A typical Korean meal is rarely ever without a side dish of mu, the versatile white radish,which may well be called the country’s vegetable for all seasons. Mu is loved for its flavor, which goes well with rice,and has long been an important source of vitamin C in winter when fresh vegetables were hard to come by. These days,the white radish is available year-round, but the woldongmu (winter radish), grown on islands inthe southern sea where the winters are relatively mild, is the tastiest.
Mu is one of Koreans’ favorite vegetables.The European red radish is eaten raw and used in salads, while in Japan, white radish, called daikon, is used as an ingredient for such dishes as boiled fish, buckwheat soba, and miso soup, and is pickled as well; grated raw daikon is used as a garnish for sashimi. The Korean white radish is cultivated and carefully harvested since every part of the plant is used, from the taproot to the green tops. Mu can be found on the Korean dining table as kimchi, salad, or a variety of side dishes; it’s an essential ingredient in soups, stews, and also for making a base broth for various dishes.
If dishes made with siraegi (dried radish leaves) and mumallaengi (thin-sliced, dried radish) are taken into account, hardly a day passes without Koreans eating mu in some ways. Radish is rich in amylase, an enzyme that breaks down starch to aid digestion; this might be an age-old wisdom passed down among Koreans through generations, whose staple grain is rice.
The Ubiquitous ‘Winter Ginseng’
Muguk (radish soup) is a clearsoup favored by Koreans. It ismade with slices of beef and radish,stir-fried in sesame oil, thencooked with water and Koreanstylesoy sauce, and seasonedwith salt and a dash of blackpepper.
Up till the 1970s, when greenhouse farming was not yet developed and vegetables were hard to grow in winter, people would store the radish harvested in the fall deep underground to prevent its freezing; this served as their supply of the vegetable throughout the winter. Prepared as a side dishor eaten raw, although not as sweet as fruits, radish was a delicacy for winter night snacking with its mild, refreshing taste. The radish eaten as a snackduring the winter was called dongsam, or “winter ginseng.” There is a reason why this ubiquitous vegetable was compared to the precious herb.Although it does not have as much medicinal benefits as ginseng, the radish then was a vital source of vitamin C during the winter time.
Radish is now grown in all seasons, with its annual production exceeding that of any other vegetable. In particular, the winter radish that can now be grown in moderate cold temperatures of winter is prized for being the tastiest. In the southern regions of Korea, the temperatures during the height of winter rarely drop below zeroeven at night. The taste of radish gets better as it grows during nights with temperatures between zero and 10 degrees Celcius. That’s because the starch produced through photosynthesis during the day changes quickly into sugar to prepare for the night, a survival strategy of the radish, which increases its sweetness.
Large-scale production of winter radish and its distribution started in earnest in the mid-1990s. Jeju Island is well-known for its flavorful winter radish. “Jeju woldongmu” has been exported to America, cleanwashed and packed in vinyl bags, for the past ten years. Farther north, radish is grown during the hot summer season in the high mountains of Gangwon Province, in the eastern part of Korea, at altitudes higher than 600 meters above sea level. Because vegetables either stop growing or become overgrown when the temperature is above 30˚C, the radish will not be as succulent and sweet in summer. Thus, summer radish is grown in the highlands, where the night temperatures drop noticeably.
Yeolmu Guksu: Refreshing Summertime Treat
The plump radish root freshlypulled from the ground is crunchyand sweet. The green tops aredried and boiled in soybean pastestew (jjigae) or prepared as aseasoned vegetable dish (namul).
Summer is the season of yeolmu, the sweet baby radish taproots and their green tops. Harvested after a short growing time, it is known for being delectably crunchy and rich in flavor. Yeolmu guksu is a refreshing chilled soup made with thin noodles called somyeon and chilled anchovy stock flavored with yeolmu water kimchi. It’s an inexpensive delicacy enjoyed as a snack at home or as an appetizer in the summer at restaurants and eateries everywhere. Sipping the cold sweet-sour broth between chewy mouthfuls of yeolmu kimchi and somyeon, one can forget the summer heat, if only for a moment.
The eponymous Korean cold noodle dish naengmyeon brings the height of flavor and texture of handmade summer noodles and pickled radish together in a bowl of icy broth. With buckwheat noodles in the broth of beef, pork, or chicken, this traditional noodle dish is served with thin cucumber slices, cooked meat, and a boiled egg cut in half — together with pickled radish. This indispensable garnish is made of thinsliced radish pickled in salt, chili pepper powder, vinegar, and sugar. There is a reason for this traditional way of consuming buckwheat noodles with radish. The toxic components salycilamine and benzilamine from the buckwheat’s skin can be neutralized by the enzymes in radish.
Summer is the season of yeolmu, the sweet baby radish taproots and their green tops. Harvested aftera short growing time, it is known for being delectably crunchy and rich in flavor.
Kkakdugi, Easy Radish Kimchi
Kkakdugi, using radish as the primaryingredient, is the easiest kind of kimchi tomake. Cabbage kimchi, with its so manyingredients and complicated preparation,is challenging for me, but I’m happyto make kkakdugi when my 13-year-olddaughter wishes to have it on the table. Ican just buy a radish in the store nearby, cutit into cubes of 2–3 centimeters, sprinklesome salt, and leave in a bowl for about 2hours. The salt melts into the radish, whichbecomes crunchy. I then add some fishsauce, pickled shrimp, chili pepper powder,and sticky rice starch (this last ingredientcan be skipped to save time). Adding chivesgives the kkakdugi a deeper taste. The mixturecan be left to ferment for two days andthen eaten. For meat soups, such as samgyetang(whole chicken and ginseng soup),galbitang (beef rib soup), and seolleongtang(ox bone soup), well-fermented kkakdugiis just right in place of cabbage kimchi.Since radish helps in the digestion of fattyfood, it is a perfect combination for goodtaste and health.
An interesting and unusual variant ofkimchi is radish kimchi with bolak (rockfish),a specialty of Tongyeong in SouthGyeongsang Province and other coastalareas of the South Sea. A whole rockfish(Sebastes inermis) is fermented in a batchof radish kimchi. At the beginning it smellsfishy, but after about two months of fermentation,the fishy smell disappears anda unique odor from the aged fish proteinwill stimulate your appetite. The radish andbolak together on a plate may look ratherunattractive at first, but the savory taste willhave you raving about its novelty. The stifffish bones are softened in the fermentationprocess, and the fish meat becomesfirm, so it is like eating a gourmet fishmeal, not kimchi. A bowl of warm steamedrice will quickly disappear with this specialkimchi. One can try this dish at a restaurantcalled Chungmujip, which specializesin Tongyeong dishes, in Eulji-ro, centralSeoul.
Whichever of the many mu dishes bestsuits your taste, the radish, a vital ingredientof Korean cooking, promises an abundanceof culinary delights.
For dongchimi (radish water kimchi), small roundishradishes are selected, cleaned and seasoned only withsalt and a few aromatics such as whole garlic, slicedginger, chives, and red chili. When well fermented,the radish is cut into bite-size pieces and served withthe chilled liquid. In the past, the crock containing thiskimchi was buried in the yard to be eaten all winter.
Kkakdugi (diced radish kimchi) is made with radish cutinto bite-size cubes, which are sprinkled with salt andleft out for a while before mixing with fish sauce, pickledshrimp, chili powder, sticky rice starch, and choppedchives. The well-fermented kkakdugi is considered theperfect side dish for various kinds of meat soup.
Kim Jin-youngRepresentative, Traveler’s Kitchen
Shim Byung-wooPhotographer
한국국제교류재단
