Today, I’m sharing a simple but truly delicious side dish recipe with you. The video is also the first one filmed in the kitchen of my new home! It’s a Korean countryside style mu-saengchae (Korean radish salad).
This is how I saw it being made many years ago when I visited one of my relatives living in the Korean countryside. They shredded fresh radish and mixed everything together right away, geotjeori-style. I had never seen it done that way before and I still remember how delicious it was! The rich, savory flavor of their homemade soy sauce and the nutty aroma from their generous amount of sesame oil totally made a strong impression on me. Very hearty and simple! The resulting taste is very fresh, crisp, spicy, and salty, and the sesame oil leaves a lingering impression. It’s a side dish so should be served with rice.
Ever since then, whenever I find good-quality radish, I often make it this way. In the countryside, they use well-fermented homemade soy sauce instead of fish sauce. Since making your own soy sauce at home is not easy, you can use a tasty fish sauce instead which is very close to the flavor that I remember. If you are not a big fan of fish sauce, Korean soup soy sauce (guk-ganjang) sold at a Korean grocery store can be used. The recipe below is a variation of the version in my Big Book of Korean Cooking.
You might also remember my old recipe for mu-saengchae that I posted years ago. That method involved salting the radish first and and squeezing out the moisture before mixing it with seasonings that are different from this version. Both versions are good!
I hope you enjoy this mu-saengchae!
