Musaengchae: Korean Spicy Radish Salad

Musaengchae: Korean Spicy Radish Salad! This is my favorite Korean banchan dish because it’s sour, sweet and spicy. I love this so much! Add this to bibimbap, or simply enjoy this with rice and gim. It’s so good!

A visit to your local Korean market, Hmart or Asian market will probably be in order for this Korean banchan recipe. You can use a daikon radish, but I would encourage you to look for and buy a Korean radish for this recipe. 

“Good Korean radishes are firm and the skin is a little shiny, without any scratches. The tops are pale green halfway down and fade to cream. It’s a varietal of the Daikon radish but it’s it’s shorter, fatter, and heavier, the flesh denser and the leaves a lot smoother.”

I also love this julienne tool for this recipe.  I have three of the Titan vegetable peeler and julienne tool sets because I seriously use them all the time. This makes prepping the radish for this recipe a breeze. 

Musaengchae: Korean Spicy Radish Salad

I said it above and I’ll say it again. What I love about this specific banchan dish is that it hits all notes on your palette: sweet, a little salty, spicy and sour. It’s like a party in your mouth. I also love that you don’t have to cook the radish at all. You simply salt it, let it sit for 5 minutes and then you use your hands to squeeze out the excess water from the radish strands. It’s so easy to make! We hope you try this!

Print Recipe

Musaengchae: Korean Spicy Radish Salad

*You can use a daikon radish, but I would strongly encourage you to look for and buy a Korean radish for this recipe. 

Prep Time15 minutes mins

Total Time15 minutes mins

Course: Appetizer or Side Dish

Cuisine: Korean

Keyword: Korean radish banchan, korean radish side dish, Musaengchae, Musaengchae: Korean Spicy Radish Salad, radish

Servings: 4

Ingredients

• 1 medium to large sized Korean radish* peeled and julienned
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 1 green onion diced
• 1 tablespoon brown rice vinegar
• 2 teaspoons gochugaru
• 2 teaspoons white granulated sugar
• sesame seeds

Instructions

• Place your julienned radish into a large mixing bowl, sprinkle on the salt, mix and toss together with your hands and set aside for about 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, pour out and squeeze out all the excess water and place back into the bowl.
• Add in the garlic, green onions, vinegar, gochugaru and sugar. Toss and mix together and taste and adjust any ingredients as needed. Garnish with some sesame seeds and enjoy!