Chonggak Mu (총각무)

Chonggak mu is the small Korean radish, Raphanus sativus, pulled whole with its green tops and kept as a bachelor's radish, the name chonggak meaning an unmarried young man whose hair was worn in a braid. It belongs to the household kimchi tradition of the peninsula, where the radish is among the oldest cultivated vegetables and the root of much of the winter pantry. The crop is sown in late summer and harvested in autumn, and it is made into chonggak kimchi, also called dongchimi in its water-based form, in the gimjang season. Every Korean household that keeps a kimchi crock has carried it, and the Korean diaspora has kept the same method wherever the radish could be grown.

A chonggak mu is a small, slender, white radish of roughly 10 to 15 cm, with a rounded shoulder, a tapering tail and a crown of dark green leaves left attached. The flesh is dense, crisp and sharply pungent when raw, and it sweetens as it ferments. It differs from the large Korean radish, mu, which is thick and watery, and from yeolmu, the young summer radish with long tender stems. For kimchi the root is trimmed of its fine hairs, scrubbed rather than peeled, and salted whole, with the green tops kept and tied or folded alongside the roots. The finished kimchi is red with gochugaru, bound with a paste of glutinous rice flour, garlic, ginger, fish sauce and saeujeot, and the leaves turn soft while the root stays firm to the bite.

Chonggak kimchi is eaten with plain steamed rice, with seolleongtang and gomtang, and beside rich or fatty dishes such as braised short rib and grilled pork. It is also served with noodles in broth. The reasons are structural: the radish brings crunch, sharp acidity and a clean pungency that cut fat and rest the palate between mouthfuls of mild rice or soft broth. Cold rice wine, makgeolli, or a light lager suits it, as their gentle sweetness and carbonation soften the chilli and acid.