"Red meat" radishes

[JAZ]

I bought some "red meat" radishes from my CSA this week. I love radishes, and silly me, I just figured these were a variation of the small radishes you eat in salads. When I got them, I found that they're the size of turnips, with a thick, kind of tough exterior. I sliced into one, and once I peeled the outside off, it did taste like a radish. But I'm not sure what to do with them.

A Google search turns up dozens of hits on how to grow them, but precious few on how to prepare them. Any ideas? Is this something better cooked, or can I shave them into salads and otherwise treat them like the radishes I'm used to?

[Batard]

A Google search turns up dozens of hits on how to grow them, but precious few on how to prepare them.

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Try searching under 'Watermelon' or 'Roseheart' radish.

Rose-heart radishes are also called Misato or Xin Li Mei. According to Joy Larkcom, they are eaten as a fruit in northern China, and they are wonderful unadorned, with the interior being sweeter and the portion near the skin hotter. When cooked, they become sweet and delicious. They are excellent chunked into soups and stews. They also may be roasted with other winter roots.

Edited January 10, 2009 by Batard (log)

[djyee100]

Thanks for the info, Batard. Before I read your post, I didn't realize what kind of radishes Jaz was referring to.

This radish is spicy, but it's one of my favorite radishes for eating just plain raw. I once ate it at a potluck party where someone served thin raw slices of this radish with sour cream onion dip. That was yummy. I've also eaten it cut up in chunks in a kind of braised Asian veggie stirfry with a soy garlic sauce (again, somebody else's dish). Cooked, the radish loses its spiciness and reminded me of turnip. Except it wasn't turnip, and I couldn't identify it until I asked the cook. Personally, I think the radish is more interesting when eaten raw.

[nakji]

That's funny, my husband came home with a large pink daikon yesterday, with the comment, "I know you like different coloured vegetables." How's that for love?

I was going to pickle mine in the Japanese style.