Kkakdugi - Korean Cubed Radish Kimchi
User Reviews
5
Kkakdugi - Korean Cubed Radish Kimchi
Description
The Kkakdugi recipe starts by peeling and cutting radish into roughly 1.2-inch cubes. These cubes are brined briefly in a mixture of water, coarse sea salt specifically Korean Cheonilyeom, and sugar to soften and season. After draining without rinsing, Korean chili powder is mixed in manually with gloves to evenly coat the radish pieces. Cool sweet rice flour paste, made from cooking glutinous rice flour and water, is then combined with chopped garlic, chopped ginger, fermented shrimp (saewoojeot), anchovy fish sauce, salt, sugar, and green plum syrup or more sugar to create a flavorful seasoning slurry that's folded into the radish cubes.
The radish absorbs the spicy, salty, and slightly sweet flavors as it ferments, resulting in a crisp texture balanced by fermentation depth and pungency. The inclusion of Korean coarse sea salt with bittern removed is crucial to avoid bitterness. The size of the radish cubes affects the bite, with roughly 1.2-inch cubes common, but can vary.
Kkakdugi is traditionally served as a side dish with Korean meals, particularly soups and stews, and is valued for its crunchy texture and pungent, spicy flavor that complements rich dishes.
Adding green mustard greens (gat) can introduce an extra spicy zing to the kimchi. Preparing the sweet rice flour paste correctly and ensuring proper brining are key to a well-balanced fermentation and final texture.
Ingredients
Brine
- 2 Tbsp water
- 3 Tbsp sea salt Coarse sea salt with bittern removed, Korean Cheonilyeom
- 2 Tbsp sugar
Sweet Rice Flour Paste
- 10 Tbsp water
- 1 Tbsp glutinous rice flour aka sweet rice flour/糯米粉
Seasoning
- 5 Tbsp sweet rice flour paste
- 3 Tbsp Korean chili powder (Gochukaru)
- 2 Tbsp garlic (chopped)
- 1 1/2 tsp ginger (chopped)
- 4 tsp saewoojeot (fermented shrimp)
- 2 Tbsp anchovy fish sauce fermented anchovy sauce or sand lace sauce, or kkanari aekjeot
- 1 Tbsp sea salt Korean Cheonilyeom
- 1 Tbsp sugar
- 1 Tbsp green plum syrup or just add a bit more sugar, aka maeil syrup
Instructions
- Make sweet rice flour paste by mixing 10 Tbs water and 1 Tbs sweet rice flour with a whisk. Bring to boil and then simmer for 7-8 minutes, stirring frequently to ensure there are no lumps. Let it cool.
- Peel radish with a peeler and cut into 1.2 inch disks. Then cut into cubes like so -
- In a bowl, mix 2 Tbs water, 3 Tbs Cheonilyeom Salt and 2 Tbs sugar.
- Add radish cubes to bowl with brine. Toss radish cubes to make sure everyone is evenly coated with the brine.
- Let radish cubes pickle for 20 minutes.
- Drain radish, discard the brine. Do not rinse radish.
- While radish is draining, prepare the yangnyeom (seasonings) – chop garlic, ginger and saewoojeot.
- Once radish is fully drained (about 2-3 minutes), sprinkle 3-4 Tbs Korean chili powder (gochukaru). Put plastic gloves on and toss and mix with your hands gently until evenly coated.
- Add to the chili powder coated radish, cooled sweet rice flour paste, chopped garlic, ginger, saewoojeot and myeolchi aekjeot or kkanari aekjeot (sand lance sauce). Mix with your hands again. Add 1 Tbs sugar and 1 Tbs maesil green plum syrup (if you have it, otherwise just add a bit more sugar). Kimchi is all about adjusting to taste because the ingredient is different every time – taste it and you may want to add a bit more sugar if you want. It should taste sweet right away but just a hint of sweetness at the end.
- Put in a container or jar, leave it out at room temperature for 1 -2 days until the top is bubbling. Put in fridge and serve cold.
Notes
- Radish cubes size varies between 0.5 inch to 1 inch; the texture and flavor absorption differ accordingly, so choose based on preference.
- Add green mustard greens (gat) to enhance the zing and complementary spice in the Kkakdugi.
- Use Korean Cheonilyeom coarse sea salt, aged and bittern removed, to avoid bitterness and achieve authentic flavor.
- Proper preparation of the sweet rice flour paste is essential to ensure smoothness with no lumps and the right consistency for seasoning incorporation.
- Do not rinse the radish after brining to retain salty flavor needed for fermentation.
Nutrition Information
Show DetailsNutrition Facts
Serving: 64servings
Amount Per Serving
Calories 10 kcal
% Daily Value*
| Calories | 10kcal | 1% |
| Carbohydrates | 2g | 1% |
| Protein | 1g | 2% |
| Fat | 1g | 2% |
| Saturated Fat | 1g | 5% |
| Sodium | 187mg | 8% |
| Potassium | 20mg | 0% |
| Fiber | 1g | 4% |
| Sugar | 1g | 2% |
| Vitamin A | 111IU | 2% |
| Vitamin C | 1mg | 1% |
| Calcium | 3mg | 0% |
| Iron | 1mg | 6% |
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.
User Reviews
Overall Rating
5
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