Chonggak radish

Chonggakmu Chonggak radish
Species	Raphanus raphanistrum
Subspecies	R. raphanistrum subsp. sativus
Cultivar group	White radish group
Origin	Korea

Chonggak radish or chonggakmu (총각무), also called ponytail radish,^[1][2] is a variety of white radish. It is a small radish with a lot of fine roots, whose entire body along with the leaves and stems are used in Korean cuisine.

Names and etymology

The word chongak means "bachelor"(a man who is not married, or is virgin) in modern Korean. Traditionally, unmarried men and boys pulled their hair into a long braid, while married adult men wore their hair in sangtu, a topknot.^[3] On the day of coming of age ceremony, a boy's braided is undone and it is first made into chonggak, hornlike double topknots, before it is undone again and be made into sangtu.^[3] As the shape of chonggak radishes resembled the shape of chonggak hair, it became to be called by the name of chonggak radish.

Description

sprouting chonggak radish

Chonggak radish, whose taproots weigh 60–80 grams (2.1–2.8 oz), is about ten to thirteen times smaller than a regular Korean radish. The upper part of the roots are subterranean stems, from which the long ovate leaves grow. The roots are 8–9 centimetres (3.1–3.5 in) long and the rhizomes are 2–3 centimetres (0.79–1.18 in) long.

Culinary use

chonggakkimchi

Ingredients

• mucheong – radish greens, dried to make siraegi or used fresh in cooking
• siraegi – dried radish greens or dried leaves of napa cabbages.

Dishes

• chonggakkimchi – a type of kimchi, made by marinating salted whole, vertically halved, or quartered chonggak radishes without removing the leaves and stems. The seasoning can be made by boiling glutinous rice powder in water, cooling it, and mixing in the pureed mixture of red chilli, scallions, pear, onion, garlic, ginger, aekjeot, gochutgaru(chilli powder), maesilcheong(plum syrup), and salt.

See also

• Korean radish
• Gegeol radish
• Young summer radish

References