The first crop to be pulled out of our garden and enjoyed this year has been our endless bounty of radishes. They are nothing fancy, just your run-of-the-mill cherry red garden radish, but they have been a crunchy, spicy blessing that I relish pulling out of the soft dirt in my own backyard. Especially after the extraordinarily long winter that lasted well into May and threatened to eat up any hope of having any sort of garden at all.
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I spotted this recipe for kimchi radish pickles in the New York Times a few months ago and bookmarked it in my brain for what I hoped would be the plethora of radishes coming my way, and they did not fail.
All at once they had gone from little sprouts to full grown ruby bulbs, their shoulders bulging out of the ground and growing bigger by the hour. Didn’t they know I was going on vacation? Apparently the radish waits for no man, so I plucked as many as I could and pickled them in a delicious brine of salt, chiles, and sugar.
When we returned from our trip there they were, dutifully waiting for us in the refrigerator, lacking a little crunch but making up for it in flavor. They perk up a ham sandwich like nobody’s business but I like to snack on them straight out of the jar.
I used a Turkish crushed red pepper called Pul Biber which is very similar to Aleppo pepper but if you want to make it more of a traditional kimchi you can use Korean chile flakes. Whatever you do make sure to use chile flakes and not powder.
Radish Kimchi
Not your traditional Mexican food recipe, but such a delicious twist on kimchi. Fresh garden radishes marinated in crushed red pepper, garlic, and ginger. Adapted slightly from New York Times
Ingredients
Method
- Thoroughly scrub radishes, trim away roots and most of the green stems, leaving 1/8 inch on top and halve or quarter them. Place radishes in a bowl and toss with salt. Let rest for 20 minutes. Drain radishes in a colander set over a bowl, reserving brined juices. Rinse radishes quickly, then shake them to remove excess water.
- In a large bowl, stir together 2 tablespoons water with the crushed pepper, ginger, garlic, and sugar. Add drained radishes and mix well to coat with paste. Pack into a pint jar with a tight-fitting lid, then pour the reserved brine into the bowl with the chile paste residue, mix it around to capture leftover seasonings, and pour brine into jar (the liquid will not cover the radishes). Cover and let stand at room temperature overnight. Refrigerate for up to 2 weeks.
Kate, I’m so glad you shared this! I’m most definately making this. Delicious. I should have bought that enormous $1 bag of radishes I saw at the farmer’s market. 🙂
Yes, Sarah, you have to. They are so easy and soooo good!