Korean Radish Salad - Musaengchae (무생채) (2024)

One of the most popular Korean side dishes, this Korean radish salad (musaengchae) is incredibly moreish! Crunchy and spicy, it is so easy to make at home. Once you start, it’s very hard to stop!

Why You’ll Love This Salad

Of all the Korean side dishes (banchan) that I have tried (trust me, there have been a lot), this spicy Korean radish salad is my absolute favourite.

I have made and tried both the vegan and pescatarian versions, and I have to say I love the vegan version more. Hence I am showing you how to make it without the fish sauce or the pungent salted shrimp.

Korean radishes are crunchy, sweet and peppery. It’s amazing how you can transform something so simple, without putting it through a cooking process, into a side dish that is so savoury, spicy and flavoursome with just a few basic ingredients.

This is so easy to make. No cooking required. You’re just slicing the Korean radish, mixing ingredients and giving them a good toss.

What Is Musaengchae?

“Mu” is the Korean word for radish (daikon). “Saengchae” is a generic term for salad or raw vegetables.

Like most recipes, over time, we create many different versions of the same dish. As mentioned above, this version is vegan.

For a pescatarian version, you can add fish sauce or salted shrimp. If you can’t handle the spice, make it a sweet and sour version of musaengchae by adding more sugar and vinegar.

Musaengchae is the closest Korean banchan in flavour to kimchi without the fermentation process, so it’s a great alternative if you need one. They both have this signature Korean red but musaengchae, unlike kimchi, is not fermented.

What Does Korean Radish Taste Like?

The quintessential flavour of any radish is that it is peppery and sometimes even a little spicy. The different types of radishes have varying levels of peppery flavours.

Korean radishes also have a hint of sweetness, and when braised or added to soup, they are very sweet!

How Long Can You Keep Musaengchae?

You can keep musaengchae for about 4 days in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Note that the radish may water over time, so be sure to drain the liquid before serving.

Always bring Korean banchan to room temperature before serving. One of those really healthy side dishes you can’t go past that’s super easy to whip up.

What Other Saengchae Side Dishes Are There?

If you would like to try different Korean salads, you can try this recipe with cucumber, lettuce or cabbage. You can even make this with jellyfish, which to me sounds amazing!

Recipe Overview

Flavour/Texture: This Korean radish is crunchy in texture and spicy in flavour. The garlic and ginger provide quintessential Asian flavours, while the sugar helps to balance it all out.

Ease: The trickiest part of this whole recipe is cutting the Korean radish into matchsticks. If you have a mandoline, however, it will make your life a lot easier.

First, slice them thinly and then cut them into thin strips. Otherwise, the rest of the recipe is just mix and toss. No cooking required!

Time: The recipe calls for about 40 minutes, but 30 minutes is actually idle. We need to add salt to the Korean radish strips to draw out as much moisture as possible so that it is crunchy and doesn’t turn the radish salad wet.

Ingredients

Ingredients you will need to make Korean Radish Salad – Musaengchae.

Korean radish: Korean radish is a smaller, stout and stumpy version of normal daikon radish. If you can find Korean radish, a regular daikon radish will suffice, except that they are always so big!

So, either you make an extra spicy radish salad, or you can use the extra daikon to make Korean radish soup or Korean pickled radish banchan called Korean Pickled Radish – Chicken-mu (치킨무).

Salt: Required to draw out the water from the Korean radish to become crunchier and not become too wet later on.

Scallion or green onion: Korean’s love adding scallions or green onion to their Korean side dishes. I like to make a batch of them at once so that I can use up all the ingredients.

Always hard to finish an entire bunch at one go. By making several Korean side dish recipes, I tend to put them to good use!

Minced garlic: I can’t live without my garlic press when a recipe calls for minced garlic. Important that it is minced as it needs to have an even and subtle spread across the spicy radish salad. We don’t want rogue chunks of garlic that can be quite overpowering.

Grated ginger: Love the smells of grated ginger. It starts when you’re scraping the skin off with a teaspoon. Adds so much depth of flavour to any recipe.

Gochugaru: To create that signature Korean red, we use gochugaru (Korean red chili pepper or chili pepper flakes). Gochugaru is sun-dried red peppers that have consistency between flakes and finely ground powder.

Sesame seeds: Just get the toasted sesame seeds from the Korean supermarket. It will save you from having to toast it yourself. Very handy to have in your pantry for so many other recipes.

Variations and Substitutions

Pescatarian version: This is a vegan version of the musaengchae. If you prefer, you can create a pescatarian version by adding 1 tbsp of Korean fish sauce (myulchi aekjeot) or Korean salted shrimp (saeujeot).

Korean radish replacement: You will be able to find Korean radish in the Korean supermarket. If not, you can just get a regular white radish (daikon).

However, they are always really big, so by gauging the size you’re able to get compared to the size of a Korean radish, adjust the servings accordingly.

Scallions or green onions? You can use either scallion or green onions. Korean love to use green onions but try selecting ones with a small bulb so as not to make the salad overly pungent.

Pre-packed garlic: You can mince your own garlic or get the Korean minced garlic from the Korean supermarket or the Asian aisle of your supermarket. Really useful if you’re intending on making a big batch of Korean side dishes.

Gochugaru substitute: If you can’t find gochugaru to give the radish salad that quintessential Korean red, you can mix some familiar ingredients together, although it won’t really be the same.

If you wish to try, I recommended 2 parts cayenne pepper to 1 part smoky paprika. If not spicy enough, add some chili flakes to the mix.

Instructions

Step by step instructions for how to make Korean Radish Salad – Musaengchae.

Peel the Korean radish.

Using a mandoline, slice 2cm thick and then cut them into matchsticks.

Add ½ tsp of salt to the Korean radish coat well. This will help draw out the water. Place in a colander or sieve and place over a prep bowl to allow the water to drip through for 30 minutes.

Chop the whole scallion or green onion.

Mince the garlic finely, or you can use the Korean minced garlic in a jar.

Grate the ginger to yield ½ tsp.

Place all the ingredients in a mixing bowl and toss well.

Serve.

Great Mains for This Salad

How to serve Korean Radish Salad – Musaengchae? You can try some of these Korean favourites such as Samgyeopsal gui (grilled pork strips), Bibimbap or Kimchi-jjigae, a Korean kimchi stew.

Frequently Asked Questions

Musaengchae is absolutely delicious and makes for fantastic plant-based salads. Nothing quite beats eating it with a bowl of steaming hot rice. As one of the more popular Korean side dishes, it’s always better to make it fresh at home for everyone to indulge!

That’s all!

More Korean Side Dishes Recipes (Banchan 반찬)

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