It feels like summer is just around the corner or maybe that’s just wishful thinking.
But one thing I do more when it’s warmer is having salads for lunch/dinner.
It does get a bit boring though so venturing out a little bit is always welcome. One thing Koreans do really well is making veggies very tasty and there are some delicious banchan that sit betweeen a salad and a kimchi which don’t have a name in English. They’re not to be eaten on their own but they’re also not like a kimchi that needs fermenting which means it’s ready straight away.
Korean radishes are ideal for this but they are harder to get by so if you can’t find it, a good replacement is mooli.
Ingredients:
- 1 medium to large Korean radish or two large mooli, peeled and sliced into matchsticks.
- 2 tsp Sea salt
- 2 stalks of spring onions sliced
- 2-3 tbs gochugaru (more or less depending on how spicy you like it.)
- 5 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1/2 tbs fish sauce
- 2 tsp of sugar/rice syrup
For serving:
- sprinkle of sesame seeds
- Drizzle of sesame oil.
Put the julienned radish in a large bowl and sprinkle salt over it. Mix is up and let it rest for about 30 min to get the moisture out.
Drain the excess water and squeeze the radish to get as much moisture out as possible. Transfer the radish to another bowl or rinse the bowl to use for mixing.
Add all ingredients. If you’re worried about spice, add the gochugaru bit by bit. Trying as you go along.
Adjust to your taste, if it’s slightly too bland, add more fish sauce. It should taste slightly too salty to eat on its own (as it’s meant to be eaten with rice or noodles). Make sure there’s a bit is sweetness there to give it a balance.
It’s ready to eat straight away or you can store in a container in the fridge for up to a week.
When serving, decorate with sesame seeds and sesame oil but don’t add this to the whole batch as this will make the radish spoil quicker.
One of my fave ways to eat this is to add a big portion of radish to sticky rice, add a fried egg. Drizzle some sesame oil and mix it all together.
