Cubed radish kimchi

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). It’s spicy, salty, delicious, and is incredibly crunchy. Best of all, you can make perfect kkakdugi in an hour!

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. Also, 2 major recipes in one video is a lot for people to learn!

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 a more detailed kkakdugi recipe today, a recipe I have developed over years and years and is the best I have made so far.

I hope you enjoy it! Good luck in your kimchi-making!

Ingredients

• 4 pounds Korean radish (or daikon)
• 2 tbs kosher salt
• 2 tbs sugar
• ¼ cup fish sauce
• ⅔ cup Korean hot pepper flakes (gochugaru)
• 4 stalks of green onions, chopped
• 2 tbs minced garlic (about 5 or 6 cloves garlic)
• 1 ts minced ginger

Directions

1. Peel Korean radish, rinse in cold water and pat dry.
2. Cut it into ¾ to 1 inch cubes. Put into a large bowl.
   
3. Add kosher salt and sugar, and mix well.
   *tip: If you like your kkakdugi sweeter, add 1 or more extra tbs of sugar.
4. Set aside for 30 minutes.
5. Drain the juice from the radish into a small bowl.
6. Add minced garlic, minced ginger, green onions, fish sauce, 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.
   
7. Mix it up well until the seasonings coat the radish cubes evenly, and the radish looks juicy.
8. Put the kkakdugi into a glass jar and press down on the top of it to remove any air from between the radish cubes.
   
9. 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 well with many Korean soups, including kongnamulguk (soybean sprout soup) and ox bone soup.

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