Why can’t making Kimchi be quick and easy? Why does making Kimchi seem so complicated with so many steps? Why does Kimchi need so many ingredients? Does Kimchi need all those ingredients to really make it taste good? These are questions that not only non-Koreans or should I say, non-Kimchi-making people ask but I also ask myself sometimes when I make Kimchi.
Wouldn’t it be just wonderful if you can make Kimchi with just 5 ingredients (or so)?
Wouldn’t it be great if you can make Kimchi in less than 30 minutes? or even an hour??
After some search and experiments on my own to answer these questions – answer to first question is a YES!!
So here, I post a 6 ingredient (minus the brine) Easy Radish Kimchi recipe that is still traditional and fabulously delicious. The answer to the second question – I will write about that on my next post :)).
So, you know how in life, when stars align and you later realize it all led up to a certain happening or a decision.
Here is how it happened for me…Recently, when I went to our local Korean grocery market (Hankook Market), I saw that they had imported Radish from Korea!! Real, genuine Korean Radish that is sweet, crunchy, juicy and little bit spicy~~ I could not resist but to buy it to make some real good authentic radish Kimchi at home.
Thus, my search began for new Radish Kimchi recipe that is simple and easy with minimal ingredients. Kimchi made from large Korean radish, little radish, all kinds of radish is oh, just so lovely. I really enjoy the crunch and the sweet and cleansing feeling you get when you bite into a piece of Kkakdugi (깍두기),
Chonggak kimchi( 총각김치) or Seokbakji(섞박지). Click on Chonggak kimchi image for recipe.
I found a recipe for Seokbakji which is traditionally the radish Kimchi served with Seolleongtang (설렁탕) or Gomtang(곰탕). Seolleongtang is soup made from bone and other innards while Gomtang is soup made from various beef parts but no bone. Seolleongtang comes out milky and opaque and Gomtang comes out clear. Both are good in their own way and talking about this reminds me of me when I was a kid, following my dad to his favorite Gomtang restaurant.
I would tell my Dad “Gomtang with towel, please!” Huh?! TOWEL???
HAHAHA…. It was my way of describing TRIPE.
You know, tripe does kind of look like a towel, doesn’t it? But I I loved it when I was a kid until I grew up and learned that it was actually cow’s stomach. Oops..umm..suddenly, I could not eat it anymore. I still don’t have much of an appetite for tripe even today. Sad.. too much knowledge is not a good thing, no??
FYI – The name “Seokbakji” comes from the word “Seok (섞)” which means to mix (seokda 섞다) and “ji(지)” which means Kimchi in traditional Korean. The history goes back to 1700-1800’s when records show that it was made in the Royal Palace right before Kimjang just as the days start to get cold and the radishes are just ready for picking. It is a great way to tide you over until Kimjang Kimchi is ready to eat!
This Radish Kimchi recipe is an adaptation of Soonee Kang’s Seokbakji recipe –
Easy Radish Kimchi (Seokbakji)
Makes 1 quart or 1 liter bottle Time: 3 hrs Difficulty: Easy
Ingredients
- 2 large Korean radish
- For Brine (only for pickling radish)
- 5 cups (approx 1200ml) water (spring water)
- 7 Tbs (approx 100ml) Korean coarse sea salt for brining (with bittern removed) – cheonilyeom 천일염
- For Seasoning
- 1/2 cup (120 ml) sweet rice flour paste(10 Tbs water + 1 Tbs sweet rice flour)
- 4 Tbs Korean red chili powder (Gochukaru) – adjust to taste
- 2 Tbs chopped garlic
- 1/2 tsp chopped ginger
- 4 Tbs Korean fermented anchovy sauce (멸치액젓 myeolchi aekjeot ) or fish sauce
- Rinse radish under water and cut into 2 1/2 inch (6cm) chunks. Do NOT peel.
Cutting radish into chunks for Kimchi - Turn each radish chunk 90° and cut into 1/2 inch (1 cm) thick slices.
- Make brine by mixing 5 cups lukewarm water (use cold water in summer) and 7 Tbs sea salt.
- Pickle radish in brine for 3 hrs. Turn over once to make sure the top ones get fully immersed in brine.
Pickling radish in salt water for Kimchi Radish brined for 3 hrs – ready for Kimchi - Radish is this flexible – like so- when fully pickled in brine. Drain out all the brine from radish by pouring out everything in a colander and letting it drain for good 5 min or more. DISCARD brine.
Radish is flexible when fully pickled in brine (salt water) - Make sweet rice flour paste my mixing 1 T sweet rice flour and 10 Tbs water and bring to boil. Simmer for 7-8 min while stirring often. A whisk works well. Let it cool.
Sweet Rice Flour paste for kimchi - Make seasoning by adding remaining seasoning (red chili powder, garlic, ginger, myeolchi aekjeot) to cooled rice flour paste. Mix it well. It should look gloriously red and delicious like this.
Radish Kimchi (Seokbakji) seasoning with gochukaru, garlic, ginger, anchovy sauce in rice paste - In a bowl, add radish and kimchi seasoning mix. Use plastic gloves (your hands may sting later if you use your bare hands) to mix everything well so that each radish piece gets nicely coated with the red stuff.
Radish mixed with Kimchi seasoning - That’s it!! Get a glass jar or plastic container large enough (leave some extra room on top for expansion) and put radish kimchi into it. Try to leave as little air pockets as possible. It will look like there’s not enough liquid but if your radish is fresh and juicy, you enough liquid will form in a couple days.
- Leave out at room temp for 2 – 3 days (shorter in summer) until it is just about ripe. See my No Crazy Kimchi post for more details on how to ripen Kimchi.
Here is my radish kimchi at Day1 and Day 2 while outside at room temp:
Easy Radish Kimchi - traditional recipe
Ingredients
- 2 lb large Korean radish (each radish approx. 1 lb x 2 = 2 lb / 907 g total)
For Brine
- 5 cups water (spring water)
- 7 Tbsp coarse Korean sea salt (with bittern removed, 7 Tbsp = 1/3 Cup + 2 Tbsp = 109 ml)
For Seasoning
- 4 Tbsp Korean red chili powder (Gochukaru – adjust to taste)
- 2 Tbsp chopped garlic
- 1/2 tsp chopped ginger
- 4 Tbsp Korean fermented anchovy sauce (멸치액젓 myeolchi aekjeot, or fish sauce)
Sweet Rice Paste
- 10 Tbsp water (10 Tbsp = 1/2 Cup + 2 Tbsp = 148 ml)
- 1 Tbsp sweet rice flour (Mochiko flour)
Instructions
- Rinse radish under water and cut into 2 1/2 inch (6cm) chunks. Do NOT peel.
- Turn each radish chunk 90° and cut into 1/2 inch (1 cm) thick slices.
- Make brine by mixing 5 cups lukewarm water (use cold water in summer) and 7 Tbs sea salt.
- Pickle radish in brine for 3 hrs. Turn over once to make sure the everything gets brined evenly.
- Make sweet rice flour paste my mixing 1 T sweet rice flour and 10 Tbs water and bring to boil. Simmer for 7-8 min while stirring often. A whisk works well. Let it cool.
- Make seasoning by adding remaining seasoning (red chili powder, garlic, ginger, myeolchi aekjeot) to cooled rice flour paste. Mix it well.
- When radish is fully pickled, drain radish until there’s no additional liquid.
- In a bowl, add radish and kimchi seasoning mix. Use plastic gloves (your hands may sting later if you use your bare hands) to mix everything well so that each radish piece gets nicely coated with the red stuff.
- That’s it!! Get a glass jar or plastic container large enough (leave some extra room on top for expansion) and put radish kimchi into it. Try to leave as little air pockets as possible. It will look like there’s not enough liquid but if your radish is fresh and juicy, you enough liquid will form in a couple days.
- Leave out at room temp for 2 – 3 days (shorter in summer) until it is just about ripe.
Tips & Notes:
Will keep in fridge for weeks and even months if temp is low enough. Add 1 tsp of sugar for faster fermentation and sweeter taste. See my No Crazy Kimchi post for more details on how to ripen Kimchi. Korean Cheonilyeom Sea Salt for Kimchi is much less saltier than regular coarse sea salt so reduce the amount when using non-Korean sea salt. Adapted from Sunee Kang's kimchi cookbook
Nutrition Information:
Notes
- You can also use Daikon radish if you cannot get Korean radish.
- Add 1~2 tsp of sugar or maesil extract for faster fermentation and sweeter taste. But it will taste good without it if your radish is good quality.
- If you find that it is not ripe enough after you put it in the fridge, you can always take it out again and leave at room temp for longer and put back.
- I used a typical canning jar to put my kimchi but TAKE OUT the rubber insert because kimchi NEEDS to BREATHE.
- You can buy ALL the ingredients in this recipe (except for radish) from my new Amazon store – so check it out!
- Please do NOT add the brine into your Kimchi. Discard all of brine liquid after you are done pickling the radish.
Enjoy and even YOU can make this Kimchi so give it a try!!
Hi Jin Joo, may I know, are there any difference in taste between adding fish sauce n fermented shrimp? Cud I add both or just either one? Thank you.
Hi Zanne, great question! It’s hard to describe what the difference is – except the best way for me to describe it is that anchovy sauce tend to make things taste a little cleaner and fermented shrimp adds a stronger fermented stinky taste. We often put both in most kimchis, only anchovy sauce sometimes in summer kimchis. You can totally add just one, and if you are going to do that, use Korean anchovy sauce – that works with all kinds of kimchi. Thanks for asking!
This kimchi was so salty I had to throw it away. 7T of salt for 2 lbs of radish is way too much. Have you actually tested this recipe? Other recipes (https://www.maangchi.com/recipe/kkakdugi http://whatgreatgrandmaate.com/carrot-radish-kimchi-kkadugi/) call for 2T salt for 4 lbs of radish.
Hi Marcia Did you maybe use the brine in the kimchi seasoning? As my recipe says you are supposed to drain OUT the brine and use the radish only. Of course I tested the recipe. My recipes are a result of my cooking – I write my recipes as I cook and take pictures. My radish kimchi is NOT kkakdugi, it is called seokbakji and is different from these recipes where you use the brine itself into the kimchi mix. The brine is to be used only for pickling the radish for 3 hrs but to be discarded afterwards. Perhaps I can make it clearer. Thanks for letting me know and I am sorry you had to throw away your Kimchi.
Hello, JinJoo,
Sorry if I sounded a bit strident. I had been trying to salvage the kimchi after waiting two days to taste it, and finally realizing it was hopeless.
Yes, I drained the radish for at least an hour before mixing it with the other ingredients.
But I didn’t rinse it, although I thought at the time it might be wise. However, your recipe didn’t call for any rinsing.
So what else could have gone wrong? I used course sea salt. If anything, that should have made it less salty, no?
Hi Marcia, It’s OK. I understand. I would be upset too if I had to throw away a whole batch of Kimchi you worked so hard on. No rinsing needed. So, this is very puzzling..what brand or kind of sea salt did you use? Yes, coarse sea salt should be less salty. I use Korean sea salt which I know is less salty than some American sea salt. I still remember how this radish kimchi turned out and it was definitely not too salty. Thank you so much for working with me on this. In my 6 years of recipe development, the only recipe I heard any issues with was a Miso pork belly recipe that I did for a restaurant. It turned out the miso he bought had a much higher salt content. I thought all miso’s had pretty similar salt levels and it turned out I was wrong. There must be a reason why this is happening and I really appreciate your help with it. I am also going to try making it again just to make it absolutely sure. Thank you again.
Hi Marcia, I have been thinking about this and I was wondering, what kind of coarse sea salt did you use? Are they Korean coarse sea salt (cheonilyeom)? Or are they from the regular grocery store, like Morton? Morton and many other sea salt is much saltier than Korean sea salt. I realized I should have make that clear on the post. So sorry again for the mixup.Thanks
Hi JinJoo, I am new to Korean cooking…can you tell me why rice flour paste is needed for the Kimchi?
Hi Kaman! That’s a great question! Sweet rice flour paste or other flour paste is highly recommended for Kimchi that uses radishes or lots of greens (such as Kkakdugi, Chong gak, Yeolmu Kimchi) because it helps to get rid of the slight bitterness of radishes and also the grassy taste of the greens. The starch also helps to speed up fermentation because it provides extra food to the bacteria and it makes the seasoning stick to your vegetable. So in hot summer months and in the southern regions of Korea, the rice paste is used very sparingly. So, rice flour paste or some form of starch is NOT always needed for Kimchi. Some people prefer not to use them because often it produces a cleaner tasting Kimchi but not as thick and saucy but it’s a little risky. Depending on the region and types of Kimchi different starch is used: sweet rice flour, rice flour, potato flour, barley..Hope that helps and so happy to hear that you are discovering Korean food and I’m happy to help with any other questions you have. Thanks for asking!
Thank you JinJoo for answering !! Great explanation!
Ha! I learned the lesson about removing the rubber ring from the canning jar a couple years ago when I opened the jar to discover I’d made kimchi sparkling water. I mean, a little bubbly is supposed to be welcome but this was soda-level.
Oh! OMG!! WOW – soda level?? Kimchi soda?? hehe..I knew it would become bubbly but had not idea it would be soda level!! THANK YOU so much for telling me that! Well, may your future Kimchi never turn into soda again~ Have a great Thursday!!
This looks delicious!! How is this different from 깍두기?
Great question!! You know, actually, it’s not easy to give a clear cut answer. The main difference is how the radish is cut. One is cut in cubes (깍두기) – there is even a term 깍둑썰기 (cut into cubes). and the other (섞박지) is cut into much bigger slices as you see in my post. But, I think difference exists in also the seasoning.깍두기 is often made with saewoojeot and also there is more liquid and lighter tasting. Sometimes Koreans love to just spoon 깍두기 liquid when eating rice. 섞박지 seasoning is stronger and there is almost no liquid. Hope that helps! Thanks for asking 🙂