This is the second of my three part posts. I've made use of the seasoning before, but I keep coming back to this wonderfully tangy, pungent salad for a vegetable side. Many different types of vegetables can be used, but the ones that can hold their shape after being generously salted then squeezed to get their own liquid extracted would be the best. In the summertime, cucumber is my favorite. Right now, I like using Korean radish (무 mu) or Japanese radish (daikon) in season. I added a carrot into the mix for a color pop, but feel free to go all radish or all carrot... or any other vegetables you may want to experiment with.
The salting process in the beginning, which is also required in making kimchi, seasons the vegetable and makes it crunchier. Coarse sea salt packaged for making kimchi works great, as it extracts liquid from the vegetable and seasons it just about right, and most of the generous amount of salt sprinkled on the vegetable will be washed off. You can also use regular coarse sea salt, but watch out for time and saltiness. If you use table salt, it will dissolve and penetrate into the vegetable quickly, resulting in a very salty salad. Aside from salting, rice vinegar in the seasoning mix adds its light, tangy flavor right away without waiting for it to ferment. Consider it a longer-lasting salad and finish it within a couple of days.
Radish Carrot Salad
Yield - about 2 Cups
INGREDIENTS:
2 Cups Daikon, peeled and julienned
1 Cup Carrot (1~2 skinny carrots), peeled and julienned
2 Tablespoons Coarse sea salt, preferably one packaged for making kimchi
1 Tablespoon Korean red pepper flakes (고추 가루 gochu garu)
2 Stalks Scallions, trimmed and finely chopped
3 Cloves Garlic, peeled and grated
2 Tablespoons Rice vinegar
2 teaspoons Sugar
2 teaspoons Toasted sesame seeds
DIRECTIONS:
1. In a bowl, sprinkle 1 tablespoon of sea salt over daikon and mix. In a separate bowl, sprinkle 1 tablespoon of sea salt over carrot. I keep them separate during salting as carrot requires a couple more minutes of salting (also the reason for heavier salting for the amount). Let stand for 5 to 10 minutes until daikon and carrot start to soften and you see water extracted from the vegetables at the bottom of the bowls.
2. In the meantime, mix rice vinegar, red pepper flakes, toasted sesame seeds, scallion, garlic and sugar together.
3. Wash off salt from daikon and carrot in cold water. Mix the vegetables together and squeeze to remove excess water.
4. Mix in the seasoning from #2.
5. Keep it in an airtight container and store it in the refrigerator.
RELATED POSTS
KOREAN WORDS
무 (mu) radish
물 (mul) water
