In Season: Daikon

updated May 11, 2022
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(Image credit: Apartment Therapy)

Daikon are large, white Asian radishes used primarily in Japanese cooking. We’ve been getting them in our CSA lately, and we’ve got a tip on what to do with them…

We frequently read that daikon have a milder taste than traditional, small red radishes, but we have to disagree. Ours have been particularly peppery and feisty. We’ve eaten a few slices raw, and think it would be great sliced thin in a salad with some sweet ingredients to balance it out—maybe oranges, when the winter citrus arrives. But ours certainly had a big bite.

So what did we do? We pickled it. We used rice wine vinegar and a tablespoon or so more of sugar than with, say, this recipe for pickled beets. Even after just one day, the daikon slices were mellowed out and sweeter but still crunchy and distinctive.

Here’s a recipe: Sweet Pickled Daikon Radish, from Tyler Florence

Related: NYC Market Find: Japanese Turnips

(Image: Flickr member Mr and Mrs Stickyfingers, licensed under Creative Commons)