If you’ve ever ordered Korean fried chicken at a restaurant before, you might have been served this pickled radish, called chicken-mu. Tiny cold radish cubes, pickled in sweet, sour, and just a little salty brine is very refreshing when paired with super crispy Korean fried or roasted chicken.
The recipe is so simple and easy, which is one reason I didn’t make a video about it, until now! But I’ve been asked about it so many times I decided to make a video for my lovely readers. I remember one time in Toronto, and another time in Los Angeles, people recognized me and right after saying hello, they asked for this recipe. I told them it was easy and explained how to make it, but they preferred a video instead of my live explanation!
Ingredients
- 1 pound peeled Korean radish, cut into 1/3 inch cubes
- 1/3 cup sugar
- ⅓ cup plus 1 tablespoon white vinegar
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- ¾ cup water
Directions
Combine sugar, vinegar, kosher salt, and water in a large bowl and mix well until salt and sugar are well dissolved.
Add the radish and stir a few times and transfer to an airtight container or a glass jar. Keep in the refrigerator at least 2 hours before serving.
Refrigerate up to 2 weeks.
Instead of adding 3/4 cup water, I added 3/4 cup green onion kimchi sauce that I had left over from maangchi recipe for green onion kimchi <——which is fabulous!
I’ll let you know how my pickled radish turns out…but I know it’s going to be great!
“Chicken, Coke, high calorie! But I don’t care! Because it’s delicious!”
I totally agree! The only time I absolutely have to have a Coke is with Korean fried chicken!
It’s so addictive this pickled radish, Maangchi. Kamsahamida for the recipe.
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Maangchi!
I have been so inspired by your cookbook and your website. I love Korean food, and dedicated one quarter of my garden this year to growing veg I can use to make Korean dishes!
The good news: I had great success, thanks to your advice on growing kaenips. They’re really fun to grow! I plan to grow more indoors over the New England winter.
The distressing bit: I planted two rows, about 8sq.ft of Korean daikon. I thought if half survived, that would be a good crop to pickle. The season was amazing for daikon however, and I now have over 35lbs of monster mu to pickle. Many are the size of wine bottles!
My questions to you: can this chicken-mu recipe be made and put into a hot water canning bath to preserve for long term storage? Does it affect the quality of the pickle, and should I increase the vinegar in order to preserve it for a longer time? I’m using American glass canning jars with metal lids as I can’t obtain an onggi.