Recipes › Radish › Soy-Pickled Radish and Cucumber Quick Kimchi
Soy-Pickled Radish and Cucumber Quick Kimchi
This is a quick Korean-style banchan that leans on the crunch and peppery bite of fresh radishes to do the heavy lifting. Thinly sliced radishes and cucumber are tossed in a punchy soy, sesame, rice vinegar, and chilli dressing, then left to briefly pickle so the flavours mellow and meld. It is sharp, spicy, deeply savoury, and ready in under twenty minutes — exactly what you want alongside rice or noodles.
Radish is in season now. More radish recipes, or see what to sow this month where you are.
Ingredients
- 400 g radishes, trimmed and thinly sliced into rounds
- 200 g cucumber, halved lengthways, seeds scraped out, thinly sliced
- 1 tsp fine sea salt
- 3 tbsp soy sauceuse tamari for a gluten-free version
- 2 tbsp rice vinegar
- 2 tsp toasted sesame oil
- 1 tsp caster sugar
- 1 tsp Korean gochugaru flakesor use half a teaspoon of dried chilli flakes
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 cm fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated
- 3 spring onions, finely sliced
- 1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds (optional)
Contains: cereals gluten, sesame, soya, sulphites.
Method
- Place the sliced radishes and cucumber in a colander set over a bowl. Sprinkle over the salt, toss well, and leave for 10 minutes to draw out some moisture.About 10 min
- While the vegetables are salting, whisk together the soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, caster sugar, gochugaru, garlic, and ginger in a large mixing bowl until the sugar has dissolved.About 2 min
- Squeeze the salted radishes and cucumber firmly with your hands to remove as much liquid as possible, then add them to the dressing bowl along with the spring onions.About 2 min
- Toss everything together thoroughly so every piece is coated. Taste and adjust — add a touch more vinegar if you want more sharpness, or a pinch more sugar to balance.About 1 min
- Serve immediately sprinkled with sesame seeds, or cover and refrigerate for up to 30 minutes before serving to let the flavours develop further.
Tips
- Don't skip the salting step — it softens the radish just enough while keeping the crunch, and stops the dressing becoming watery.
- Radishes from the garden vary wildly in heat. Taste one before you start — if they are very fiery, a little extra sugar in the dressing helps balance them.
- This is best eaten within a few hours of making. After that it stays tasty but loses its crunch.
Ring the changes
- Add 150g of cooked and cooled edamame beans to make it more substantial as a light lunch.
- Swap gochugaru for a finely chopped fresh red chilli if that is what you have.
Keeping it
Store in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 2 days. The texture will soften over time but the flavour remains good.
In the app this recipe finds you
Log what you've picked and GrowMore CookMore matches it to 1,918 more recipes like this one, tells you what's ready before the frost gets it, and keeps the freezer honest. Free to start.
More from the same crop
Chunky radishes hold their own in a high-heat wok alongside tender strips of beef, picking up a savoury char while keeping a pleasing bite. Black bean sauce brings a deep, umami backbone that ties the whole thing together. Serve over steamed rice for a proper weeknight dinner that is on the table in under half an hour.
22 min · easy · RadishThis is the recipe that makes you feel brilliant about your garden, because it uses every single part of the radish — the roots sliced thin and added at the end so they keep their bite, and the leafy tops wilted into the broth where they add a mild peppery depth. A deeply savoury, clean Japanese soup that is ready in twenty minutes and wastes absolutely nothing.
20 min · easy · RadishSmashing radishes rather than slicing them opens up their texture so they absorb dressing like a sponge and develop craggy edges that catch every bit of the punchy garlic and chilli dressing. This is a dish you will find variations of across China, and it is extraordinary for how little effort it takes. Ready in ten minutes and genuinely addictive.
10 min · easy · Radish
Allotment keeper in the North East of England, the voice behind the Tony C Smith YouTube channel, and the gardener who built GrowMore CookMore. Club numbers on this page update as members log their plots. Last updated 4 April 2026.