Culinary Chronicles - Asian (Korean) Cuisine #2: Pickled Korean Radish

When I discovered KFoodAddict.com I spent the next few days exploring and learning. I was totally inspired and ready to embark on a new 'cooking' journey. I started simple and made something we already had the ingredients for, Korean Egg Rolls. My family loved them and now my Mum has got on the 'bandwagon' as well. It definitely helps our inspiration having a fairly new International Farmers Market in town where we've been able to find so many new and foreign foods, especially produce.

I've tried a number Chloe's recipes (the author/cook of KFoodAddict.com), and have been encouraged to try some of my own Asian inspired experiments. See here for an example. (Frankly, my family isn't very comfortable when I refer to my cooking in the kitchen as experiments, I don't know why.)

One of the recipes she has is called Korean radish wrap, or Mussamali. It looked so good and fresh, I just had to try it. Not knowing where to find the already pickled radish I decided to make some myself. I looked for Korean Radish at the Int. Farmers Market, and surprisingly for me, found it right off. I realized afterward that I didn't have the necessary cutting tools to achieve the proper thinness, but since I had them I wasn't going to give up. I hand-sliced them one day and followed Chloe's recipe (found at the bottom of the recipe).

Here are my substitutions:

• Instead of white vinegar I used Apple Cider Vinegar
• Completely omitted the sugar (I didn't know what kind to used since we don't use white sugar, besides we avoid using sugar if we can help it)

I left it in the fridge for a week according to the recipe, and today I pulled it out. I tend to be on the negative side (bad, I know) so I didn't hold much hope. But fortunately everyone agreed that they tasted pretty good. But, unfortunately, my slices were still too thick, so I don't think I'll be able to wrap them. This time I might have to leave them open-faced. In the meantime, I am on the lookout for a good and thin slicer. Any suggestions?

Only after doing this did I consider looking for already pickled radish at the Int. Farmer's Market. And surprisingly, I found it. (Love the Int. Farmer's Market!) I was, on the other hand, disappointed to find it had MSG in it. Aside from the fact that its not the healthiest, it gives certain people headaches in our home. Maybe, if I wanted to use it instead of making my own, I'll be able to find another brand that doesn't have MSG in it.

Since our Sunday lunches are usually light, I'm thinking this would be great, but I'm not sure if I'll have the time to prepare it after church. Still working on that.

Thanks for reading. I hope the ups and downs of my experiments help you with yours.

And a great big thanks to Chloe Lim, the Korean Food Addict, for all her work in making this available to people like me who have no idea about how to make this stuff. Totally grateful!