled at the bottom of the bowl. Give a piece of radish a quick rinse and taste. It should taste salted on the outside and just salted on the inside with some sweetness. The texture will also be a little crunchier. If the radish is still too fresh, let it salt for another 15 to 30 minutes. After salting, drain the radish well and set aside.
Prepare the marinade:
4. Make the rice flour paste. Whisk together the water and rice flour paste until well no more visible lumps are left.
Pour the mixture into a nonstick pan or a sauce pan and cook over medium to medium high heat until the mixture thickens into a thickened translucent paste. Once the paste starts to thicken, make sure to stir constantly, especially the bottom of the pan. Once thickened, set it aside to cool.
5. Make the marinade. Add the apple or pear, onion, garlic cloves, ginger, and fish sauce (or saeujeot) into a blender and blend until smooth. You can use a hand blender too.
Finish the radish kimchi:
6. Mix. To the drained radish, add the cooled rice flour paste, the blended mixture, and gochugaru. If you're adding carrots and/or Asian chives, add it as well. Mix until everything is evenly coated.
7. Store. Once the radish kimchi is complete, it can be enjoyed immediately or after fermenting (which is more popular). To store, transfer the kimchi into sterilized glass jars or BPA free plastic kimchi containers. Make sure it is tightly packed into the container and leave at least 1 inch of space between the lid and the top of the radish kimchi. This is to accommodate for the liquid and gas produce as it continues to ferment. Wipe down the lip of the container and keep it clean. Keep refrigerated.
📝 To speed up the fermentation: If you want to speed up the fermentation process, leave the radish kimchi at room temperature (like on your kitchen counter) for 24-48 hours. Keep it out of direct sunlight. You'll see pools of liquid forming and that's totally normal. After the 24-48 hours, keep it refrigerated. It may take 1 to 2 weeks to become tangy.
Storage
It's best to store the radish kimchi in glass containers or BPA free kimchi containers. Stored properly and kept refrigerated, the radish kimchi can last 6 months or more. Also, make sure to always use a clean utensil with taking any kimchi out of the container.
Lastly, unless you have a fridge dedicated to kimchi, we highly recommend wrapping the containers of radish kimchi in a couple layers or plastic bag to prevent any kimchi smells from permeating your fridge. It will make anything and everything taste like kimchi.
How to sterilize jars
The easiest way to sterilize your glass jars or canning jars for your is by boiling them. Just bring a pot of water to a boil and gently submerge the jars into the water completely. Let them simmer for 10 minutes for altitudes of 1000 feet or less and add an additional minute per 1000 feet.
Alternatively, if you are using those gallon size jars, you can place the jar upside-down into a pot or pan of simmering water. The jars do not need to be submerged. Let the jars steam for about 15 minutes.
🌟 Pro tip: Place a rack at the bottom of the pot or pan to prevent the jars from having direct contact with the heat and to precent the constant clanking.
Once they are done boiling or steaming, carefully remove the jars and let them cool and dry completely before using.
FAQ
Radish kimchi are usually served after fermenting, which makes it taste sour, bubbly, funky, and savory. Freshly made radish kimchi will still taste refreshingly sweet, garlicky, salty, and pungent.
Kimchi can technically be made with any veggies. However, we don't recommend using regular radish to make radish kimchi if you want authentic radish kimchi. Regular radish compared to Korean radish is much more peppery and less sweet. So the flavor of the radish kimchi would be quite different if using regular radish.
Radish kimchi, just like napa cabbage kimchi, can last quite a long time in the fridge and at the minimum 6 months. However, it all depends on whether it was properly salted, prepared and stored. If your radish kimchi smells sour or tastes sour and fizzy, that is totally normal. That means it is fermenting well, and the longer the kimchi ferments, the more sour it'll become. If the kimchi is showing signs of molding or discoloration (turning really dark), it would be wise to discard it.
Unfortunately, no. Gochugaru, or Korean red pepper flakes, have a very particular flavor that does not taste like regular red pepper flakes. If you can't find it at your local Asian market, you can usually order it online, like on Amazon. We do not recommend using regular red pepper flakes.
What to eat with radish kimchi
Radish kimchi, just like other banchan (aka side dishes), can be enjoy it as part of daily meals with white rice or Korean purple rice, an egg dish like gyeran jjim (Korean volcano steamed egg) and doengjang jjigae (Korean soybean paste stew). Radish kimchi is also specifically served with these Korean dishes to add texture and, oddly enough, also to serve as a palette refresher with its tang and spice:
- Soups - samgyetang (Korean gingseng chicken soup), seollentang (ox bone soup), kalguksu (knife cut noodle soup)
- Noodles - jajangmyeon (Korean black bean noodles) and japchae (Korean glass noodle stir fry)
- Kimbap (seaweed rice rolls) - spam kimbab (one of the post popular types)
📖 Recipe
Radish Kimchi (Kkakdugi)
Ingredients
For the radish:
- 3 pounds Korean radish peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes
- 3 tablespoons Kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
For the marinade:
- ½ cup water
- 1 tablespoon rice flour regular or glutinous
- 10 cloves garlic peeled (about 1.5oz)
- 1 inch ginger peeled and cut into smaller pieces
- ¼ large yellow onion peeled and cut into smaller pieces
- ¼ large apple discard core and cut into smaller pieces *see notes for alternatives
- 2 tablespoons fish sauce *see notes for saeujeot (tiny brined shrimps)
- ½ cup gochugaru (coarse) also known as Korean red pepper flakes
Optional veggies for the radish kimchi:
- 1 ounce carrots peeled and julienned
- 1 ounce Asian chives cut into 1 inch pieces; discard about 1 to 2 inches of the tough stem at the end
Instructions
Salt the radish:
- After the radish has been washed, peeled, and cut into 1 inch cubes, place them into a large mixing bowl and mix with salt and sugar until evenly coated. Set aside and let the radish salt for about 45 minutes to 1 hour. Midway through, give the radish a mix.*It is very important that the radish is cut into fairly even size cubes because the size affects how long the radish will take to salt. It is inevitable that some pieces will be smaller, that is perfectly fine. Just try to keep most of the radish cubes about 1 inch.*
- After 45 minutes, there will be a considerable amount of liquid at the bottom of the bowl. Take a regular size cube of radish and taste it to see if it's salted enough. The radish should still have a faint, natural sweetness, but should taste just a tad too salty. If not, give the radish a mix and let it salt for another 15 to 30 minutes and taste again.
Make the marinade:
- While the radish is salting, make the marinade. First, make the rice flour paste by whisking together the rice flour and water until well combined. Transfer the mixture to a pan or saucepan and cook over medium to medium high heat, stirring occasionally. Once the paste starts to thicken, stir constantly until a thick, slightly translucent paste forms. Set aside to cool.
- In a blender, add the apple, onion, garlic cloves, ginger, and fish sauce (or saeujeot). Blend until smooth.
Finish the radish kimchi:
- Once the radish is salted enough, drain the excess liquid collected at the bottom of the bowl.
- To the bowl of radish, add the cooled rice paste, blended mixture, and gochugaru. If adding carrots and chives, do so now. Mix until everything is evenly coated.
- Transfer the radish kimchi into sterilized glass jars or BPA free plastic kimchi containers. Make sure to pack the the radish kimchi tightly into the container, but leave about at least 1 inch of space between the top of the radish kimchi and the lid. This is to accomodate the gas and to prevent the extra liquid released by the radish in the fermentation process from overflowing. Clean off the rim of the container.
- Optional: Although radish kimchi can be enjoyed freshly made just like napa cabbage kimchi, most prefer it sour and fermented. To help speed up the fermentation process, leave the radish kimchi at room temperature (like on your kitchen counter) for 24 to 48 hours before refrigerating. Keep out of direct sunlight. As it ferments, you'll see pools of liquid forming, that's totally normal. It'll take about 1 to 2 weeks for the radish to start becoming tangy.
- You can enjoy the radish kimchi right after making for more refreshing, sweet radish and stronger flavored marinade. If you prefer the classic, tangy and bubbly radish kimchi, let it ferment before enjoying. The longer it ferments, the more sour it'll become.
Notes
- Fish sauce - Saeujeot (Korean fermented salty shrimps) is usually the more preferred ingredient to use. It gives kimchi marinade the funk and saltiness, but these days it has gotten quite pricey. So we opted to use fish sauce instead. If you'd like to use saeujeot instead, use about 1.5-2 tablespoons of saeujeot for every 1 tablespoons of fish sauce. Feel free to taste and adjust as needed.
- Apple alternative - We recommend using juicy, sweet apples like fuji, gala, and honeycrisp. You can also use Korean pear, Yakult (yogurt drink), or sugar instead.
- Korean pear - make sure to peel the skin and discard core; use in same amount as apple
- Yakult - use the original flavor; half a bottle per recipe to substitute
- Sugar - use 1 tablespoon of sugar plus 2tablespoons of water per recipe to substitute
- Make sure to wear disposable gloves when working with the marinade. It can stain your hands and clothes easily.
Dia says
Hi! I saw your recipe on youtube and it looks so good. Is it possible to do this vegan, without the saeujeot or fish sauce? What do you recommend as a substitute? Would vegan fish sauce suffice?
Mei says
Hi Dia! Yes, you can definitely make this radish kimchi recipe vegan. Omit the fish sauce/saeujeot and use some mushroom bouillon powder instead. But because the fish sauce will be omitted, you'll have to use a bit more salt. We don't have a written vegan version for this radish kimchi yet, so please use our vegan napa cabbage kimchi recipe for reference. Hope this helps! =)
Mei ❤️