Thursday, October 16, 2014

Pickled Radish: Best Korean Fried Chicken Side Dish

I was doing grocery the other day and chance upon a Korean radish from Landmark Supermarket in Makati.  I grabbed one good size piece and boy am I ready to do that pickled radish.  Here in the Philippines fried chicken is usually paired with gravy or catsup but in South Korea, fried chicken almost always go with pickled radish.

Whenever we visit South Korea, we always order for fried chicken.  Even in HOFs, short for a bar that sells beer and chicken, customer always gets pickled radish on the side.  Surprisingly, the Korean radish does not taste as intimidating as the Philippine radish.  It does not have the strong taste rather it's a tasty version of turnips (singkamas).  



It's quite easy to make you just need Korean radish, white vinegar (the clear one) and sugar.   Just cut the Korean radish in small cubes about 1cm in size.  Mix well a part of vinegar with sugar until you don't see traces of sugar.  Put in a glass container and keep on refrigerator.  It will last for weeks because of the vinegar.   I usually follow 1:1 ratio for all the ingredients to copy that Korean taste but you can adjust based on your liking.  

The radish has to be the Korean variant, otherwise you won't be able to achieve that taste.  I tried using a local radish in the absence of the Korean variant before and it came out too strong.  It has the feel and aftertaste like wasabi.  Pickled radish is sweet and the radish is crunchy.  Goes perfectly well with that Korean fried chicken.  I am yet to discover how to make their version of breaded fried chicken.  

6 comments:

  1. Raddish by nature is bitter, but if it is mixed with vinegar it comes really good. So I think I would love this Korean fried chicken.

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    1. the korean radish taste more like a bland singkamas :-) not bitter at all

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  2. Wow, ayos to ah! ma-try nga minsan.hehe. pero ang raddish dito sa saudi, same lang din ng sa Pinas..Ano kayang maging lasa? haha..Tsk tsk..

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  3. This looks interesting, esp because I love Korean food. Will try it one of these days! :)

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  4. tried it with local labanos, it's too strong :-)

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  5. I do not like radish (labanos) as it is. But this Korean radish pickle I'd really delicious!

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