Radish Kimchi

Radish Kimchi

Daniel gave us this bottle of cincalok he made himself and the 'scent' that wisps out is oooh soooo potent. Must get the recipe from him. Whenever we open the lid, never failed, all the flies from the neighborhood come zooming in. 

What is the first thing that come to mind when that familiar aroma hits the nasal sensory? KIMCHI!! This is perfect for kimchi making. 

I was flipping through this new edition of Flavours on board the flight from KL to KK recently and it was featuring none other than Korean cuisine! Needless to say, found many kimchi recipes staring at me. These kimchi recipes looked so intriguing as they call for apple and pear alongside the usual pickling ingredients. I decided to go with the radish kimchi according to the recipe in the magazine and found this a true keeper. The fruits imparted a slight hint of refreshing sweetness to the otherwise intense dish. The kimchi turned out perfect in every way - crunchy, spicy, pungency and all things kimchi.

Here is the recipe...

Radish Kimchi

2 kg radish, peeled, diced into 2cm cubes

2 T coarse sea salt

Kimchi  pickling paste

100g chilli flakes

10 fresh chillies*, seeded and diced

1 brown onion, peeled and diced

1 pear, peeled, cored and diced

1 apple, peeled, cored and diced

3 T cooked rice

50 g ginger, peeled and sliced

1 bulb garlic*

3 T fish sauce

2 T cincalok or Korean brined baby shrimps

sugar and salt to taste

* Optional. The recipe for this radish kimchi has no garlic, I added them because we love the garlicky taste.  

1. Marinate radish with the 2 tablespoon of salt for at least 2 hours. Rinse salt off radish thoroughly and drain well.

2. Blitz chilli flakes, fresh chillies, onion, pear, apple, rice and ginger to a fine paste. Add the fish sauce, cincalok, sugar and salt. Mix well.

3. Mix the paste into the radish well and store in clean glass bottles. 

4. Leave to ferment for a day and it is ready to serve. Can be kept in fridge for weeks (if they get to last that long).