Kkakdugi is a type of kimchi made from diced radish. It’s a very common kind of kimchi and often used in Korean everyday meals along with baechu kimchi (napa cabbage kimchi).
I posted a video about how to make kimchi in 2007, when I had just started using YouTube. I showed how to make both baechu kimchi and kkakdugi in a single video, but I didn’t provide exact measurements as I wasn’t accustomed to measuring things out at that time. I mentioned things like “you need 2 medium sized napa cabbages…” But I soon realized that it would be diffcult for people to make their own kimchi without knowing the exact pounds, kilos, cups and spoons etc.
So last year I posted an easy kimchi recipe that calls for 10 pounds of napa cabbage, and I tried to do my best to provide accurate measurements so that my viewers and readers could make delicious kimchi.
Now I’m posting my kkakdugi recipe today. You can make delicious kkakdugi in an hour!
Ingredients
Korean radish (or daikon), salt, sugar, fish sauce, hot pepper flakes, green onions, garlic, ginger.
Directions
- Peel 4 pounds of Korean radish (or daikon).
- Rinse in cold water and pat dry.
- Cut it into ¾ to 1 inch cubes. Put into a large bowl.
- Add 2 tbs salt, 2 tbs sugar, and mix well.
*tip: If you like your kkakdugi sweeter, add 1 or more extra tbs of sugar.
- Set aside for 30 minutes.
- Drain the juice from the radish into a small bowl.
- Add 2 tbs minced garlic (about 5-6 cloves garlic), 1 ts minced ginger, 4 stalks of chopped green onions, ¼ cup fish sauce, 2/3 cup hot pepper flakes, and ⅓ cup of the juice from the radish.
*tip: The amount of hot pepper flakes you use depends on your taste; use ¼ cup hot pepper flakes for a mild version. For a vegetarian version, replace fish sauce with soy sauce.
- Mix it up well until the seasonings coat the radish cubes evenly, and the radish looks juicy.
- Put the kkakdugi into a glass jar and press down on the top of it to remove any air from between the radish cubes.
- You can eat it right away, and then store it in the refrigerator. Or you can let it ferment by keeping it outside of the refrigerator for a few days. When it starts fermenting, little bubbles may appear on top of the kkakdugi and it’ll smell strong & sour. Then put it in the refrigerator.
Kkakdugi goes with kongnamulguk (soybean sprout soup) and ox bone soup.
Posted on Monday, August 1st, 2011 at 5:30 pm.
Last updated on April 26, 2015.
Tagged: cubed radish kimchi, diced radish kimchi, 무김치, 무우 김치, 깍두기, fermented food, food blog, kimchi video, kkakdugi recipe video, kkaktugi, korean food, Korean kitchen, Korean recipes, mu kimchi, muwoo kimchi, pickled radish with spicy seasonings, preserved, radish kimchi video, radish pickles, recipe videos, side dish, spicy pickles, video recipe, white radish, YouTube video recipe
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My kimchi radish. It was delicious. Thank you
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Hi! Love your recipes and appreciate being able to learn to online since I’m not Korean and don’t have any family to teach me. So I made this for the first time and made a rookie mistake. I didn’t watch the video and just used the written instructions. It just says salt, not kosher or kimchi salt. I did wonder… since technically this is kimchi… but since it only said salt, I assumed that standard table salt was what was called for.
I’ve tried to add in some thick slices of raw radish into the containers… hopefully that will draw out enough of the salt that it will be edible.
But if you would, please edit the post to specify coarse, kosher or kimchi salt.
Thanks!
Susan
Hi Susan,
I’ve been using kosher salt since I started sharing my recipes. But you should be able to make any Korean dishes with standard table salt, too.
https://www.maangchi.com/blog/using-salt As you pointed out, maybe I should update all my recipes.
Hi –
Table salt and kosher salt are interchangeable by *weight* (as in, 5 grams of table salt is the same as 5 grams of kosher salt). However, generally you should only use *half* by *volume* if using table salt (1 teaspoon kosher salt = 1/2 teaspoon table salt).
This is because table salt is much more granular than flaky kosher salt, and you end up with more table salt in the same volume teaspoon measurement as you would with kosher salt.
In general, with most cooking it’s best to use kosher salt as your default, unless the recipe specifically calls for table salt. That way you don’t end up with overly salty food because you were inadvertently adding double the salt by using table salt.
Sorry for any confusion, but hope that makes sense!
Been making the dish for a few years now and love it. I’ve also adapted it to kohlrabi (as have others) both dices and shredded on a mandolin which I prefer. I’ve even used almost the same recipe for things like Brussels sprouts and even okra. Now I want to tackle something a little different, however I’m stumped. This fall I’ll have access to Okinawan sweet potatoes (purple) that I think would be beautiful. Since Koreans eat tons of sweet potatoes I thought finding a kimchi recipe would be a breeze. I was wrong. Are potatoes too dense to use? Will cooking the potatoes destroy the bacteria needed to ferment the kimchi? While I’ve found many recipes for sweet potato dishes that add kimchi can this vegetable even be used for kimchi?
Pleeeeeeeaaaaasssseee tell me how you go about making kimchi okra!! I’ve looked and looked and have never found a technique. We’re picking up farmer’s market okra saturday, so I’d love to know asap. Thank yoooooouuuu soooo much.
Hi Maangchi. I have been following you on your YouTube channel for some months now. My husband and I like to eat at Korean restaurants. And I usually buy bottled kimchi sold at grocery stores but I noticed that they put MSG in it so I stop buying. Last week I made Cubed Radish Kimchi. My first time to try making Korean dish. And it is sooo goood!!!! I am planning to try your other recipes and the traditional Napa Cabbage kimchi as soon as I get all the ingredients from the Korean grocery store near my place.
Thank you for sharing.
Hi Maangchi,
I love your youtube channel. I finally tried the radish kimchi recipe but it tasted a bit bitter could it be that type of radish I used? Because I left it over the counter in a room temperature dark place for 4 days. I am afraid that it might have gotten over fermented? But it had that raw radish bitterness, so i wonder if it is because of the radish as well…
Thanks
Maybe your radish was a little bitter. Recently I talked to a Korean farmer and I asked him why kimchi is sometimes bitter, and he says it can depend on the fertilizer used on the vegetables. You can still eat it, and when it’s fermented it will taste better.
I am officially in LOVE with kimchi!
Here is my freshest batch of kkakdugi. Thank you, Maangchi!
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After realizing that anything can be made into kimchi I’d been waiting for the first harvest of kohlrabi to come in this year. Between that and finally finding real Korean gochugaru (been using Chinese pepper flakes) I am very happy with the results.Kohlrabi has about the same water content as diakon and a bit more sweetness so this Kkakdugi recipe requires virtually no modifications. Thank you so much Maangchi.
Wow you used kohlrabi from your own garden! How precious stuff it is! A few years ago I met a reader who also harvested Kohlrabi and she let me know she made kimchi with this, too. I’m glad it turned out well!
thanks Maangchi!
one question – I can’t find daikon here in Scotland, can I use mooli instead?
I believe it is the same thing, different name. OR, it is a variation of a daikon.
Skarlett is correct, Dolly. Mooli and Moola are just South Asian words for the long, white radish that are known as Daikon — the Japanese name. They are a bit different from the more bulbous Korean radish, but they will work fine.
깍두기 done too
I actually used what’s left from the making 오이소박이 and then mixed with radish water
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Great Christmas gift.
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My kimchi radish. It was yummy. Thank you
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I really love the details of her instructions. Very easy to follow. Thanks Maangchi!!!
I made my first Kkakdugi on wednesday this week, and we started eating from it friday….so deliscious!!! I live in denmark, so i had to really recalculate the measurements of the recipe to danish measurements, but it worked out so well!!! i still have leftovers and i can’t stop eating it! also i feel like i have more energy today than other days, i attribute that to my deliscious kkakdugi and mmy Yak-Gochujang :D Thank you so much for your great work here Maanchi :D
Just made some tonight Excited to see how it turns out. Iv never made kimchi before but this was my favorite type sense I was a little girl.
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Hi Maangchi. I made Kkakdugi yesterday. It has already started fermenting and is delicious. I added some buchu to the recipe as I had some left over from making Tongbaechu-kimchi. Thank you for your fun videos and great recipes.
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Hi is it ok without ginger?
Thank you
I don’t add ginger to mine either and it’s delicious