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Vegetables from Korea

Chonggak kimchi (ponytail radish kimchi)총각김치

Small ponytail radishes are salted with their green tops still on, then coated in red pepper, garlic, ginger and salted seafood. Lactic bacteria sour them within days, and the kimchi is kept through winter as one of the main kimjang kimchi.

Fully documentedVegetables3.1 days

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceGrams per 100 g of salted radish, from the National Institute of Agricultural Sciences standard recipe as used by Jin et al. 2019.
Salted ponytail radish, halved100 g[jin2019]
Red pepper powder3.5 g[jin2019]
Garlic3 g[jin2019]
Ginger1.5 g[jin2019]
Sesame seed0.5 g[jin2019]
Sugar1.5 g[jin2019]
Glutinous rice paste4 g[jin2019]
Anchovy fish sauce (myeolchi-aekjeot)2 g[jin2019]
Salted shrimp (saeu-jeotgal)2 g[jin2019]
Green onionNamed in the encyclopedia definition, not in the study recipe[nfm]
StarterSpontaneous. The standard recipe adds no culture, and in the study's batches with no inoculum the pH fell and lactic acid bacteria counts rose during day 1, and acidity rose during day 2 [jin2019].

Total time across the recorded steps: 3.1 days

Start
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Close-up: salt moving into a grainSalt 10 %

What changes: Salt draws water out of the radishes and softens their green tops

Step 1 of 5
Salt the radishes in brine
Time
30 min
Reported
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
10 %
Reported
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactic acid bacteria
L. mesenteroides
Weissella cibaria
Lactobacillus pentosus
L. plantarum

The study halved the radishes; in home practice they are salted whole with their tops on.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

At a glance

Small ponytail radishes are salted with their green tops still on, then coated in red pepper, garlic, ginger and salted seafood. Lactic bacteria sour them within days, and the kimchi is kept through winter as one of the main kimjang kimchi. Made in 5 steps over 3.1 days. The longest step, ferment, takes 3 days (Jin Y.H 2019) and runs at 25 °C (Jin Y.H 2019). Salt is 10 % (Jin Y.H 2019). Leuconostoc mesenteroides, Weissella cibaria, W. paramesenteroides, Lactobacillus pentosus and L. plantarum and Lactobacillus brevis do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step3 daysReported[jin2019]Ferment
Temperature25 °CReported[jin2019]Ferment
Salt10 %Reported[jin2019]Salt the radishes in brine
AciditypH 4–6.4Measured[jin2019]Keep cold through winter

What makes this one different

Chonggak kimchi uses the whole small radish with its greens, where kkakdugi uses diced large radish. The name, after the bunched hair of an unmarried boy, took hold around 1960.

Related ferments

Safety

In one survey a market chonggak kimchi held 131.20 mg/kg histamine, above the 100 mg/kg level suggested as toxic. Anchovy fish sauce was the likely source, so the amount added matters. A 2019 review of reported values notes that another study found histamine and tyramine in chonggak kimchi below the recommended limits, so the levels differ between products [park2019].

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

The closest early recipe is the radish kimchi in Jeungbo sallim gyeongje (1766). Son Jeong-gyu's Uri eumsik (1948) gives it as "almu kkakdugi". The name chonggak kimchi appears in the magazine Yeowon in November 1959, and from the 1970s it became a standard kimjang kimchi.

  1. [jin2019] Jin Y.H., Lee J.H., Park Y.K. et al. 2019, The occurrence of biogenic amines and determination of biogenic amine-producing lactic acid bacteria in kkakdugi and chonggak kimchi, Foods 8(2):73paper
  2. [nfm] Park Chae-rin, 총각김치, National Folk Museum of Korea, Encyclopedia of Korean Folk Culture, Korean Food, Clothing and Housing (한국의식주생활사전); KOGL type 2, facts only; read 2026-10book
  3. [park2019] Park Y.K., Lee J.H., Mah J.H. 2019, Occurrence and Reduction of Biogenic Amines in Kimchi and Korean Fermented Seafood Products, Foods 8(11):547paper