Musaengchae is a quick, easy, and versatile side dish. Mu means radish and saengchae means salad-like dish.
The main ingredient for this recipe is Korean radish. It is solidly oblong-shaped and has a gradient color from green to white. This type of radish is common in Korea! We love to add it in stir-fries, soups like Muguk or Hangover Soup, or turn it into a side dish like Water Kimchi or Radish Kimchi.
Aside from being a versatile vegetable, it is actually very refreshing in broths and super good for your digestion.
During the end of fall, it is at its peak where there is sweetness amidst the spicy-peppery taste. I often get this at Hmart or maybe you can also try to cop one in any farmer’s market near you. It should have smooth skin with no creases to make sure it is fresh.
Why Try Spicy Radish Salad?
- This spicy salad recipe literally takes 10-15 minutes to make.
- It is a great alternative to other common side dishes such as cucumber salad or kimchi. They’re all good, but you know, variety!
- This salad can easily be changed up depending on your preference.
Preparation for Korean Radish
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In preparing the radish, peel it roughly since the skin is edible. You can use a mandolin to chop it into thin matchstick sizes. This is a straightforward route and will produce even sizes for each piece. On the other hand, you can also use a knife. It may take a little longer to do.
Either way, make sure that your tools are sharp so that it cuts through the solid texture of the radish. And be extra careful as you chop things up, alright??
When preparing some Korean side dishes, you don’t really need to cook the vegetables, you can eat them raw. However, we do salt them with sea salt for several reasons:
- The salt draws out moisture making them pliable
- The salt, at the same time, keeps them crisp
- Generally, it is used to brine vegetables and bring out their taste
After the salting process, there is no need to wash it off.
How to make Musaengchae?
In making this, you can literally just prepare all the ingredients and mix them in a bowl. We love using our hands to mix so that the dressing gets in all the pieces.
Aromatics
For this side dish, aromatics such as garlic, scallion, chives, and mustard greens perfectly complement the radish. We are only going to add a few chopped pieces to help enhance the salad.
Salad Seasoning
For the seasoning, it’s simply just pepper flakes, corn syrup or sugar, sesame oil, and sesame seeds. These four ingredients are enough to give it a balance of spice, sweetness, and nuttiness.
Commonly, ahjummas would use fine Korean pepper powder, but my mom prefers to use the flakes because her ingredients are from Korea. Kakaka~ Either way is okay, and you can adjust the amount of pepper powder depending on your spice tolerance.
If you want a non-spicy salad, you can actually opt to use fish sauce to make it savory or use rice vinegar if you want it a bit sour. Switch it up or keep it Mama Cho-style, that is up to you.
Serving and Storage
This is best consumed when freshly made! To serve, this is a great side dish for Korean BBQ, Bossam, or any other protein dishes. It can also be a topping on Kimbap or Bibimbap.
For any leftovers, store them in a clean airtight container and you can keep them in the fridge for a whole week! As it sits, it is normal for the radish to continue to produce water content so there might be a difference after a few days.
Other classic side dishes you might like:
Make sure to leave a rating, a comment, or tag me on Facebook, Instagram, or Tiktok when you chop them up! Yeobosayo!
Spicy Radish Salad (Musaengchae)
Equipment
- Mandolin
Ingredients
- 770 grams Korean Radish
- 2 tsp Sea Salt
- 20 grams Mustard Greens 1 stalk chopped
- 22 grams Scallions 1 stalk chopped
- 34 grams Chives Some chopped, some sliced into 2-inch matchsticks
- 30 grams Garlic 7 cloves minced
- 2 tbsp Korean Red Pepper Flakes or Gochugaru
- 1 tbsp Corn Syrup or Sugar
- 1 tsp Sesame Oil
- 2 tsp Sesame Seeds
Instructions
- Roughly peel the radish and chop it into matchstick sizes using a mandolin.
- Salt the radish, mix thoroughly, and set it aside to draw out moisture and to brine.
- Prepare the other aromatics/vegetables.
- No need to wash the radish, directly add the chopped garlic, scallions, chives, and mustard greens.
- Directly season with gochugaru, corn syrup, sesame oil, and sesame seeds. Mix evenly and thoroughly.
- Serve as a side dish and enjoy!
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