Gochujang Watermelon Radish Kimchi

I live in a rural mountain town at over six thousand feet above the suburbia and smog of southern California. I’m so very blessed to spend my days out under the sugar pine limbs trekking trails and watching California’s bald eagles fishing in our alpine lake. It’s a bucolic life and it took me a lot of years to build my life, my family and my business in this wilderness. It’s an idyllic lifestyle for me for my love of everything outdoors but sometimes I just crave sushi or some ethnic foods, damn it. Sometimes I just wish there was one ethnic grocer on this mountain where I could purchase Chinese cauliflower, fermented Korean Gochujang sauce or Organic Radish Kimchi. I live in a mountain town where everybody just loves steak and as a foodie, I just want to be able to go to one restaurant and order something ethnic. Or if I could find a delectable vegan salad, wouldn’t that be great?

How about a steak bro?

But that is totally too much to ask in this ski town that I love. When I am craving Radish Kimchi I have to drive an hour and a half to the nearest Asian grocer near Los Angeles. With gas prices here in southern California creeping up to seven dollars a gallon I get a chance to stock up on the fancy ethnic groceries once every forty-five days if I’m lucky.

But hey now, I’m growing watermelon radishes in my organic garden. Just what on my earth is stopping me from creating my very own Radish Kimchi? Rabbits. Rabbits are stopping me. I love our garden and making it a serene and sacred place to relax. But it’s not so relaxing when I’m chasing a bunny with a homemade slingshot. I swear we have a lot of asshole rabbits in our neighborhood and they think my garden is the Souplantation Buffet! Hey rabbits, I have news for you, no more Soup Plantation, no more buffets! This is 2023, bunny bitches! Well, the great thing about my watermelon radishes that I grow in my garden anyways is that they are organic and I swear to you, the spiciest radishes I haver tasted.

Next spring when we plant for the season, I will be concentrating on radishes, lettuces, beets and kale. These all grew fantastic in our garden in 2022. Luckily for me, the bunnies only eat the top of the radishes, not the lovely root veggie that I long to pickle with Gochujang sauce.

“Your backyard is like a sportsbook. But with pets” Our backyard is our outdoor sanctuary and we spent most of our time at home relaxing outdoors outback and away from the ferocious rabbits. So far, at least they can’t get through the fence to the backyard garden. Where we have another ferocious pest who chows down on my sunflowers. Her name is Carly my adventure dog. What kind of asshole dog eats sunflowers, seriously?

Kimchi is well known to be made with cabbage but did you know you can also make kimchi with eggplant, cauliflower or radishes? I try to save a big-ass mayonnaise jar to use to ferment with Gochujang sauce this Radish Kimchi. Am I obsessed with Gochujang sauce? I kind of am. Believe me, this radish kimchee is delicious and you want to make a big batch

Watermelon Radish Kimchi
Yes, this sunflower-eating asshole.

because it takes a while to ferment and well, it’s just great on everything!

So what should you do with Radish Kimchi? Well number one, you just have to create some Kimchi Fried Rice. This fried rice is seriously life-changing. It is also awesome as a cauliflower fried rice if you happen to be embracing that keto lifestyle.

Gochujang Watermelon Radish Kimchi

2 cups organic Watermelon radishes, sliced, ends removed

2 teaspoons grated garlic

2 teaspoons grated ginger

1 teaspoon soy sauce

1 teaspoon miso paste

2 teaspoons Gochujang sauce

2 teaspoons rice vinegar

Mix all ingredients together and squeeze tightly into a big-ass mayonnaise jar. Now, this is when you have to get patient! Let the kimchee ferment for up to five days. After five days you are ready to slather this on breakfast eggs, a quesadilla or on your favorite tacos!

 

 

 

Comments

  1. Esmé Slabbert

    Very interesting to see that you used Radish for your Kimchi. Pinned it
    I visited you via Happiness is Homemade
    If interested feel free to visit my entries for this week: #34+35 as I would love to invite you to come and share your posts and you will have an opportunity to get featured.
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  2. Jhuls

    I love the sound of watermelon radish kimchi. Yum! Thank you so much for sharing and for joining Fiesta Friday Party!

  3. Estelle Forrest

    This sounds like a fantastic kimchi! Thanks for sharing at SSPS, hope to see you again next week.

  4. Barbara Chapman

    Amber, you know why I come over to your blog? To get my fill of missing So Cal! 😉 I’ve been trying to find a spot where I can comment as I shared your Bohemian Fashion Treasure Hunting in Yucca Valley in an Honorable Mention part of Share Your Style #390 (I still can’t grab a photo; guess I’ll have to try and pin then grab that.).

    Okay, and I just read your run-in with the coyote pack!!! I used to have lone coyotes cross my path with Yoda there in Murrieta, usually young ones (they lived down in a canyon which roads zigzagged across), and those loners would look at Yoda as a breakfast possibility. Mostly we never had any issues, but your adventure was scary! They were looking to eat your dog for sure and it would have been tragic. Glad you had your ski poles!!! The idea of a horn might not be a bad idea, or just a whistle, which you should carry anyway. We taught all our Girl Scouts/Boy Scouts/Venture Crew (high adventure part of Scouting) to carry a whistle. If you get lost, then a whistle sound carries much farther than you can yell. Plus it’s lightweight and you can put in in your vest/shorts’ pocket. 🙂

    I miss hiking up in Idyllwild, which is where Boseker Scout Reservation was. Just walking up to the upper part of the camp to the lake area and beyond was fun for me! But getting out and really hiking up the mountain was fun, gorgeous!, and so worth the lightheadedness of altitude!!! There’s not much hiking around us here in Denton, Texas, though I could go up to Sam Rayburn park in Sanger, Texas (it’s good, just flat). More mountain biking trails around here than anything.

    Happy hiking, happy thrifting! I loved the Goodwill in Murrieta and there was a good thrift store down in Escondido as you went east past the hospital… It had been a veteran’s thrift store and then it was sold to someone else. They color coded their clothing and it was good stuff. The furniture covers I’ve made for my living room furniture (all garage sale finds), the matelasse were all found at that Escondido store. 🙂

    Happy summertime! Keep safe and carry a whistle. <3
    Hugs,
    Barb 🙂

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      Amber Wood

      Hi! Thanks for the comment. I actually have a multi-tool on my pack and it includes a whistle and they did not care AT ALL.I actually now carry a tazor on my hip-pack after the last incident! Idyllwild is so pretty too, I have not been up there in so long!
      I have an issue with In-links, it won’t let me upload any of my photos. This started like a year ago, so it makes it super frustrating when I try to link up with the blog-hops!

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