Kkakdugi (깍두기)

What is Kkakdugi?

Kkakdugi (깍두기) is cubed radish kimchi — crunchy dice of Korean radish in the same chili-garlic seasoning as cabbage kimchi, but with a cleaner, sweeter bite and a juicier crunch. It is the designated partner of long-simmered soups: seolleongtang and gomtang restaurants are judged as much on their kkakdugi as on their broth.

How to eat it

1. Eat it with milky beef soups. One spoon of rice-in-broth, one cube of kkakdugi — the crunch and acidity reset the palate.
2. Use the juice. At seolleongtang houses, many locals spoon a little kkakdugi brine into the bland broth to season it — a known move, not a faux pas.
3. Take cubes one or two at a time from the communal bowl with the serving utensil or your chopsticks.

Cooking it at home

1. Cut Korean radish (mu, 무) into 2 cm cubes, salt 30–40 minutes, and drain without rinsing.
2. Toss with gochugaru first for color, then garlic, ginger, fish sauce or salted shrimp, a little sugar, and scallion.
3. Ferment 1–2 days at room temperature, then refrigerate; it peaks at about 1–2 weeks when carbonation tingles.

Good to know

• Usually contains fish sauce or salted shrimp — not vegetarian by default.
• Well-fermented kkakdugi is lightly fizzy; that is normal fermentation, not spoilage.

At soup restaurants kkakdugi often arrives in a whole crock with tongs — take what you want, it is unlimited.

Related foods

설렁탕 · SeolleongtangOften eaten together Milky ox-bone broth you season yourself with salt and scallions. 곰탕 · GomtangOften eaten together Slow-simmered beef soup, clearer cousin of seolleongtang. 국밥 · GukbapOften eaten together Rice in hot soup — fast, cheap, and deeply Korean. 배추김치 · KimchiSame family · fermented seafood seasoning Fermented napa cabbage — the one dish on every Korean table. 동치미 · DongchimiMilder alternative Icy radish water-kimchi — drink the brine, that's the point.