The case of the Bitter Radish~

Home Forums Korean food discussion The case of the Bitter Radish~

Viewing 9 reply threads
  • Author
    Posts
    • #49935
      joeyng89
      Member

      hey everyone here! assuming that everyone is a korean food fan I’m wondering if any of u made Mu Saeng Chae (무생채) before?? Its a type of Banchan available in Maangchi’s recipes too~ I ate it in Korean Restaurants and fell in love with it..I tried making it myself tonight but it didn’t turn out that good..:(

      the ones I had is sweet, spicy and very sour..I love sweet and sour food! but my Mu Saeng Chae turned out to be BITTER!! I have no idea why this happened..I used a Daikon radish.. :( any ideas or solutions to this??

      THANKS IN ADVANCE KIND SOULS OUT THERE!!

    • #54447
      vb38
      Member

      Fm my experience, I find that local radish (I live in HK), the long white type is usually YUKKY!!! It takes FOREVER to softe,n if it does, that is! And has a strong raw radish taste, no matter how long u hv cooked it and yes, at times, can hv a slight tinge of bitterness. However, local radish in winter, particularly at this time of the year is very good, minus all the unpleasant stuffs mentioned above. When choosing one, find one that is really HEAVY for its size even though u don’t need so much radish since it is quite inexpensive, it really makes all the difference. U can cling wrap whatever u don’t need and store in the refrigerator, it keeps well for a couple of days provided u don’t wash it. The same goes for radish fm Japan.

      Korean radish is always good, it softens very fast and is never bitter fm my experience. But they are pretty expensive in HK so I only buy them during the other times of the year.

      Good luck!

    • #54448
      vb38
      Member

      Oh, also other than weight, look for those that hv split alittle coz this means that it is super filled with a high water content.

    • #54449
      mokpochica
      Participant

      I’ve had a bitter radish too when I made mu saeng chae. I think it was a little dried out, so looking for one with high water content makes sense.

    • #54450
      joeyng89
      Member

      thanks everyone for the advice :) well my Mu Saeng Chae ended up failing! and i think wat @vb38 say is quite true..the radish I have is exactly like you described! it smells and tasted yucky! :( problem is I don’t see Korean Radish here..not even in huge marts..i ended up putting massive amounts of vinegar, sugar and also chili flakes to forcefully make if taste better..it turned out to be a pickle..well i still could eat it..but not too much though..ended up cooking it in my noodles and it turns out to be lovely.. :p STRANGEEE

    • #54451
      Tequila
      Participant

      @ joeyng89

      ahahahaha…. u simply ‘bantai’, hah? (sorry, I don’t know how to translate this word into English. :(

      p.s.

      I encountered this bitter taste problem too. So, I tried squeezing out the water from the radish stripes rather than cubes. 1st attempt seemed ok. But it lacks that juiciness from the vegetable. Also another bantai case. hehe…

    • #54452
      vb38
      Member

      Just blame it on the stupid radish! Don’t waste time/effort/money with such inferior product. Totally not worth the heartache!

    • #54453
      Tequila
      Participant

      @vb38

      Your so right!

      I tried experimenting with other types of radishes too. I guess next time I try tasting a small piece of raw radish before proceeding further.

    • #54454
      joeyng89
      Member

      @Tequila hahaha!! *high5* Malaysians!! yaa i simply “bantai” the radish..total heartache..coz when i had them in korean restaurants its totalllyy yums..but when i tried making it..oh God..well ended up becoming some pickled radish~ owhhh…

    • #57844

      I’ve always had good luck with local daikon radish in Virginia. A lot of farmers grow it because it is a soil corrector… I believe it helps add nitrogen to the soil but then in the fall lots of the farmers market vendors sell daikon for really cheap ($1-$2 per giant daikon). I buy a bunch to make yellow daikon pickle for kim bap and daikon kimchi.

Viewing 9 reply threads
  • You must be logged in to reply to this topic.