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1
Salt the radish and cabbage pieces lightly and set aside for 20–30 minutes to draw out surface moisture. Rinse briefly under cold water and drain. The vegetables should be just pliable at the surface but not collapsed — press a piece of radish; it should yield slightly without snapping.
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2
Combine the filtered water with the sea salt in a large, clean jar or fermentation vessel. Stir until the salt is fully dissolved. Taste the brine: it should register as very lightly seasoned — present but not assertive. If it tastes of the sea, it is already too strong. This is the step on which the dish lives or dies: a brine that is over-salted or over-seasoned cannot be corrected, and the clean lactic character of mul kimchi depends entirely on restraint here.
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3
Add the radish, cabbage, cucumber, green onion, and chive to the vessel. The vegetables should float and move freely in the liquid — they are suspended elements, not a packed mass. If the vegetables crowd and dominate the vessel, remove some; the brine-to-vegetable ratio must favour the liquid.
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4
Submerge the whole ginger piece, the Asian pear slices, and the crushed garlic into the brine. Add the gochugaru now if using — it will tint the brine the palest blush. The aromatics should be evenly distributed throughout the liquid rather than clustered at the surface.
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5
Cover the vessel loosely — not airtight — and leave at room temperature for 1 to 2 days. At the end of this period, inspect the surface: very small, fine bubbles at the brine's surface indicate that lactic fermentation is active and proceeding cleanly. The brine will smell gently sour, faintly effervescent, and fresh — not sharp or pungent. Do not allow fermentation to continue beyond 2 days at room temperature.
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6
Transfer the sealed vessel to the refrigerator. Mul kimchi is ready to serve once fully chilled. In summer, serve ice-cold or with ice chips. Ladle brine and vegetables together into small bowls — the brine is the dish as much as the solids.